This week, I found an article about learning tools being marketed as "personalized learning," but often failing to meet standards and expectations. Educational experts are finding that personalized learning has become an almost meaningless buzzphrase, due to an influx of products marketed as such, but do not actually lead to learning that is personalized. This lack of quality has prompted educators to take a harder look at educational technology programs to determine their true effectiveness in the classroom. The article outlined several characteristics that can define programs that are ineffective for individualized learning. Some of the so-called "red flags" include large amounts of data with little meaningful information about achievement, and insufficient supplemental materials for students higher or lower on the learning curve, among several other criteria. Conversely, an ideal resource for personalized learning would require students to demonstrate mastery of content, and include opportunities for students to choose their own learning path.
I was interested in reading about how educators go through the process of evaluating different technology programs. Reading through the different criteria of both "good" and "bad" technology fascinated me and made me think about what my own priorities for technology would be. There may come a day where I'm on a committee to choose a language-learning program, and I would need to evaluate several different options. It was helpful to be reminded to not be fooled by buzzwords and pay attention to what will really help my students.
Article: http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/10/19/red-flags-to-look-for-when-evaluating.html
Like everything in business, their goal is to make money by creating the most appealing product on the market. Your are exactly right that we should be well informed when choosing the most appropriate technology programs for our student's needs. You mentioned that someday you could be asked to be on a committee. By having a deep understanding of the technology that are beneficial will greatly benefit your district and your students.
ReplyDeletePersonalized learning doesn't seem to mean what it used to, for sure. I see online videos being labeled "Personalized Learning" because you can use them at your own pace and have community help via message boards. Just as you said, personalized learning is much more than that so when choosing a new learning system, we really have to be careful to not just latch on to a system that looks nice. We have to make sure that it can actually be geared to the needs of individuals and that it can change and adapt as the student grows.
ReplyDeleteIt's so true that there has been an over-saturation of services that market themselve as "personalized learning" tools. And far too many times where districts and schools are too fast to jump in on the next best thing, only to be disappointed by the results. The best way to get by this is to have committees of teachers, parents and administrators that have open discussion about their thoughts on the tools effectiveness. They need to be able to go through and try out these tools before they go and implement a broad plan.
ReplyDeleteWhile there are so many tools to choice from, there are also so many communities where these tools are rated and discussed. So there really is no reason for someone to just jump into a tool without first doing the research about it's effectiveness.