Comments on: The Future of Education is Personalization. http://www.teachingscience20.com/2008/06/the-future-of-education-is-personalization/ Teaching Tips (and Ramblings) Tue, 07 Feb 2012 13:45:19 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.5.1 By: Brunsell http://www.teachingscience20.com/2008/06/the-future-of-education-is-personalization/#comment-12 Brunsell Mon, 23 Jun 2008 02:11:24 +0000 http://www.ericbrunsell.com/?p=15#comment-12 I do have a few examples that I will post. Hopefully I will get one of former students to record a podcast of her experience. For now, I will leave the URL for Layered Curriculum (http://help4teachers.com/). It has elements that I like and a few that I don't. I do have a few examples that I will post. Hopefully I will get one of former students to record a podcast of her experience. For now, I will leave the URL for Layered Curriculum (http://help4teachers.com/). It has elements that I like and a few that I don’t.

]]> By: Dale Basler http://www.teachingscience20.com/2008/06/the-future-of-education-is-personalization/#comment-11 Dale Basler Sat, 21 Jun 2008 23:40:06 +0000 http://www.ericbrunsell.com/?p=15#comment-11 Okay. I take your point. I think schools have come a long way and we certainly can go farther. I'm skeptical if we'll ever get there. After all, our world is full of "one-size-fits-all" systems. I guess educators need to showcase personalized education so the ideas can spread. Can you share some more examples of this in action? Okay. I take your point. I think schools have come a long way and we certainly can go farther. I’m skeptical if we’ll ever get there. After all, our world is full of “one-size-fits-all” systems. I guess educators need to showcase personalized education so the ideas can spread. Can you share some more examples of this in action?

]]> By: Brunsell http://www.teachingscience20.com/2008/06/the-future-of-education-is-personalization/#comment-10 Brunsell Sat, 21 Jun 2008 15:07:59 +0000 http://www.ericbrunsell.com/?p=15#comment-10 Dale, thanks for the comment. I agree (mostly) with your comment about a teacher from 50 years ago having a difficult time in many modern classrooms. I'll start with this - Although a 1958 teacher might be uncomfortable with some of fhe modern "things," they could still "do their job" in a 2008 classroom. Education is continually changing and PROGRESSING. However, a teacher still can go in, force kids to sit quietly in neat rows, and never turn on the LCD projector or computer. The only problem they would face is the irritation from administrators that they were not taking electronic attendance. However, that isn't the purpose of my post. Instead, and perhaps what I didn't articulate, was the trend. When I started in a classroom 12 years ago, assessment was equated evaluative grading and we only talked about individualizing education when it came to an IEP for a student with special needs. Differentiation was what happened when planets formed, not something that was the focus of a hundred books and thousands of professional development sessions. Not only was one-size-fits-all the "norm," the only mainstream "reform" conversation was how to improve one-size-fits-all by developing and adhering to one-size-fits-all standards. Now, there is a much more vibrant discussion about personalizing education. Response to Intervention is pushing that discussion forward. Administrators (at least local to me) are looking for teachers that "understand" formative assessment and differentiation. One-size-fits-all is still the norm, but some schools and individual classrooms are doing things differently. The trend, and hopefully the future, is towards more personalization. Dale, thanks for the comment.
I agree (mostly) with your comment about a teacher from 50 years ago having a difficult time in many modern classrooms. I’ll start with this - Although a 1958 teacher might be uncomfortable with some of fhe modern “things,” they could still “do their job” in a 2008 classroom. Education is continually changing and PROGRESSING. However, a teacher still can go in, force kids to sit quietly in neat rows, and never turn on the LCD projector or computer. The only problem they would face is the irritation from administrators that they were not taking electronic attendance. However, that isn’t the purpose of my post.

Instead, and perhaps what I didn’t articulate, was the trend. When I started in a classroom 12 years ago, assessment was equated evaluative grading and we only talked about individualizing education when it came to an IEP for a student with special needs. Differentiation was what happened when planets formed, not something that was the focus of a hundred books and thousands of professional development sessions. Not only was one-size-fits-all the “norm,” the only mainstream “reform” conversation was how to improve one-size-fits-all by developing and adhering to one-size-fits-all standards.

Now, there is a much more vibrant discussion about personalizing education. Response to Intervention is pushing that discussion forward. Administrators (at least local to me) are looking for teachers that “understand” formative assessment and differentiation. One-size-fits-all is still the norm, but some schools and individual classrooms are doing things differently. The trend, and hopefully the future, is towards more personalization.

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