All month, we’ve been asking people to #SharethePLlove and let us know their favorite things about personalized learning. We’ve heard from so many educators and learners, and we thank everyone for their reflections! We’re ending the month by sharing what we love best about personalized learning. We encourage you to keep the PL love going by sharing your thoughts in the comments below.
Ryan: “You can do it” and “I believe in you” are the two things I would like every child to hear each, and every, day. What I love about personalized learning is that at the very heart of the approach is a belief that ALL learners can do it, and that together we find a way! Most importantly, a criteria for PL effectiveness emerges when a powerful learner says, “Can I show you what I learned about?”
Christina: I value that personalized learning allows learners of all ages to recognize and understand their uniqueness, talents, skills, dreams, strengths, and areas for growth and empowers them to utilize this understanding to advocate for their learning needs, as well as use this knowledge to understand the impact they have on the community around them. I also love that personalized learning connects learning in schools to the rest of the world, building connections and helping learners see the relevancy in what they are learning and that learning is not something that stops when you walk out of the school doors at the end of the day. I love the energy, excitement, challenge, self-reflection, and wonder!
Jim: I love that personalized learning respects the learner, learning and educators who nurture and support the process of learning. I love that personalized learning is about building the capacity and passion for learning, not just transferring content and skills from educators to students. As a result, learners and educators can be co-designers, co-investors and co-managers in a journey to the future.
Diane: What I love about personalized learning is that it facilitates the development of success skills, strategies and dispositions so that ALL learners can become their own best teacher. As one student shared, “I figured out that I learn differently. I now know what I need to do to learn and now nothing can stop me.” Positioning students at the center of their learning conveys to them that they are unique, valued, important, worthy and have a genius they bring to the world. I love the fact that when you personalize learning, every learner is provided an opportunity to be successful. Every kid deserves it!
Kate: Personalized learning sparks a passion and love for knowledge in our learners. I love that it positions the child at the center of their learning environment, and it allows them to become an active decision maker in shaping their own educational experiences. Personalized learning nurtures the natural curiosity we are born with, and instills in our students the learner skills needed to be successful throughout life. Personalized learning develops agency and empowers young minds to be learners for life.
Teresa: I love that we are beginning to recognize that authentic learning can and does occur anywhere, anytime and not just in the classroom. Teachers who leverage that reality and use it to nurture ownership of learning, not just the acquisition of knowledge, are creating a better future for all of us.
Monica: What I love about personalized learning is that it encourages ALL learners to reflect on who they are and how they learn best. It’s exciting to watch the transformation as confidence, commitment and passion flourish.
Laura: It may seem obvious, but what I love most about personalized learning is that it recognizes and honors each learner as an individual with their own readiness, needs, strengths and interests. As the mother of two grown children who were very different learners, I find myself wishing often that they had been able to experience personalized learning. I imagine how much farther and deeper they could have gone – and how much more joy in learning they could have experienced – had they been able to deeply explore topics they were passionate about and decide for themselves how they were going to “show what they know.”