Early Stages
To support Compass to 2020 a working definition of personalized learning was collaboratively created by representatives from multiple central office departments based on a review of literature and feedback from a variety of stakeholders. The definition identified personalized learning as an approach to instructional design that involves tapping into what is most relevant to students and using this to partner with them in the learning process.
To deepen our understanding of personalized learning and the role of technology in supporting it, we initiated two paths for organizational learning. The first path involved inviting and selecting schools to serve as Digital Learning Anchor Schools where the specifics of device implementation and the utility of digital resources for supporting personalized learning could be studied in depth. The second path involved the creation of a new type of learning and leadership opportunity for teachers that invited them to use the definition of personalized learning as a launching point to make it visible in the classroom. |
Digital learning anchor schools
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Before the start of the 2015-2016 school year, schools were invited to apply to become a Digital Learning Anchor School. As a result of the application process, 11 schools were selected to form a cadre that would serve as model digital learning schools within the division to study the efficacy of a variety of digital devices and resources for positively impacting student learning. The intent was to use these schools to demonstrate how we might move the integration of technology from substitution (i.e., doing what we’ve always done but with technology) to redefinition (i.e., doing what couldn’t be done before without technology). It also provided an opportunity to focus on developing a strong infrastructure and mechanisms for providing technical support. We believed that focusing on both the meaningful integration of instructional technology and the system needed to support this digital transformation would enable us to identify ways to effectively support personalized learning at all levels.
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Design Fellows
In the spring of 2015, Dr. Spence, superintendent of Virginia Beach City Public Schools, announced a very special learning and leading opportunity: a call for teachers to serve as design fellows. Those selected were at the forefront of the division's focus on personalized learning. A total of 57 teachers and specialists were selected as design fellows and were empowered to tap into their creative potential to support the work of personalized learning in the division. In 2016, a second cohort of 73 teachers were added as design fellows.
The Design Fellows worked to identify various practices that aligned with personalized learning and focused on the key components of personalized learning: learning environment, personal pathways, and student ownership and agency. Through quarterly meetings this group of teacher leaders worked intensely to reflect on and share their progress.
This work was guided by the following questions:
The Design Fellows worked to identify various practices that aligned with personalized learning and focused on the key components of personalized learning: learning environment, personal pathways, and student ownership and agency. Through quarterly meetings this group of teacher leaders worked intensely to reflect on and share their progress.
This work was guided by the following questions:
- What does personalized learning look like in the classroom?
- How can I show others what personalized learning is?
- What do other teachers need to know and do to successfully implement personalized learning?
Converging Paths to Transformational LearninG
By the end of the 2015-2016 school year, several points of convergence had emerged from the work of the Digital Learning Anchor Schools and the Design Fellows. First was the growing understanding that the power of personalized learning lies in its ability to foster student agency; that is, its power lies in the ability to equip and empower students to make meaningful choices and take purposeful actions in support of their learning. A second point of convergence was the understanding that personalized learning requires transforming the learning process from a primarily teacher-driven endeavor to a student-centered enterprise. It requires teachers to partner with students and provide them with opportunities to direct their own learning and set their own goals.
Although the Design Fellows were not explicitly directed to integrate technology into their instructional design, most all of them did in meaningful ways to support personalized learning. The implication of their work and the work of the Digital Learning Anchor Schools was that transforming the learning process also requires efficient and effective uses of technology to meet students’ individual needs and provide them with the tools necessary for accessing, creating and sharing knowledge.
Ultimately, the largest contribution of the work of the Digital Learning Anchor Schools and the Design Fellows was the growing realization that the ultimate goal of the work was not personalized learning as the final outcome but personalized learning as a primary mechanism for truly transformational learning. It helped shape our understanding of transformational learning as learning that uses student-centered practices to foster student agency and provide students with the opportunity to create and apply new knowledge across contexts.
Although the Design Fellows were not explicitly directed to integrate technology into their instructional design, most all of them did in meaningful ways to support personalized learning. The implication of their work and the work of the Digital Learning Anchor Schools was that transforming the learning process also requires efficient and effective uses of technology to meet students’ individual needs and provide them with the tools necessary for accessing, creating and sharing knowledge.
Ultimately, the largest contribution of the work of the Digital Learning Anchor Schools and the Design Fellows was the growing realization that the ultimate goal of the work was not personalized learning as the final outcome but personalized learning as a primary mechanism for truly transformational learning. It helped shape our understanding of transformational learning as learning that uses student-centered practices to foster student agency and provide students with the opportunity to create and apply new knowledge across contexts.
To learn more about our journey and the interdependent elements essential to support transformational learning explore our white paper.