One of the biggest personalized learning mistakes schools have made in the past is thinking about technology first and students鈥� needs later. That has led to some very costly, high-profile failures.
To make personalized learning work, experts recommend that schools think first about the academic needs and interests of students and then figure out how technology can be a tool to meet those needs and fuel those interests. And teachers need to play a big role in evaluating what approaches work best to make those connections, and which ones are not working.
Recent studies have shown that personalized learning is difficult to do. Barriers such as allowing teachers enough instructional time to customize lessons and support individual students remain.
How those challenges play out for students should be evaluated carefully, educators say, because students are the ones with the most riding on these new approaches.
To understand the challenges of making personalized learning work for students in different ways, see the five following profiles.
For Thomas Schlipper and other students at Murray high school, personalized learning is about productive exploration.
As part of the deal in coming to Murray, a district-run charter school set up to help students who are not reaching their potential, students commit to doing a 鈥渜uality work project鈥� every year.
鈥淚t has to be something they鈥檙e interested in or want to learn more about,鈥� explained Michael Craddock, the associate principal at Murray. 鈥淣obody鈥檚 going to be standing over their shoulders at any point in the process.鈥� (The school adheres to psychiatrist William Glasser鈥檚 鈥渃hoice theory,鈥� which focuses on personal responsibility.)
In previous years, Thomas, a known math wiz, had made gearshifts and remote-control cars out of Legos, and researched touchscreens to figure out how they work.
This year, Thomas is working on computer-animated drawings.
When he was studying algebra a few years ago, he learned to draw a circle on the graphing calculator using an equation鈥攁nd saw a moment of opportunity. 鈥淚 started drawing faces,鈥� he said.
As a senior, he鈥檚 still drawing faces鈥攐nly more complex ones belonging to characters such as Hello Kitty and SpongeBob SquarePants. And his tools have changed.
He鈥檚 using the online graphing calculator Desmos, which he discovered when he left his handheld device at home one day and needed to graph something in class. With that interface, Thomas has started animating his drawings by moving the variables with the 鈥渟lider鈥� function.
Thomas鈥� interest in combining art and math was spurred by algebra class, but he鈥檚 carried it beyond the core curriculum. He estimates his SpongeBob project, which uses more than 100 equations, has taken him about 20 hours to complete so far. He鈥檚 now working on doing three-dimensional images, and is planning to turn the drawings into his quality work project.
Chad Ratliff, who took over as principal of Murray this year, said he鈥檚 considering how to connect the projects more closely to the core subjects, while maintaining the focus on student-driven learning. The school is also expanding opportunities for personalization鈥攕tudents can now lobby to replace almost any class with a portfolio of demonstrated work. Students have gotten theater credit for working on local plays and entrepreneurship credit for starting a dog-walking business.
The personalized projects are easier in some ways than traditional classroom lessons, and harder in other ways, said Thomas.
The structure of a teacher-led lesson forces him to practice certain skills, he said, which is beneficial. But 鈥渙n my own, I can breeze through stuff that I know,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd it鈥檚 a lot more entertaining.鈥�
Minnetonka High School senior Stanley Kohls is fascinated by algae and how it might be used to clean polluted waters. Through his Minnesota high school鈥檚 Minnetonka Research program, he is in the second year of studying how algae could immobilize heavy metals in water.
Stanley picked his topic for study, pitched the idea to teachers, designed his own curriculum for the project, and even lobbied for funding to use a mass spectrometer at the University of Minnesota. Directing his own path through the two-year-old research course has made him more invested in the process and the outcome, Stanley said.
鈥淚t鈥檚 an incredible experience,鈥� he said. 鈥淵ou鈥檙e choosing something you鈥檙e interested in so you鈥檙e passionate about working on it. We delve more deeply into the topic than any AP or IB class would.鈥�
Minnetonka Research provides students with a teacher and an outside expert mentor to consult with. The district built a state-of-the art negative-pressure wet lab that prevents contamination of specimens, and gives students lab access on weekends and outside of school hours. Students must write a scientific research paper and present their findings, said Kim Hoehne, the Minnetonka Research director and an instructor. There are about 50 students participating this year, she said.
鈥淭hey can go as deep as they want to go and as far as they want to go,鈥� Hoehne said.
Students make their own timelines for the course, but they aren鈥檛 left to their own devices. 鈥淓very week, I have to give teachers an update on how I鈥檓 doing and if I鈥檓 on track and on schedule,鈥� Stanley said. For example, he said, he might determine that in the next week he needs to regrow his algae, or expose them to a new solution, or contact an expert.
While other classes that Stanley takes at Minnetonka High School aren鈥檛 as driven by his own passions, Stanley said the district鈥檚 1-to-1 environment does help give him more flexibility. 鈥淭here might be a hard deadline we have to meet, but a lot of times how we get there changes depending on what I need,鈥� he said.
But the opportunities for students to carve their own educational path come with caveats, Stanley said. For example, this year Minnesota Research altered its program a bit based on student feedback from the previous year鈥攊ts first in operation.
The program added more deadlines and check-ins with teachers and mentors to prevent students from falling behind on their chosen path. 鈥淲e鈥檙e still high schoolers and we鈥檙e not fully 100 percent responsible,鈥� Stanley said. 鈥淭his was lacking in the first year and it caused some people to fall behind.鈥�
While it hasn鈥檛 been hard for Stanley to create his personalized-learning path through school, he wonders if everyone accesses the same opportunities he does. The research program is limited to a set number of students and some students aren鈥檛 aware of what it offers.
In addition, many students also don鈥檛 know about the district鈥檚 online classes and how those offerings might allow students to personalize their learning. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know how well it [the research program] is communicated throughout the high school. You really have to reach out and find it,鈥� he said. As for online classes, 鈥渋t鈥檚 not an opportunity that is capitalized on enough by students at our school.鈥�
But he feels lucky to be able to pursue his own areas of interest at Minnetonka. He plans on studying biochemistry, molecular biology, and biomedical engineering in college. In the meantime, he鈥檚 growing algae, making a wooden chess board, and running cross country after school.
In the Horry County school district鈥檚 Academy for the Arts, Science, and Technology program, Marianna Moawad has chosen to focus on computer science. In fact, it鈥檚 her 鈥渕ajor鈥� even though she鈥檚 still in high school.
As a junior, Marianna鈥檚 computer science curriculum was mostly set鈥攕he had to cover certain computer languages and topics. But as a senior this year in the 42,000-student South Carolina district, Marianna said she got to choose what computer language to study and she opted for Python.
鈥淚 wanted to learn the meat of coding rather than the syntax,鈥� she said.
She also has to design her own path through the learning process. 鈥淲e were given the general standards of the class and we have to create a plan of how to achieve those standards,鈥� she said.
As part of her overall program of study, she鈥檒l have to do a research project and paper based on a topic of her choosing鈥攂ig data and the real costs of free online services. She鈥檒l also have to find her own internship and complete 120 hours of work.
But it鈥檚 not just her computer science class that is personalized, Marianna said. She ticked off ways that almost every class she takes through the academy makes learning individual for students. In history, for example, students often choose their own topics and decide how to present the information they learn.
In her statistics course, students must produce 10 to 12 graphs by the end of the quarter, but they can relate to any topic a student chooses鈥攅ven books or painting. Marianna鈥檚 focusing her data on the technology use of students in the academy.
But can a program be too personalized? By declaring majors and focusing on a particular topic of interest at a fairly young age, might students miss out?
Marianna said she knows students who have declared majors in one area, and then decided that subject was not for them.
鈥淲e have students in my major that might not go into computer science, but they don鈥檛 regret it,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey do have the option to try other things.鈥�
Because students in the academy declare majors in their areas of interest鈥攆rom pre-med to theater鈥攖hey may apply those interests in other classes, said Mariah Reiss, an instructional coach. 鈥淢aybe the math teacher knows that their class isn鈥檛 the artistic students鈥� forte,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ut they can use what they know about the students鈥� major and learning style to draw them in.鈥�
In discussing what Jade Huynn鈥榮 mornings鈥攖he part of the school day she works on personalized English/language arts and math lessons鈥攍ook like, a theme emerges: time management.
Jade knows she has a certain number of assignments due at the end of the week. How and when she finishes them is up to her.
鈥淵ou have to balance it because you have to finish both鈥� math and language arts, she said. That鈥檚 really different from a more traditional class, like the social studies and science classes at her school, in which students learn as a group and then are given an assignment to turn in the next day, she explained.
In considering the challenges of personalized learning, she said, 鈥淲hen you have this big list of assignments you have to do, sometimes you might get a little overwhelmed,鈥� she said. But that doesn鈥檛 happen to her so much because she鈥檚 learned to manage her time.
鈥淚 mentally section it out between all the five days,鈥� she said. That way, 鈥淚 feel relief. I have just a few assignments every day.鈥� She finds math slightly harder, so she does that first most days.
Jade said she spends about 80 percent of her 鈥減ersonalization鈥� time on the computer watching videos, reading articles, and using Google classroom to keep track of her assignments.
Jill Hoppe, who is in her first year as principal of Canyon Ridge, said helping teachers really understand personalized learning鈥攖hat it鈥檚 about incorporating student interests and using small groups, as well as using digital tools to differentiate instruction鈥攊s an ongoing process.
鈥淲e don鈥檛 want the pendulum to swing so that, because we have the technology, [students] are only sitting on the computer,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 think that鈥檚 a challenge we are right now identifying and trying to figure out how to overcome.鈥�
Jade and her classmates are also doing longer-term projects based on their interests, which they can work on outside of school or when they鈥檝e completed their assignments. She鈥檒l be studying Japanese animation in the coming months鈥攁nd creating some episodes of her own.
The personalized-learning approach works better for her than the traditional teacher-led instruction, she said.
鈥淵ou learn to work through your problems,鈥� explained Jade. 鈥淵ou [can go] to your friends and ask them for help. I find that my classmates鈥� thinking process is a little bit more closer to mine than the teacher鈥檚.鈥�
And the best thing about the personalized instruction? 鈥淔eeling a sense of accomplishment at the end of the week when you鈥檝e finished all your assignments,鈥� Jade said.
In Emma Stout鈥榮 5th grade class, students decide when they鈥檙e ready to take a test.
For example, when Emma was learning decimals, 鈥渕y friend was ahead of me and was taking her exit [test], but I wasn鈥檛 ready for it,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o I studied my notebook and my notes I took for the mini-lessons and I worked on a dry erase board and reviewed some problems in my notebook.鈥�
Letting students control the pace of their work teaches self-advocacy, said Carrie Stoehr, who supports instruction in the 4th and 5th grade classrooms at Hawk Ridge. And it鈥檚 central to the way the school approaches personalized learning鈥攖he model it uses for math and English/language arts.
Generally, Emma begins class by consulting her online data tracker and a lower-tech progress gauge鈥攁 whiteboard with magnets鈥攖o see what she needs to work on that day. At some point, she鈥檒l sit in on a mini-lesson with the teacher to learn or review a concept.
Emma knows she needs to get through more than a dozen pathways, or topics, before the end of the school year. But that doesn鈥檛 make her nervous, she said. 鈥淚 can see if I鈥檓 going too slow or fast,鈥� she said. 鈥淪o I know what鈥檚 coming.鈥�
Some of those pathways include above-grade-level topics, explained Stoehr. 鈥淵ou鈥檒l see kids on all different objectives in one class,鈥� she said. 鈥淥ne kid is doing fractions, another decimals.鈥�
As part of her personalized instruction, Emma is taking on a cross-curricular project looking into how friction plays a role in her favorite sport: soccer. 鈥淲ith turf or grass, there鈥檚 different friction on the ball and the players,鈥� she said.
If Emma needs help on something while working on her own, she can ask one of the designated class experts on the topic. In fact, students rely on each other quite a bit when they鈥檙e stuck, she said.
Knowing some students are ahead doesn鈥檛 cause tension in the class, though, she said. 鈥淲e all have our differences,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e all need help on different things.鈥�
鈥淭hat鈥檚 something we鈥檝e worked hard on here,鈥� said Stoehr. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 just how you build your culture.鈥�
