One of the main drivers of every educator is to see their students succeed and be able to have evidence of their success. The current access to technology has not changed this endeavour but has enhanced educators’ abilities to make sure that they reach the maximum potential of their students. A term that has been used to personify this and identified as a necessary approach to successful teaching is personalised learning. So in this blog I want to focus on the following questions. What is personalised learning? Does technology support personalised learning? Lastly, with the current climate, caused by Covid-19, does a blended approach give an advantage to employing personalised learning?
What is personalised learning? Personalised learning is when students demonstrate mastery of content in a competency-based system, they are highly involved in setting targets based on previous or lack of knowledge they have of a concept. Students are encouraged to be involved in the planning and learning process as active participants in that learning.
Does technology support personalised learning? With the wide use of Microsoft Teams and Google Classroom (mainly) on the rise, the tools are present to exercise blended learning approaches and strategies in and out of the classroom. However, in the classroom this is easier to do than in an asynchronous environment. So what does this mean for teachers? Well, the ability to hold a live classroom or virtual lesson requires enlisting the aid of tools available in their school’s chosen platform. Technology does support this requirement with various apps built into Microsoft 365 education, such as Whiteboard. Alongside data-driven results from Microsoft Forms and Quizzes, Teams and Class Notebook, teachers can keep the learning fueled by direct input from their students. Also, the teacher is still able to differentiate and instantly become aware if new objectives need to be set and collaboratively identify them with their students. Microsoft Whiteboard allows teachers to join synchronously, either virtually or in the classroom, to create, explore and achieve learning objectives while driving a student-centered environment. Those familiar with the SAMR model will recognize that these methods and tools lineup with different categories within the framework while keeping emphasis on the learning and keeping the tech secondary.
With the current climate, caused by Covid-19, does a blended approach give an advantage to employing personalised learning? As we have seen above, Whiteboard is just one tool that is available to teachers using Microsoft 365 educational tools. However, it is a must for educators looking to apply visible learning strategies to document personalised learning in the classroom. However, to have a blended approach to be successful, in relation to the question posed, the right access and learning must be available to staff to be comfortable to put their amazing lessons into practical blended outcomes. Once an educator has that confidence they are able to overcome challenges brought on by the need for students to be out of the classroom or to be able to extend lessons beyond the classroom. There is definitely more to add to this topic and more questions to be asked but where does a teacher start their journey navigating this topic? How can AspirEd help?
AspirEd can help teachers, individually or a whole school come to grips with the tools available, not only in order to employ a successful blended solution but to provide a framework to create a whole school approach . Our aim is to enhance educators’ abilities in a traditional face-to-face classroom as well as a flipped, blended or total hybrid classroom environment, as needed to support current needs in response to covid and social distancing measures. If you want to trial free lessons or view the entire catalogue of courses available, go to AspirEd.online today or feel free to contact any of the Aspire 2Be team for answers to any questions you may have about this or any other topic.
