Personalized Learning: A Wicked Problem Solved?

Personalized Learning is a wicked problem. That is, it is a problem so complex that it is nearly unsolvable. Personalized Learning, the educational philosophy wherein student learn and proceed through their content at their own pace according to their own interests and needs, is just one of these problems. My team and I, organized through […]

A PASSION FOR CREATIVE HISTORY TEACHING

Starting out as a teacher, I went right back to that which I had become accustomed. Throughout college, professors would assign reading and then in class would tell us about the text in two hour lectures. I loved it. I enjoyed reading. I enjoyed talking about history. And so did most of the other students […]

THE WICKED PROBLEM OF PERSONALIZED LEARNING: A SURVEY

Personalized Learning is an answer to the diverse needs, prior knowledge, interest, and skill of individual students. It is a customized and flexible approach to student learning in which students learn according to their own pace, making choices about their own learning, and adapting the material according to each student’s needs. However, several complexities make […]

10 COMPLEXITIES OF PERSONALIZED LEARNING

Personalized Learning is complex, so much so that it indeed is a wicked problem that seems to be impossible to solve. There are many layers of complexity and considerations from various stakeholders in the education of students—from parents to principals. Three central questions that drive further exploration of personalized learning are the following. 1. Why […]

Killing Confirmation Bias in Ed Tech and Personalized Learning

Like most in this social media and smartphone age, I get a lot of my information—either news or stories—through Facebook and Twitter. Indeed, I don’t read the paper nor do I even go to a news website. Instead, I follow news agencies and “talking head” political analysts on social media. I must make a public […]

INQUIRY BASED LEARNING AND THE HIGH SCHOOL HISTORY CLASSROOM

The now iconic scene of the monotone economics teacher played by Ben Stein in Farris Bueller’s Day Off hilariously encapsulated the collective experience High Schoolers endured in a Social Science classroom—perhaps any class. The premise of the film strikes a chord with many students: school is boring, and we’d rather feign sickness than attend. As […]

FLIPGRID AND DYSGRAPHIA MODIFICATION

Flipgrid fever has struck many teachers. One need only check the hashtags #flipgridfever to catch a glimpse of the excitement. In the age of Snapchat, memes, and gifs, students can often feel disengaged with old-school handouts. Flipgrid is an app used on Microsoft, Apple, and Google products that allow teachers to create digital classrooms for […]