Reply by Hélène Fournier on September 8, 2008 at 9:54am

Key Success PIllar: Personalized Program Design and Assessment

What values do you feel this pillar represents?
How would you define this pillar?

With a standardized framework and body of resources.

Reply by Tim Winkelmans on October 24, 2008 at 10:23am

Student achievement research is pointing to personalization as an important component of student engagement. It can happen at several levels, but the common element is student participation in program planning.

Within a Distributed Learning system, we see a limited form of personalization when a student can make choices about which courses to take locally and which to take from a DL provider, selecting from among synchronous/asynchronous, blended/unblended, online/print, semester/open entry, etc. With learning styles in mind, a single best course from a single DL provider may not embody a high degree of personalization. So, a student should have more than one DL option for Biology 11, but more than 6 may be too many. The advantage of multiple DL providers is the increased likelihood that various niche courses will emerge based on local expertise, interest, and specialization - approaching a long tail advantage for providers and students akin to Amazon.

The deeper level of personalization occurs when students are part of the conversation about how they will achieve outcomes in the course. Students can select or negotiate schedules, learning resources (from acceptable list), assessment options, and instructional interaction modes that are relevant to them. I've seen this most frequently in programs that emphasize portfolio approaches to demonstrating learning outcomes. Blended or hybrid instructional models support personalization if students have some control over the blend, either through selecting an appropriate course or negotiating a learning plan within a program (which could be organized by outcomes and competencies rather than courses).

Reply by Dr. Eugene G. Kowch on October 28, 2008 at 5:05pm

Tim, thanks for your post it really made me think (I enjoy that). You mention issues and imply values on Pillar #8: Personalized program design and assessment that re in sync with much of what I am reading on distance learning but I don't see as much of this in practice in my research as I thought I would/could here or abroad.

When I think or discuss hybrid instructional models that support such a paradigm within the graduate schools of instructional design (educational technology) and leadership I often encounter a response that leaves me wondering: Is the existing school administrative and policy regime prepared for personalized learning in a social constructivist era? If it is prepared for such cool futures for learning, are we as teachers and program designers similarly ready to create such opportunity? The values of 'student first' with respect for both teachers and the admin system flow from your response and in answer to Helen's great question on Pillar Values, I think, I think 'duty of care' sums up what you are saying in value terms - I just wonder how we can ready both families and systems for the kind of (systemic) innovation that is possible for such hybrid (and cool) learning? :-) Great post - thanks!

Reply by Tim Winkelmans on October 30, 2008 at 12:30am

There are not a lot of examples where this is working successfully in distributed learning, that I'm aware of. It might be the kind of thing that's easier in an art class where the activity is sculpture but the subject matter is drawn from student's culture or interests (and at a deeper level the student could choose between sculpture or another representation form). If the outcome is about skills in sculpture though, then there should be sculpture.

There is an independent DL school in BC that espouses this approach, and claims it works quite well, but I don't believe we could claim the students are typical. Check out http://www.selfdesign.org/

Reply by chris goble on November 1, 2008 at 9:37am

Tim, it seems like current Outreach (Gr. 10-12) school practices may already be confronting a small segment of the personalization questions you raise. Some programs are highly directed with lots of face-to-face, while others follow more of a proactive tutorial model (scheduled Q&A sessions). Others have a more passive tutorial model where students are responsible for asking questions.

Dr. Kowch, your duty of care comment really comes into play here. If students select the model of instruction they want, how do we as educators deliver timely interventions when the chosen model isn't working? To keep a student succeeding in semester or even year based courses, it seems like teachers and schools would need to operate with an intervention response loop which is much greater than is now in practice.

A practical question becomes how many different program options can a teacher/administrator supervise and still pick up 1. achievement clues and 2. deliver appropriate program interventions? This gets stickier once programs fan outside a single jurisdiction's control. What time delays are introduced when coordinating with another jurisdiction when personal networks are fragmented or non-existent?

Tim, I like DL options for students and really appreciate your comments about including students in conversations about their learning. Coming from an outreach background, I just tend to worry about hidden systemic cracks.

Reply by Dr. Eugene G. Kowch on November 2, 2008 at 2:12pm

Great post Chris. You asked: "Dr. Kowch, your duty of care comment really comes into play here. If students select the model of instruction they want, how do we as educators deliver timely interventions when the chosen model isn't working?" This is a great question and it pushes our practice hard into the future (great!).. I think if students personalize their learning envrionments with the instructor, we're still going to need frameworks (scaffolds, not goals) of learning outcomes/learning achievements that we're hoping students gain via DL. So just as we, as teachers/designers change our instruction and learning environment for learners when the student's not getting where they need to be, we'll have to collaborate with the student to find a way back to that scaffold or range of learning achievements. This will mean very interactive student learning/teaching environments and a lot of formative assessment done by teacher and learner. In fact, teaching metacognitive or learning strategies to learners will help them identify to us when learning is off track. It won't be easy but DL does offer that kind of personalized contact as opposed to a big class where sometimes we can't see the fine points of such learner achievement tracing. I wish I had a better answer to such a great question, Chris :-)

Key Success PIllar: Equitable Access

What values do you feel this pillar represents?
How would you define this pillar?

Reply by Tom Whyte on September 20, 2008 at 9:54pm

How can we ensure equitable access across our province. I currently have a nComputing station within my classroom (giving me 4 pods) but this still does not represent equitable to the other 20 students within my room.

I feel that this is an important issue, and without it the other 8 will have less value.

Reply by Steven Greene on September 27, 2008 at 9:58am

Thats an important question Tom,
I am wondering how my high school will operate, or how I will teach when my students no longer have their laptops. Currently every high school student has a laptop under the emerge 1:1 project. This makes it very easy to ask students and expect them to post to online forums and work outside of the classroom in other ways. However, our schools network is still closed to allowing students to bring in their own laptops. My school is one of the few schools in the district that has a wireless signal throughout the school. I believe all Ab. high schools (to start) need to aggresively build the infrastructure that will lead to eventual equitable access.
Some smaller laptops can be bought for $300-$500. The price probably will go down, but what good will that do if there is no wireless signal in the schools? What if the schools do not have the infrastructure or security to allow students to bring their own machines in?
Where can the money come from?
No more pencils! No more books!
millions can be saved $-)

Reply by Tom Whyte on September 27, 2008 at 3:38pm

I on the overhand have a different issue. I have a wireless network within my building, but a strict AUP in regards to the electronics that enter the building. I helped design the original document, and we are dealing with Middle School students, I am just wondering on finding a middle ground that can introduce these devices and ensure the safety of the students within our building.

Reply by Steven Greene on September 27, 2008 at 6:30pm

I am a minority in my desire to have almost no restrictions to access at school. Open networks and use of modern tools - user-generated content, distribution and organization - in all of their currently blocked forms.

I leave it to tech. staff to find a way to make student owned tools a non-risk to school networks. Imagine schools that no longer ever-green entire labs, but occassionally subsidize students ability to purchase lap-tops.

I know my board is looking at the infrastructure demands of opening our network, but that could be a one-time cost when compared to the giant bill of ever-greening. After working in a 1:1 environment I dread the day that I have to walk my class to the computer lab.

Also I dont like mushrooms, someone should protect my food network (fridge) from these dangerous, often unknown, fungi.

Reply by Jenn on October 28, 2008 at 2:37pm

I'm with you on the idea of open access (and fungi for that matter). It is sad that whenever "laptops in schools" and "wireless access" are mentioned I hear mainly fears, nothing about the endless possibilities for the classroom. The majority of the teachers I hear from are focussed on finding ways to "control" useage. What's funny is that students just need to leave the door of the school and pick up an unsecured wireless connection!

I enjoyed this article about laptop useage and the quote below, http://www.pace.edu/emplibrary/p98_campbell.pdf

"Laptops will continue to be used in the classroom only if they
become effectively invisible. By this we mean that the laptop
computer should blend into the lecture and the students’ learning
experience and not be a distraction, or an obstacle, obstructing the
intended lesson for the day. The laptop should be able to
illuminate aspects of the lesson that could not be seen without it.
In a very real sense, the laptop should be noticed only when it is
absent."