We are excitedly anticipating next week’s Youth Summit at Carroll University. Over one hundred middle and high school students have already committed to attend the half-day gathering. Students are being provided a link to a video by Sir Ken Robinson in advance of the gathering to stimulate their thinking and prepare them for the event.
This is the first large scale gathering of students around education transformation and personalized learning since April of 2010. So, we plan to share with students ideas and emerging practices from across CESA #1 that are moving education and learning away from the traditional “batch processing” approach and toward a customized/personalized experience. We will also be looking for their reactions and ideas.
Students will have the opportunity to register their opinions using audience response technology and then engage in conversation around their responses. Meanwhile, we will be compiling a database of perspectives and preferences from learners about our current work and where it might lead in the future.
A panel of students who are already experiencing a more personalized learning environment will share their reflections and observations with attendees. Following the presentations of student panel members, participants will have an opportunity to interact with the panel in a Q and A session.
In addition, students will view a video on personalized learning, then react to what they have seen and provide advice regarding how they would like to see the ideas and concepts applied in their learning environment. We anticipate that the input we receive from students will provide valuable guidance as we continue planning as a region and further develop a model for personalizing learning at scale.