This month, we're happy to share some thoughts and insights from Renee Dawson in our new Eduporium Featured Educator post! Renee is an education technology specialist in the Atlanta Public School System and she's seen firsthand how shifting from traditional instructional practices to these detailed strategies can truly impact how students learn. One of the biggest areas that she and her colleagues are focusing on is certainly personalized learning in education. Actively utilizing technology as a tool to help enhance daily classroom experiences, Renee has created several unique resources like choice boards and personalized learning playlists, to help get her students where they need to be!
Renee Dawson
Education Technology Specialist, Atlanta Public Schools, Atlanta, GA
Q&A:
Please share any innovative technology or personalized learning project(s) you've completed with students or plan to complete.
Personalized learning is a top priority within the Atlanta Public Schools. To support all educators at Long Middle School, I created a Personalized Learning Playlist for them to use with kids in their classes as they transition from typical whole-group learning to personalized learning in their classrooms. Basically, they're individualized, digital activity lists that children work through at their own pace to learn, review, or practice content. The playlists offer several options for each step in the learning process so children get to choose what best fits their interests and learning styles. There are also stopping points built into each playlist so that students can check in with their teacher. This is an important part of utilizing a playlist since teachers can conference one-on-one with children to check for understanding, answer questions, and clear up any confusion they may have.
After students complete each area of their playlists, they mark their progress on the class spreadsheet and move on to the next playlist. This usually happens once the teacher has checked on the final product. Also, the last step on the playlists I create is always a student reflection. This allows students to think about their work, celebrate new areas of strength, and identify areas of improvement before moving on. Using playlists in our classrooms allows teachers to spend more time supporting students who need it most with personal feedback. It even allows for additional practice or remediation whenever necessary, as well as faster paced learning for students who may be more advanced in the subject.
What is a challenge you have faced or are facing with personalized learning?
What STEM resources have you used in your instruction or are in need of?
The biggest challenge with this is teacher buy-in. Most teachers haven't taught this way and it takes some practice to relinquish control of a teacher-paced, lecture-style class. Sometimes, the transition to using the playlists looks a little chaotic in the classroom but, after everyone gets nice and familiar with the process, it becomes a beautiful learning environment. When I work with teachers on using playlists in their classroom, I start with having them implement a choice board as a formative assessment instead of traditional tests. Once they are comfortable with that, we move to the playlist.
Some teachers can implement an entire playlist at one time and some need to scaffold the introduction by implementing one area at a time. This often depends on the educator's comfort level with student-centered learning. It's also important that teachers are trained on using the EdTech tools that are part of the playlist. Then, they could support children as needed. Also, not every option on each playlist must be a technology tool. Some can be simple pencil and paper activities. For the playlists I create, however, I focus on EdTech tools I know teachers are comfortable and confident in using.
What are some of the real-world skills you've seen students develop through personalized learning?
How can students apply them in the future?
The students have developed more ownership of their learning and are more engaged in class when using playlists. They're definitely able to support each other with troubleshooting technology or with the learning activities on each playlist. Students become more confident because they can work at a comfortable pace without other students knowing what they're working on. Also, any kids who learn more quickly or already know the content have the opportunity to expand their knowledge on the current topics before they move on to the next standard or content area.
What interests you most about Eduporium's offerings?
As the EdTech specialist at a school working towards STEM certification, Eduporium's offerings are great for building a STEAM program. We are also working on developing esports and robotics programs and Eduporium has great products at prices that are perfect.
We thank Renee for sharing her experiences and her insights with our community, especially her thoughts on personalized learning. As always, we hope these posts inspire fellow instructors with similar classroom goals, challenges, and curiosities to use new technologies. If you'd like to apply to be our next Eduporium Featured Educator, we're always accepting applications. It takes just a few minutes to fill it out and you'll be in consideration. Feel free to share the application link with any other deserving educator you know as well. Follow us on Twitter and Instagram for more! And, check out our newsletter for extra information.