PLE : iTeachU
Information Fluency provides a model for educational activities; the Personal Learning Environment (PLE) is the place where those activities happen. Just as learning activities and their products map to the three areas that comprise Information Fluency, those activities and their products can be mapped to different tools and resources. About the “PLE” Personal The PLE is personal because the people, applications, tools, resources, and services are chosen to match our individual, idiosyncratic needs. Each is adopted and discarded according to our needs and whims.
Personalized Learning - K-12 Education
When learning is personalized, teachers help students find what they like and want to learn about and what their strengths and needs are. Then, the teacher sets up projects that are in line with the students’ interest and with academic standards. This growing movement is focused on changing the learning environment so students can take more ownership of their learning and teachers can work with them to discover their passions and interests. The breakthrough idea in personalized learning is the striking shift in the teacher-student team.
5 Great Ways for Teachers to Collaborate on Twitter
I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again – Twitter is an absolutely fantastic resource for teachers. But it can also be something of a blunt instrument. The daily surge of information, the ever-changing timeline of tweets, the potential to miss entire conversations simply by failing to log in at the right moment… the pitfalls are considerable.
Assessing MOOCs at HigherEdTech conference
LAS VEGAS -- You probably won't be surprised to learn that amid all the high-profile speakers (such as the former Harvard University President Lawrence H. Summers and ex-New York City schools chief Joel Klein) and the many topics discussed (the rise of "big data," the transformation of the textbook industry) at last week's HigherEdTech Summit here, MOOCs reigned. As was true throughout the last year, when massive open online courses roared onto the scene and dominated talk about technology (and many other things) in higher education, quite a bit of the daylong discussion at the summit (part of the mammoth and glitzy International Consumer Electronics Show) revolved around how game-changing MOOCs have been and will be.
Competency-Based Learning or Personalized Learning
Transitioning away from seat time, in favor of a structure that creates flexibility, allows students to progress as they demonstrate mastery of academic content, regardless of time, place, or pace of learning. Competency-based strategies provide flexibility in the way that credit can be earned or awarded, and provide students with personalized learning opportunities. These strategies include online and blended learning, dual enrollment and early college high schools, project-based and community-based learning, and credit recovery, among others. This type of learning leads to better student engagement because the content is relevant to each student and tailored to their unique needs.
As California Goes?
California has taken centre stage in the discussions around online learning and MOOCs in recent weeks, prompted by passage of tax increases (see more and more) to cover rising deficits in the state's higher education system. An organization called 20 Million Minds (20MM) organized a conference to discuss proposals. E-Literate provided very good coverage of the event, which was called Re:Boot California Higher education - a post listing statements made before the conference, some opening thoughts from Michael Feldstein, Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg's introduction, and bottleneck courses.
First Steps to Personalize Learning
If you wait until you’re ready for personalized learning, you’ll never get started! Our antiquated, factory-style education system is failing our students. It’s also failing our teachers. We have more and more students each year struggling to find relevance and connections between what they do in school each day and their future hopes and dreams. Every day, hundreds of thousands of students walk into their school buildings hoping that this day will be the day that school connects with them, is relevant to them, will interest them, will challenge them, will engage them, and will allow their voice to be valued and heard.
MOOCs are really a platform
We can officially declare massive open online courses (MOOCs) as the higher education buzzword for 2012. Between Coursera, edX and smaller open course offerings, nearly $100 million in funding has been directed toward MOOCs in that past 8 months. Newspapers from NYTimes to Globe and Mail to publications such as the Chronicle of Higher Education, TV programs such as NPR, radio programs such as CBC, and a few hundred thousand blog posts have contributed to the hype.
