The Future of Personalized Learning in Elementary Schools

The Future of Personalized Learning in Elementary Schools

Results from the Speak Up 2012 National Research Project and Project Tomorrow

Julie EvansCEO, Project TomorrowChief Researcher, Speak Up

National Research Project

www.tomorrow.org/speakup

Neal ManegoldInstructional Design LeadDreamBox Learning

Presenters:

@NealManegold

http://www.tomorrow.org/speakup

Speak Up Findings: our discussion

• How are elementary students personalizing learning already, both in school and out of school?

• What are their parents’ aspirations? • How well are today’s elementary schools meeting the

student & parent aspirations? • What is the teacher & principal point of view on

personalized learning with new tech tools? • What does personalized learning really mean?

• “Personalized learning means to me that I am teaching a child where they are and

what they need in order to be successful. It means that I am not just teaching the curriculum, but teaching a child.”

• Elementary Teacher (NC)• Response to Speak Up 2012 Question

Annual national research project Online surveys + focus groups Open for all K-12 schools and schools of education Institutions receive free report with their own data

Collect ideas ↔ Stimulate conversations K-12 Students, Teachers, Parents, Administrators Pre-Service Teachers in Schools of Education

Inform policies & programs Analysis and reporting of findings and trends Consulting services to help transform teaching and learning

Speak Up National Research Project

+ 3 million surveys since 2003

Learning & Teaching with Technology

21st Century Skills: Digital Citizenship & Global Awareness

Math and Science Instruction

Students’ Career Interests in STEM

Professional Development / Teacher Preparation

Internet Safety

Administrators’ Challenges

Emerging Technologies both in & out of the Classroom Mobile Devices, Online Learning, Digital Content, E-textbooks Educational Games, Social Media tools and applications Flipped Classroom, Print to Digital, Online Assessments

Designing the 21st Century School

Speak Up survey question themes

K-12 Students 364,233 Teachers & Librarians 56,346 Parents (in English & Spanish) 39,713 School/District Administrators 6,011

About the participating schools & districtso 8,020 schools and 2,431 districtso 30% urban / 43% rural / 27% suburbano All 50 states + DC

Honor Roll of States with highest participation:TX, CA, OH, IN, AL, NC, WI, AZ, FL, PA

National Speak Up 2012 Participation: 466,303

Speak Up 2012 National Reportswww.tomorrow.org/speakup

http://www.tomorrow.org/speakup

Digital Conversion

K-12 Digital Learner

Digital Conversion

K-12 Digital Learner

Personalized Learning


A shift in what we do, but also in our attitudes and values

Views of K-12 Students,

Parents, Teachers & Administrators

Speak Up 2012National Findings


(c) Project Tomorrow 2013

How do you use technology and the Internet at home?

Students in grades 3-5:Play online and video games 60%Doing Internet research on things that interest me 47%Watch TV shows online 42%Participate in virtual worlds 30%Text message family and friends 29%Share photos 27%Update a personal online profile 22%Create videos to post online 19%


Smartphone Tablet Digital Reader Laptop

18%

26%

12%

41%40% 41%

30%

54%

K-2 Students Gr 3-5 Students

What personal access do you have to these mobile devices?


Every day 17%A few days a week 54%

Thru a mobile device? 19%

How often do you access the Internet from home to help you with your schoolwork?

Students in grades 3-5:

71%


How do you use technology at school for learning?

Play educational games 61%Do Internet research for assignments 58%Take tests online 42%Complete writing assignments 39%Create presentations 34%Check grades 32%Watch online videos 20%Use online textbooks 14%Email or text my teacher 13%

Students in grades 3-5:


How important is the use of technology to your child/student’s future?

Elementary Schools

Middle Schools High Schools

Parents Principals Parents Principals Parents Principals

Extremely Important 54% 51% 57% 50% 58% 49%

Important 34% 42% 32% 42% 32% 43%Somewhat Important 10% 6% 9% 7% 9% 8%

Not Important 2% 1% 2% 1% 2% 1%


What concerns do you have about technology use at your child’s school?

Parents of elementary students:

Not enough computers for every child to use 41%

Technology use is too dependent upon individual teachers 31%

Students don’t have access to technology 20%


Cell phone without Internet

access

Smartphone Tablet computer

Parents – 2008 90% 32% 5%

Parents – 2012 35% 73% 49%

Increased interest in digital learning? Growth in mobile device access by parents


Elementary School Parents

Middle School Parents

High School Parents

Communicating via text messages

86% 86% 86%

Maintaining a social networking site

62% 55% 52%

Watching online videos 40% 36% 34%

Streaming online TV shows

37% 34% 32%

Playing online or mobile app games

30% 28% 25%

Using Twitter 14% 13% 13%

Use of social media by parents, also.


Digital preferences for school to home communications

Parents of Students K-5

Parents of Students Gr 6-8

Parents of Students Gr 9-12

25%

24%

23%

17%

14%

13%

36%

39%

38%

Text messaging Facebook Mobile app


What’s waking up our administrators in the middle of the night?

Test scores

Funding

Achievement gap

Parent communications

Adequate technology

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60%

High School Principals Middle School Principals Elementary School Principals

“Children learn best when they are engaged with the content, can manipulate it so that their learning is flexible, and when learning is social- in that they share and exchange

ideas about their learning within real world applications. Technology can bring into the classroom the real world and help learning

become alive and real in time.”

School Principal (NY)Response to Speak Up 2012 Question


What are the benefits of using digital content within instruction?

Elementary school principals say:

Increases student engagement and motivation 69%

Personalizes learning 51%

Improves quality of instructional materials 44%

Increases relevancy of instructional materials 43%

Improves teacher productivity 44%


But, why the particular interest in intelligent adaptive software?

Elementary school principals say:

Providing “just right” instruction 67%

Differentiating instruction within large classes 66%

Enabling self-directed learning 65%

Supporting teachers with real time reporting 54%

Increasing the effectiveness of using technology 46%


Looking to the future

What experiences/skills do you think pre-service teachers should have within their teacher prep programs? Elementary principals say:

How to differentiate instruction using technology 65%

How to source and use digital content tools 58%

How to implement intelligent adaptive software 55%

How to leverage educational games within instruction 41%


Teachers’ use of digital content

Type of Digital Content Elementary Teachers

Videos found online 48%

Games 44%

Real time data 24%

Online curriculum 21%

Online textbooks 19%

Animations 19%

Self-created videos 6%

Intelligent adaptive software 5%


Teachers’ use of digital content

Type of Digital Content Elementary Teachers

Videos found online 48%

Games 44%Real time data 24%Online curriculum 21%Online textbooks 19%Animations 19%Self-created videos 6%

Intelligent adaptive software

5%

Growth of 69% since

2008


Teachers’ use of intelligent adaptive software

Amongst teachers who are using intelligent adaptive software, what are their goals?

Collect meaningful assessment data 71%

Create a learning centric classroom 70%

Facilitate student collaborations 69%

Help student visualize difficult concepts 69%

Practice or reinforce skills 68%

Introduction of new concepts 66%

Address different learning styles 64%

Increase student engagement 63%

Imagine you are designing the ultimate

school for today’s students,

what digital tools and resources would

have the greatest impact on learning?

Do we have a shared vision?


Creating more personalized learning environments

Games

Online textbooks

Tablets

Schoolwide Internet

Intelligent Adaptive Software

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80%

Elementary Principals Elementary Teachers Elementary Parents Students Gr 3-5

Targeted and thematic reportsOnline learning trendsMobile learning & social mediaPrint to digital migrationSocial learning Intelligent adaptive softwareNew digital parent series

Presentations, podcasts and webinars

Research reports: digital content, mobile learning, 21st century skill development, professional development


For more Speak Up data and reports

“If I was a teacher, I would make learning fun with smartphones, tablets, and websites by letting

everyone bring their own to school. In my class, we would have textbooks on tablets so there would be no cutting down trees. Kids in my class would have everything on their smartphones, tablets, and they

could download apps for science, math and reading. It would be a lot of fun if there were smartphones, tablets, and websites at school. The kids in my class

would really love it.” Fifth Grade Boy (PA)

Response to Speak Up 2012 Question

Thank you. Let’s continue this conversation.

Julie Evans

Project Tomorrow [email protected]

949-609-4660 x15 Twitter: JulieEvans_PT

Copyright Project Tomorrow 2013 This work is the intellectual property of the author. Permission is granted for this material

to be shared for non-commercial, educational purposes, provided that this copyright statement appears on the reproduced materials and notice is given that the copying is by

permission of the author. To disseminate otherwise or to republish requires written permission from the author.

mailto:[email protected]

One View of Personalization

• Content Delivery: Making recommendations for lessons, videos, readings, or assignments to do next (often “crowd-sourced” & using “big data”)

• Assessment: Giving a student slightly harder or easier problems next

Another View of Personalization

Personalized Learning?

Will County, Illinois One-Room Schoolhouse, http://polarbearstale.blogspot.com/

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Personalized Learning?• Learning to Drive a Manual Transmission

Future of Personalization• “In the Moment”• Track, Analyze & Respond to Everything

– Answers– Strategies– Specific Mistakes– Interactions, Investigations

• Lessons Built Specifically to be Adaptive• Responding Similar to How a Professional

Educator would in a 1-1 situation

Improve Learning through Personalization.

Not Prescription.

Plan Backwards

• “Contemporary school reform efforts… typically focus too much on various means: structures, schedules, programs, PD, curriculum, and instructional practices (like cooperative learning).” [or personalized learning].

• Certainly such reforms serve as the fuel for the school improvement engine, but they must not be mistaken as the destination…[which is] improved learning.”

p. 234-235, Wiggins & McTighe, © 2007

Learning is intensely personal

Goal: Improved Learning

• Personalization o A strategy to achieve learning goals for all studentso Honor each student’s ideaso Enable sense-makingo Support transfer of learningo Levels of achievable challengeo Curriculum matterso Pedagogy matterso Enhanced by technology

Learning is Not Linear

© Rovio

Learning is Not Linear

Learning Theory

“The notion that learning comes about by the accretion of little bits is outmoded learning theory. Current models of learning based on cognitive psychology contend that learners gain understanding when they construct their own knowledge and develop their own cognitive maps of the interconnections among facts and concepts.” (pp. 5–6)

Shepard, L. A. (1989, April). Why we need better assessments. Educational Leadership, 46(7) quoted in Schooling by Design, Wiggins & McTighe, © 2007 p. 46

Personalization shouldn’t be linear.

Typical “adaptive” programsDreamBox Learning: Intelligent Adaptive Learning Engine

Personalization Requires Differentiation

• Teachers have a responsibility to ensure that all of their students master important content.

• Teachers have to make specific and continually evolving plans to connect each learner with key content.

• Differences profoundly impact how students learn and the nature of scaffolding they will need at various points in the learning process.

• Teachers should continually ask, “What does this student need at this moment in order to be able to progress with this key content, and what do I need to do to make that happen?”

Leading and Managing a Differentiated Classroomby C.A. Tomlinson & M.B. Imbeau, ASCD, © 2010, pp. 13-14

Formative, Personalized Feedback

What incorrect answers would we expect on 29 + 62 = ?– 19 Student adds all four digits– 33 Student believes this is a subtraction problem– 81 Student does not regroup to the tens place– 92 Arithmetic error in ones place– 811 Student adds each column independently– 2962 Student combines digits

• How would you “score” each error?• How would you respond to each error?• What lesson(s) need to come before & after?• Which of these errors are “naturally occurring?”

Honoring Students’ Ideas

Learning Principles

• “An understanding is a learner realization about the power of an idea.”

• “Understandings cannot be given; they have to be engineered so that learners see for themselves the power of an idea for making sense of things.”

p. 113, Schooling by Design, Wiggins & McTighe, ©2007

Engineered for exploration

Engineered for realizations

Engineered for understanding

Curriculum & Pedagogy Matter

• Single Linear Sequence• Learning Objectives

– Narrow, Behavioral– Isolated Knowledge– Low-Level Skills

• “Giving” Understandings• Students as Listeners• Weak Progressions• Lacking Connections

• Millions of Pathways• Learning Objectives

– Big Ideas, Sense-Making– Conceptual Frameworks– Strategic Skills

• Authentic Conceptions• Students as Doers• Consistent Progressions• Coherent Connections

Prescription Personalization

What Are Students Doing?

• Acquire Knowledge– Watching & Listening– Practicing (problems like the examples they just saw)

• Make Meaning– Manipulating, Exploring– Testing Ideas

• Transfer Independently– Strategizing amidst Complexity– Solving Open Ended Problems with no Scaffolding

Support educators with real-time data to help personalize instruction

Support educators with real-time data to help personalize instruction

Adapt continuously to individualize the learning path for each unique mind

Q & A

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