Personalized or Individualized?

Awesome Chart on Personalized Learning Vs Individualized Learning

On the face of it personalized and individualized learning are two sides of the same coin, a game of semantics and this is why many teachers still use them interchangeably as if they mean the same thing while in fact there is a noticeable difference between the two particularly in how each trend views the role of teachers and students, knowledge, and standards. David Warlick delved more into the nuances between these two seemingly identical concepts and came up with this wonderful chart. I invite you to have a look and as always share with us what you think of it. Enjoy.

Click here to see the chart in the original post...

1 to 1 Success

 5 Ideas Essential to #1to1Tech Learning Success

This article originally appeared at Partners in Learning - 1:1 Hot Topics. LIsa Nielsen

It’s no secret that successful 1:1 learning goes beyond simply getting devices into the hands of students  and teachers. Many schools have had 1:1 programs long enough that challenges have been identified. However, valuable solutions exist that can be put into place to help ensure such challenges don't get in the way of a successful 1:1 learning implementation. Here are five ideas essential to 1:1 learning success

1) Student, not device, driven

• Start with students and learning, Put them front and center. Then determine what devices and resources will best meet the need. By doing this we alleviate challenges that teachers may encounter later on around not having the proper tools for learning goals. For example, a math teacher may find&nbsp it important to have a tablet and Geometer's Sketchpad for her class, while an English teacher who supports students in creating videos and PSAs might want a device and software that have heavy movie-making functionality.

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Moving Away from Coverage to Learning

A simple move to avoid ‘coverage’ and make time for more learning

Posted by grantwiggins


This, despite the fact that we all know, at some level, that it is not the ‘teaching’ that causes learning but the attempts by the learner to learn that causes learning; and that the 1st attempt may not be successful. The importance of feedback and its use, the idea that a key concept or skill is rarely learned at the first go, the need to ferret out and address misconceptions – all of what we know about optimal learning is far too easily trumped by a syllabus, course framework, or unit plan that says: we have to move on to the next topic!
So, here’s a simple move in four parts that we have used in building units and courses for clients that ‘tricks’ you psychologically into giving students more needed opportunities to learn important things – without feeling stressed about it:

1. Part 1: Build in and identify in your map/syllabus/unit/lesson plan what we call white space. White space is a placeholder for any results that are likely to occur that require slowing down or re-teaching or re-practicing. Practically speaking, each week has a half-period or a whole-period built into the week’s plan for such adjustment.

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Project Based Learning

PBL: Managing the mushy middle

Posted on September 4, 2013 by biancah80 on Inquire Within

Everyone pretty much agrees that the most troubling and challenging aspect of PBL is the actual process of running a project. At our recent Project Learning Swap Meet in Sydney, Mike Wheadon made the insightful point that many teachers know what happens at the beginning (the project launch and the DQ) and the end (the celebration of learning) but many are still fuzzy about what happens in the middle. I nicknamed this the ‘mushy middle’ and it became a repeated metaphor that we returned to throughout the day. Before the Swap Meet, I put together a small booklet of my ‘go to’ resources for managing the mushy middle of project-learning. Even though these are resources that I have created and/or used for many projects, different resources work better with different students. Remember that it’s always about context – just try something with your students and if it doesn’t work, evaluate why and then try again or try something different. I wanted to share those resources with those of you who might similarly be struggling with the question, ‘How does PBL work day-to-day in the classroom?’. I sense that this concern is mostly to do with managing team-work (which is really bloody hard and I certainly don’t have the answer … just ask my students!) and the nature of assessment. There really isn’t one way to approach either of these issues – as I said above, it’s very much about trial and error, taking risks and being confident to discuss the problems with your students. I know this is very hard to do, but it is necessary to embrace the fact that PBL is essentially a messy process where the best thing a teacher can do is step out of the way and let kids work things out for themselves. Letting go can be very stressful for teachers, but nothing can replace the sense of liberation you will experience once you do, I promise.

NOTE: These resources are not in any particular order … just in case you read into how I upload them, lol.

Click here to see the resources!

Thinking About iPads

What the iPad Is and What it Isn’t

on the Langwitches Blog

As teachers are seeing more and more iPads in education and either using their own devices or being given a teacher iPad or a class set, it is important to realize what the iPad is and what it isn’t.
The first realization needs to be that the iPad is not (yet) intended to be a replacement for a laptop. It falls short in several areas when comparing it with a laptop, such as:

• memory storage
• ability to allow for easy use of multiple users
• heavy typing tasks
• traditional software programs such as Microsoft Office, Adobe Photoshop, etc.

There's more! Click here to read it.

SAMR Pedegogy Wheel for Apps!

From Edudemic.

Click here to download the PDF.

The Padagogy Wheel by Allan Carrington is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License.  Based on a work at http://tinyurl.com/bloomsblog.

Cool Apps for Flipping Your Classroom

5 Less-Known iPad Apps For The Flipped Classroom

05/20/2013, TeachThought Staff

Nothing can replace the physical presence of a teacher. But with so much technology available these days, some teachers and professors are choosing a different way to structure their classes by flipping them.

A flipped classroom occurs when a teacher flips the traditional class method (lectures taught in class, homework done at home) to allow students to watch lectures at home and do homework and activities in class. This enables the teacher to assist in the application of the lessons instead of teaching the lesson in person. But this doesn’t mean the teacher abandons the student and says “you’re on your own from here.” Many teachers and professors are using a number of different apps to teach students the lesson material or enable them to learn it on their own.

Here are just five iPad apps you can use to flip your classroom.

Click here to continue reading and to see the apps!

Good List of Apps

The 70 Best Apps For Teachers And Students

By Jeff Dunn on September 4, 2013@edudemic

Ready for school? Let’s examine some of the featured apps that you should be using this year. From time-saving tools to reading helpers, there are apps that do just about anything. Rather than have you sort through the endless parade of app icons, we’ve done the hard part for you. If you’re looking for some useful tools for the classroom, these apps are for you.

Most are available for both iOS and Android operating systems, so don’t sweat that part. Each app is useful in its own right, but definitely think about which app would work best for you in particular. For example, the productivity app ‘Clear’ lets you keep a list of things that you need to do. If that’s not your classroom’s style (perhaps you have a flipped classroom where the students run the day a bit more?) then you may not need Clear.

However, most of these  apps are free so they’re at least worth downloading and trying. Consider this the ‘best of’ list where we present some of the best apps being used in classrooms around the world. In any case, on with the apps!

Click here to see the list of apps!