Personalising Learning – Short Learning Activity: Focus on Creativity

Alicia BankhoferEducational TechnologistVienna, Austriaabankhofer@me.com

Situation

• primary school 4th year class • 25 kids – largely homogenous –

aged 10• half the class are girls and half

are boys• most pupils come from families

that have a high regard for education. A few kids have an immigrant background

• Class is equipped with personalised (teacher-owned) iPads that have been in use since 1st grade

• iPads are used to support personalised learning sequences in all subjects

Source: www.teachdifferent.at

MethodologyChallenge-based learning ...Here the learners are exposed to new media and learn to use them in a meaningful way from a pedagogical standpoint, so that they can use problem-based challenges to work on their learning.

The focal point of this method centres around content that is relevant to the teaching and not to the device. New media are applied as tools and catalysts in daily learning activities, whereby learning is always connected to life themes that are central to the lives of the learners.

Children are not consumers but producers of media, i.e. “prosumers”. They work in a project-oriented way that fosters collaboration and allows them to combine images, audio and test. One of the core competencies fuelled by this method is learning how to solve problems creatively and how to use diverse media to communicate and present their ideas. The goal is to let each child show his/her own viewpoint of the assigned topic. 

Source: http://www.teachdifferent.at/kroete/

Resources

Software• Book Creator app• QR code reader app

(e.g. Qrafter• Learningapps.org• Classblog (self-

hosted)

Hardware• Fast and stable

internet connection• Tablets (iPads)• Desktop computers• Projector & Apple TV

Other• Diverse learning spaces in

the classroom• Students are experienced

in self-directed learning scenarios

• Sound technical as well as procedural know-how on the teacher’s part

https://youtu.be/3uTpk4RslPs

Difficulties

• Requires time for preparation and planning of differentiated learning tasks

• Some negative pushback from other teachers resulting in limited cooperation at school level

• Most students revert to analogue learning experiences when they continue schooling

For the student: For the teacher: For learning:

Results

• Developing media competence

• Fostering of learning by discovery and sparking curiosity

• Collaborative and explorative learning

• Activities and tools with immediate feedback

• Individual attention of the teacher

• Personalised and differentiated learning for the individual student

• Web-based learning with immediate feedback on student performance

• Learning sequences that are adaptive and diversified

• Effective practice e.g. through the use of challenge-based learning

• Students are motivated by individual, unique challenges

CreditsBarbara Zuliani is a Primary School teacher in Vienna, Austria and has been working with an 1:1 iPad concept in her classroom since 2011. She holds a undergraduate teaching degree for primary school with an additional qualification in informatics. She also holds a Master degree for Education in Media with a focus on Media Education. For many years she has been federal coordinator of the “IT@VS” network, Apple Distinguished Educator, Educational Researcher and Lecturer on the topic of the use of iPads at primary school level. Awarded with the „Teacher of the year Award” in 2015.

http://www.teachdifferent.at/nacherzaehlungen

http://www.teachdifferent.at/learningapp-finde-die-lebensweisheit

Photo: Foto Schuster

School: VS (Primary School) Breitenlee in Vienna, Austria