Pathways To Personalized Learning

7/27/2019 Pathways To Personalized Learning

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Pathways toPersonalized Learning

Cynthia W

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2013 .Republic. All Rights ReseRve

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3/21

When Cynthia White became principal at

Cleveland Elementary in Santa Barbara,

Cali., in 2012, she quickly went to work

to improve academic perormance at the time, the

school was the second-lowest perorming in the county.

One o the rst academic areas she addressed

was math instruction. White piloted a game-like,

personalized learning program or a month, then

oered it to all classes in the school except or one

that was tablet only (the program was not avail-

able in tablet version). In the beginning, teachers

were underwhelmed. Ater the rst month in

my pilot, my teachers said, We dont get it. We

dont see whats really happening, says White.

White and the teachers looked at the pro-

gram reports and saw that students had many

oundational gaps. Even students in the third

grade were missing kindergarten-level concepts,

making it unrealistic to expect an immedi-

ate leap to third-grade math perormance.

By the end o the second month, as those gaps

began to be lled, the teachers noticed the students

were more engaged and on task with math lessons,

and the teachers started to see how intelligent

sotware works with students, says White.

To help teachers understand how to use

data rom the program, White paid one tech-

savvy teacher to help train the others. By theend o the school year, the math program

was the most preerred activity or students

over and above every other program.

A higher interest in math is probably the great-

est outcome above and beyond scores, says White.

At least 30 percent o students began using the

program at home because they enjoyed it so much.

The sotware White chose is geared to grades

K through 5. However, she suggested its use to

a riend who is a junior high school principal.

I told her, Youve got students coming in to

your junior high who are not perorming at

th-grade level. How are you lling in those

gaps? Who is working with those students?

Ater her riend tried the program, she called

White with an update. She said one o her students

who tried and tried but was just not getting math

came out o a computer lab tutoring session at the end

o the school day and ran all the way down the hall

calling out to her: I get math! I get it! I get math! 1

This is just one picture o personalized learn-ing an approach to education that ties learning

to an individual students strengths, weaknesses

and interests; that oten lets the student work

at his or her own pace, and, where possible,

allows students to direct their own lessons.

Personalized learning is in stark contrast to the

traditional, one-size-ts-all model o education

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where students are assigned to a grade level and

attend class or an allotted amount o time each

day. Traditionally, these students are taught the

same curriculum at the same time in the same

manner, without regard to individual dierences.

While most schools still operate in this tradi-

tional manner, personalized learning is an emerging

educational approach that is being adopted in

K-12 and higher education classrooms. It has been

endorsed by the U.S. Department o Education,

which gave priority in recent Race to the Top awards

to applicants that had developed personalized

instructional plans.2 Additionally, personalized

learning environments were predicted to be widelyadopted within the next two to three years by the

New Media Consortiums 2012 Horizon Report.3

New research rom the Center or Digital Educa-

tion (CDE) shows that personalized learning is not

yet widespread but it is a top priority or educators

and administrators at all levels o education. In the

2013 survey commissioned or this Special Report,

out o 120 K-20 education ocials, 63 percent said

creating a personalized learning environment was

a top priority or their education institutions.

This CDE Special Report looks at thepersonalized learning movement sweeping

through K-20 education. It will present research

and rsthand accounts o how personalized

learning is transorming the way we have

traditionally viewed the educational model,

and how leaders can overcome challenges to

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4/21

From the Publisher

When we asked educators in the CDE survey

to rank the benets o personalized

learning, increased student engagement

was by ar the top benet, chosen by 69 percent

o respondents. Other advantages include greater

student retention (39 percent), improved test scores

(28 percent), higher grades (22 percent) and better

attendance (22 percent).

More than hal o respondents who had already

instituted some orm o personalized learning

said it had improved the perormance o sta and

administration with 8 percent strongly agreeing

and 43 percent agreeing. Similarly, when asked what

their top reason would be to transition to a personal-

ized learning environment, our respondents chose

improved student outcomes (40 percent). Increased

student engagement was second at 25 percent. Also

important: student retention (13 percent) and emerg-

ing technologies now making personalized learning

capabilities possible (13 percent).

Project RED, an organization that conducts

studies on what makes technology implementations

successul, ound that intervention classes or English

Language Learners, students in Title I schools,

special education students and struggling readers

were especially successul when transormed with

technology that allowed students to move at their

own pace, such as with electronic curriculum.6

Francis (Skip) Fennell, an endowed proessor o

education and graduate and proessional studies at Mc-Daniel College in Westminster, Md., and past president

o the National Council o Teachers o Mathematics,

says adaptive digital math programs oer advantages

over typical teaching techniques involving mathematics.

(Adaptive or intelligent learning sotware adapts to a

students perormance while the program is in progress,

oering dierent lessons or activities depending on

a students responses in order to better address each

students individual strengths and weaknesses.)

Such programs, says Fennell, meet the interests

and the comort level, and what students expect in

terms o using technology as a tool to help them learn.

Every student can be engaged.

Students can work with digital manipulatives, or

visual ways o seeing how math concepts and objects

relate to each other. But whats most important, says Fen-

nell, is the personalization: letting students start where

they need to start and then move along at their own pace.

While personalized instruction has been in use or

years, says Fennell, with emerging technology, its

just better and aster and more engaging or students.

Some digital programs use g ame-like interaces,

creating a competitive, entertaining atmosphere or

learning to occur. It will keep them on task, whereas,

Hey, I want you to do three rows o problems in the

book isnt necessarily as exciting, says Fennell.7

Successul personalized instruction helps students

develop the desire to learn or the sake o learning, adds

Eugene Rutz, academic director at the University o

Cincinnati College o Engineering & Applied Science.

The whole idea o student-centered pedagogy is that

when students are engaged and interested in learning

the content because they are doing something that they

view as worthwhile, it leads to greater intrinsic motiva-

tion, says Rutz. Grades are great extrinsic motivation,

but what we really all hope or is someone to say, I want

to do this because o what I can achieve. I believe these

more personalized learning environments enable that

to happen or a greater number o students.8

Many examples exist that show how a personal-

ized approach to learning engages students and

improves achievement. Here are just a ew:

Oneofthemostwell-knownmodelsofpersonalized

learning is New York Citys School o One, a math

education program in three city schools that gives

students a personalized playlist o activities to com-

plete each day based on each students perormance

and other measures. By the end o its second year,

the schools were posting prociency gains ar ahead

o the city and other charter schools. 9 A spin-o

program, Teach or One: Math, is being taught at

schools in Chicago and Washington, D.C. Seventh

graders in one o the Chicago schools gained 18

months o learning progress in less than a year.10

AtHunterdonCentralRegionalHighSchoolin

New Jersey, students work with teachers to create

their own personalized learning plans, choosing

what texts to read, activities to accomplish and

media to use in order to meet course objectives. 11

FreshmenchemistrystudentsatNewMexico

State University began using an online, interac-

tive, multimedia-based learning program in

2012 to supplement classroom instruction. The

program adapts to multiple learning styles and

dierent learning levels. Students passing rates

jumped rom an average o 64 percent beore the

program to 73 percent ater, with ewer dropping

the course and more earning an A grade. 12

HuntsvilleCitySchoolsinAlabamaimplementeda 1:1 mobile device program in 2012 and replaced

textbooks with interactive, personalized digital

curriculum. Students access their digital content

anywhere, anytime and are logging in as oten

outside school as during school hours. 13 Test scores

are up (reading by 18 percent and math by 27

percent) and discipline issues have declined. 14

PassaicCitySchoolsinNewJerseyisimplement-

ing a district-wide 1:1 laptop program in 2013. A

spring 2013 pilot at Lincoln Middle School showed

the promise o this new approach. Immediately,

student engagement levels increased dramatically,

says Joanna Antoniou, technology coordinator at the

school. Teachers said, My kids are so much more

engaged now even the ones who didnt want to be

in class beore, they are the rst ones in.15

This is the potential or personalized learning.

But considering that 43 percent o respondents to

CDEs survey said that only 25 percent or less o

their students have access to a personalized learning

environment, whats needed or widespread adop-

tion? Following is a look at the new and emerging

technologies that are helping bring personalized

learning to the oreront.n

the Promise

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Sour: cde Prsonaiz larning Survy, 2013



5/21

ReAl Responses topeRsonAlized leARning

The biggest drawback

is the amout o time that

woud be required to attai

mastery o aciitatig a

persoaized earig

eviromet or teachers.

I a coege cass, it is

too dicut to cover the

required materia i a

imited amout o time.

Especiay i you aso have

to accommodate persoa

modes o earig. The cuture

o a ecture is igraied i

too may proessors.

The iabiity o the istitutio

to chage cuturay.

real resPonses

thE CDE suRvEy askED foR opEn-EnDED CommEnts about the beefts ad

chaeges o persoaized earig. Here is what some o the respodets had to say:

StudentSare alloWedto exPloretoPicS otheir choice,reSultingin higherlearning andPerSonalizedattention.

Studets ca ear better

whe they have a had i

their uture ad what theyhope to accompish.

Beefts are may, especiay

or high achievers. For that

group, persoaized earig

ca keep them egaged.

Deveopig a cuture

amog educators that

aows or creative essos

ad iovative earig

eviromets.

Studets are defitey more

egaged ad proud to show

what theyve accompished

with their mobie devices.

The mai beeft

o a persoaized

earig evirometis its portabiity ito

the rea word. With a

persoaized earig

eviromet, studets

ear i schoo much

i the same way

they ear outside o

the cassroom.

Greater studet

retetio o materia

ad ess apathy

toward earig.

not enough technologyor outdated technology moSt teacherS havehad little or no trainingin the emergingtechnology.

Reies o studets to stay

motivated ad iteractive

which is a issue to a

subset o studets.

As a teacher, the mai

drawback is that I wio oger kow what my

roe is. This ambiguity

wi make it hard or me

to justiy my existece

i the ew paradigm.

Decreased iteractio

with eow studets

ca be a serious

drawback i studets

are isoated.

Cost is the greatestdrawback, aog

with the we have

ever doe it this

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BEnEFITS:

CHAllEnGES:


6/21

Digital ContEnt, inCluDing aDaptivE

softwaRE. Educational sotware is being trans-

ormed by the advent o adaptive learning technolo-

gies programs that capture everything a student

does, including scores, speed and accuracy, delays,

lags, drop-os and keystrokes. These ormative as-

sessments are collected by the program and then used

to customize learning on the fy, giving students new

tasks based on results, interests and learning style.

Adaptive learning programs can identiy

students who could be placed in small g roups

or specialized instruction. For instance, all

students who struggle with a par ticular element

o a lesson can be grouped together (allowing

other students to work on other concepts).

Programs also exist or students with

special needs. Students social-emotional

competencies, such as developing empathy or

anger management techniques, can be taught via

online mobile apps. Because students may act

out or various reasons, targeted lessons, aimed

at the situation underlying the behavior, can

be more eective. Such program interventions

can also ree up school sta to work in person

with students with more serious concerns.

In years past, digital content came in bundles

that were dicult to break apart. Today,

smaller chunks o content learning objects

or modules are available, including ree and

open source options. This gives educators more

fexible (and aordable) content choices.

Cynthia White, the principal at Cleveland

Elementary School in Santa Barbara, Cali., mentioned

previously, worked as a curriculum director or her

new technologies

the increase in mobile devices, digital

content, data analytics, video tools and

other technologies have helped make

personalized learning much easier to accomplish.

Adaptive learning progra ms hone in on a users

personal interests, learning styles and gaps in

knowledge, using engaging, oten game-based

platorms to help students grasp new material.

And just as classroom technologies have been

advancing, so have the administrative tools

necessary to enable individualized learning.

Heres a look at some o the top technologies

ostering the shit to personalized instruction.

mobilE DEviCEs.An increasing number o

institutions are adopting bring-your-own-device

(BYOD) strategies to make 1:1 device-to-student

ratios a reality. Our CDE survey ound that 27

percent o respondents oer a BYOD environment

and/or have a 1:1 program already in place.

Tablet adoption is steadily on the rise

with thousands o educational apps available,

both open source and or a ee. Some new

tablets on the market have been customized

especially or use in education, with an interace

designed just or students and instructors. They

can be personalized to allow instructors to

easily transer digital content to st udents on an

as-needed basis. The secure, Childrens Internet

Protection Act (CIPA)-compliant devices are

Internet-ltered both inside and outside school;

inappropriate apps are blocked, and instructors

can manage what students are doing during class.

In Auburn, Maine, kindergarten students are

given tablets to use on a 1:1 basis. This change, a long

with a more personalized approach to teaching

(including more small groups and one-on-one teach-

ing), is being credited with a rise in st udent scores.

From all 2011 to spring 2012, kindergartners read-

ing scores rose 48 percent. When the kindergartners

entered rst grade in all 2 012, more were prepared

in reading, math and phonics than in the past. 16

At Franklin Elementary School in Ludington,

Mich., second-grade students were provided with

tablets. Test scores rose as a result: Math scores

were 6 percent higher than the district average,

as well as 6 percent higher than in a previous year

without tablets; reading scores were 9 percent

higher than the district average and 16 percent

higher than a previous class without tablets. 17

The University o South Carolina School o

Medicine - Greenville issues all medical studentsa laptop, tablet and classroom response device so

students can use the schools online curriculum,

testing and other interactive technologies. 18 Seton

Hill University gives tablets to all ull-time students

and laptops to ull-time reshmen to help students be

better prepared or their careers; instructors prepare

lessons incorporating mobile learning tools.19

hoW peRsonAlizedleARning is suppoRtedby neW technologies

in auBurn, maine,

a 1:1 taBlet initiativeand PerSonalizedinStruction helPedraiSe Kindergartnerreading ScoreS By48 Percent in undera year.

27%22%

8%

uSe o alternativeinStructionmodelS (i.e.

Blended /liPPedclaSSroomS)

curriculumtailored toindividual

Student needS

Byodenvironmentor StudentSand aculty

1:1 device -to-Student ratio

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7/21

instructors. A medical student studying a particular

type o laparoscopic surgery, or example, could

collate a variety o instructional videos in one place.

Video learning objects can also have data

tracking enabled, so that educators can see which

students watched which segments o which

videos and how supplemental material was ac-

cessed. This type o usage statistic can be linked

to student perormance so instructors can see the

relationship. IT departments can also use this

tracking inormation to determine usage needs.

Instructors can use data to personalize uture

lectures by assessing i students had trouble with

particular concepts perhaps breaking down a

lesson into a smaller video that describes a topic

in more detail or in a dierent way. Instructors

who otherwise only interact virtually with their

students can use the ace-to-ace opportuni-

ties videoconerencing provides to get a better

handle on what engages individual students.

Educators can also use captured lectures,

webinars and video tutorials or proessional

development. Teachers at Lincoln Middle School

in Passaic, N.J., are using their laptops to cre-

ate screencasts or tutorials, says Technology

Coordinator Joanna Antoniou. Teachers are also

letting students make tutorials. Students explaining

something to other students is very powerul; they

preer to hear it rom a peer versus an adult and

learn at a much deeper level when asked to present.

pRojECtoRs, intERaCtivE whitEboaRDs

anD smaRt tablEs. Interactive whiteboards

help meet dierent learning styles by being both

visual and tactile. Students can use these touch-

screen devices whether they are positioned onthe wall or on a table. Some smart tables on the

market work by having six tablets connected on the

surace o the table that can share data back and

orth. Students can work on small, project-based

tasks together, learning collaborative skills.

Material can be sent wirelessly rom tablets or

other mobile devices to an interactive whiteboard

or viewing by the entire class. A student

presentation might be shared this way, as well

as digital content provided by the instructor.

Students can take non-digital materials theyve

created a drawing or graph, or example

and display this with a document camera and

projector. At Lincoln Middle School, teachers

and students can dock their laptops at a podium

and have content automatically displayed on

interactive whiteboards, says Antoniou.

Goshen College in Indiana gives all ul l-time

reshmen tablets to use or core courses. In structors

are also equipped with tablets and are able to use

them to project and annotate presentations on

classroom interactive whiteboards. One instructor

describes moving about her classroom as students

work, while continuing to control the presentation

remotely on her tablet. The ability to stay mobile

while teaching students allows instructors to spend

more one-on-one time with individual students.

Im more ecient because I no longer have

to run back and orth rom the students to theprojector, says Proessor Christine Willard

Noria. Now that Im mobile in the classroom,

I have a closer presence to my students.22

soCial nEtwoRking/CollaboRation.

Digital learning programs can include social

media interaction modules that allow st udents

StudentS exPlainingSomething to otherStudentS iS veryPoWerul; they Preerto hear it rom a PeerverSuS an adult andlearn at a much deePerlevel When aSKed toPreSent.

joanna antoniou, technology coordinator,

lincoln middle School, n.J.

Ann

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district and became a savvy digital content shopper.

She cautions buyers to watch out or adaptive

sotware that is lacking in key eatures. Some

have a lot o gaming aspects to t hem and not a lot o

educational oundation. Some have a lot o educational

oundation but they look like online worksheets, so

theres not motivation and interest, says White.

viDEoConfEREnCing, lECtuRE CaptuRE

anD sCREEnCasts. Students at Eastern New

Mexico University taking a course in LatinAmerican storytelling recently spent two hours

in a live, virtual s ession with author Brianda

Domecq, asking her questions and exploring ideas

the class had touched on in their readings. Hands

down, it was their single avorite, most enriching

experience in the class, says Mary Ayala, dean

o the College o Liberal Arts. For students rom

very rural and provincial backgrounds, this was

an experience they would normally not have.20

Videoconerencing can provide many such

benets, but it can also be used to provide

non-academic services to students. At Wright

State University in Ohio, dea students receive

drug and alcohol counseling via video, relying

on high-quality video transmission to use sign

language to communicate with counselors.21

Video presentations and lectures can be

captured and recorded or later v iewing. Newtechnologies allow this captured material to be

tagged, so that viewers can jump to specic spots

o interest. Speakers can also be viewed at aster

or slower speeds, ideal or reviewing lectures.

Students can create customized catalogues o

video content meaningul to them, using captured

(and searchable) lectures and materials provided by

Center for Digital eDuCation | speCenter for Digital eDuCation | speCial report


8/21

to conduct peer-to-peer learning. Instructors

can also be a par t o these orums.

At Florida Virtual School, teachers set up Face-

book pages or their students to communicate with

them but the challenge is to keep up with stu-

dents changing preerences in social media. This

continues to evolve as we learn where students are,

says Jodi Marshall, vice president o instruction.

For example, now students are saying Facebook

is or old people! Similarly, the school used to

communicate with students via calls and email,

but now many students preer text messages.23

At Eastern New Mexico University, aculty

meet virtually with students inside and outside o

class using online orums such as Google hangouts,

group Skype and Wimba. Instructors oten meet

with groups o students and answer questions

collectively. Not only has this reduced having to

repeat the same answers in individual emails,

says Dean o the College o Liberal ArtsAyala,

but instructors really like the interactivity. It also

allows instructors to spend more time ocused on

certain areas o a lesson in class to ensure every

student has an understanding beore moving on.

fEEDbaCk systEms. Instructors can receive

real-time eedback via students using handheld

clickers or clicker programs on mobile devices.

Results can be used to help the instructor

personalize instruction, with students perhaps

divided into activity groups based on mastery.

Using handheld eedback devices helped

low-to average-achieving students make three

to our months o extra progress each year,

according to a study issued by York University in

September 2012. Researchers ound that wheneedback technology was integrated into teaching

and learning, students became more engaged

and their achievement levels increased. 24 The

research echoes earlier studies showing that the

use o interactive whiteboards was associated

with a 16-point gain in achievement with

clickers added, this jumped to 26 points.25

Clickers can be attached to lanyards and

worn around students necks or axed to

desks. Clicker apps on phones and tablets let

students provide even more eedback to an

instructor. Students might be asked to solve a

problem using a eedback app; the instructor

would see not just the answer, but thumbnail

images o the work students are completing.

moDulEs to managE stuDEnt Data.

One new type o cloud-based sotware is

geovisual analytics. In other words, a solution

that helps educators interpret a variety o data

in an integrated way. For example, the system

can merge together maps with multiple types

o data: One might show district test scores

by neighborhood along with a layer showing

where the WiFi access points in a district are

and another layer showing where student

homes with Internet access are located. This

way, administrators could see patterns and

perhaps work with a community partner to

provide more computer time or students.

New orms o data analytics can help break

down data silos, integrating social welare data,

health inormation and test scores, or insta nce.

Contacts can be made on a selected, ltered

basis, with email, snail mail or texts sent to

just the aected students and their amilies.

With personalized learning evolving so

quickly and more data about students becoming

available through digital learning programs,

it is key to have administrative tools that

can handle this data and make it meaningul

or educators and decision-makers.

Campus managEmEnt systEms. A learning

management system (LMS) is an essential

tool that can be used by instructors to collate

student data and other analytics. These types o

campus management systems can not only see

what students are doing on their devices at a ny

given time, but can also be used to distribute

apps and other material. They are critical to an

eective personalized learning environment.

At the post-secondary level, most institutions

use LMSs that have built-in analytics to

show how students are progressing. I

assessments are included in the LMS, the

instructor can gauge where students are

and use this data in the classroom to group

students together and detect patterns.

Jim Jorstad, director o academic technology

services at the University o Wisconsin - La Crosse,

says administrators must be aware o evolving

LMS technology. Schools need to be abreast

o what they are using now and think about

how that is going to be usable in the next two to

three years, he says. When groups are signing

long-term contracts, it might make aculty eel

comortable and you might be able to work a good

nancial deal, but the technology changes so much

that I think schools need to be pretty nimble.

Jorstad suggests being aware o new products

that might better serve your institutions needs

and piloting them to see what works.26

Data analytiCs anD DashboaRDs. The

New Media Consortiums 2013 Horizon Report

on trends in higher education warns: The biggest

barrier to personalized learning is that scientic,

data-driven approaches to efectively acilitate

personalization have only recently begun to

emerge; learning analytics, or example, is still

in the very nascent stage o implementation

and adoption within higher education.27

Indeed, data analytics sotware is critical

to the implementation o personalized learn-

ing providing instructors know how to use it.The sotware piece gives us a little more

hard data, so immediately you can see what

the students are doing, says Cleveland

Elementarys Cynthia White. You can see

how long the students are spending on the

program and i they are engaged. You can tell

when they signed in and out and what they

did. For busy teachers in a classroom, this is

important inormation, since they cant watch

each child during an entire class session.

Its also key or teachers to know i a student

is only staying in a avorite online corner o

a program, completing activities he or she is

comortable with, says White. I this happens,

teachers can set up restrictions so students are

required to choose a variety o program activities.

A user-riendly dashboard helps instructors

interpret and act on the data they are receiving.

One dashboard on the market today lets them see

everything students are doing remotely across all

applications, along with their data, which helps

in student consultations and lesson planning.

Data is one o the biggest beneits o

technology because you can instantly look and

see where the gaps are. In the past it took a bit

o work or the teacher to see what studentswere missing, says John Logan, vice president

o curriculum product innovation or Florida

Virtual School. Now you c an see that on th is

benchmark, the y havent quite got the ma stery

they need. I think data is going to be a huge part

o learning in the uture, both in brick-and-

mortar classrooms and virtual classrooms.28n

data iS one o theBiggeSt BeneitS otechnology BecauSeyou can inStantly looKand See Where the gaPSare. i thinK data iS goingto Be a huge Part olearning in the uture,Both in BricK-and-mortar claSSroomS andvirtual claSSroomS.

john logan, vice PreSident ocurriculum Product innovation,

lorida virtual School



9/21

beore an institution can shit to a ully

personalized learning environment and

take advantage o any o the technologies

outlined previously, some preparatory steps need to

take place. Schools and colleges must assess their

technical ramework the inrastructure needed

to support increased online demand to make

sure it is strong enough. Another consideration is

the physical structure: whether classrooms and

the urnishings within them have been optimized

to allow individualized instruction to fourish.

They also need to address new models o learning,

teaching and assessing student progress.

irrcre/it Rede

Much o the promise o personalized learning

depends on bandwidth to handle multiple

multimedia streams, including wireless network

connections or mobile devices. However, up to

80 percent o school districts dont have sucient

capacity, according to the ederal government.

In June 2013, the Obama administration called on

the Federal Communications Commission to build

high-speed digital connections to Americas schools

and libraries, with the goal o having 99 percent

o schools connected within ve years to next-generation broadband and high-speed WiFi (at speeds

no less than 100 Mbps and with a target o 1 Gbps).

Obama called or adjustments to the ederal E-Rate

program to provide more unding or these upgrades

much needed, since, according to the White House,

ewer than 20 percent o educators say their schools

Internet connection meets their teaching needs.

This ConnectED initiative also calls or more

teacher training. Businesses and communities, as

well as districts and schools, were asked to support

a vision o more technology in the classroom to

drive empowered, more personalized learning.29

Other ways schools can nd unding or inra-

structure improvements include private grants,

partnerships with other districts and educational

institutions, and converting print textbook initia-

tives to digital content.

As part o readying instit utions or the infux

o mobile devices, IT departments also need

to be concerned with security measures

authentication processes, access control, identity

management, privacy protection and mobile

device management.

Some new tablets designed exclusively or

educational use, or example, have authentication

that occurs via QR codes. On rst use o the device,

the teacher or student presses a button, causing

a camera app to launch; the QR code is scanned,

credentials are transmitted and then a secure

connection is made.

Mobile device management can be tricky, es-

pecially with consumer-level tablets not designed

or large-scale institutional use. There are also

challenges in a BYOD environment, with a variety

o devices accessing networks. However, programs

exist to help IT track and manage multiple devices.

Additionally, as more

education institutions turn

to cloud apps and solutions

to provide personalized

learning, they have to

ensure cloud security.

Education institutionsneed to make sure they

have a ull understanding

o external mandates or

protecting inormation in

the cloud, and how cloud

service providers will com-

ply with these mandates.

PreParing the way

Many service providers have cloud-specic solutions

to ease security concerns, including encryption,

authentication and data loss prevention.

Data storage is another issue, especially given

the increase in the amount o data collected by

newer programs and technologies. Big data is

presenting challenges or institutions as they gure

out where and how to store it. A var iety o options

exist, including cloud-based data storage services.

bd d Cr Rercr

Reorming the way students learn also means

reshaping the places in which they learn. More

creative, open, fexible spaces can make individual-

ized learning easier to achieve. Some institutions

are doing this by building or remodeling structures;

others are replacing or rearranging urniture, add-

ing technologies such as whiteboard walls.

fuRnituRE. New chairs have been designed or

fexible classrooms, allowing students to glide in and

out o various groupings. One such wheeled chair

has a circular shel on the bottom where students

can put backpacks and other belongings, along with

a swiveling seat and swiveling work surace.

Another alternative: no chairs. Fourth graders

at Vega Elementary School in Texas, perch on

stability balls, which teachers say improve student

attention (as well as posture). 30 Or, students might

use high desks with no chairs.

Desks can come with inputs or laptop connectiv-

ity, power connections or charging and wheels or

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10/21

in the engineering learning center, which is equipped

with walls comprised o whiteboarded glass on which

students can write. The University o Wisconsin

La Crosse remodeled its library so that the rst foor

includes fexible urniture to allow students to work in

groups; the second foor, used by education students,

has a new learning studio equipped or telepresence,

with a content recorder, smart tables and interac-

tive whiteboards that can be adjusted vertically to

accommodate the height o young children who attend

classes taught by education students.

arce ler

Changing the physical and technological

structure o a school building is important to the

success o a transition to personalized learning.

But perhaps even more key is changing the culture

o learning at an institution shiting rom a

teacher-centered to a student-centered model, with

education occurring at a students own pace and

customized to his or her needs. This can mean shits

to models such as fipped classrooms, blended or

ully online learning, and other new methods.

lEaRning moDalitiEs anD CuRRiCulum.

The traditional model o instruction, with

K-12 students in class six hours a day or higher

education students attending college or semesters

at a time, is being up-ended by more student-

centered, technology-enabled approaches to

learning. Online instruction continues to i ncrease

in popularity, as does hybrid and blended learning,

which combines both virtual and in-person

instruction. These learning models enable students

to progress at their own pace, dig deeper into areas

o their preerences and access content when andwhere it is convenient or them.

Michael Horn o the Clayton Christensen

Institute predicts online learning will exist in

some orm in 50 percent o high school courses

by 2019.33 Virginia, Idaho, Alabama, Florida and

Michigan already require students to take at

least one online course beore graduating. Some

individual school boards have also instituted this

as policy or their districts. 34

Blended learning programs are becoming more

popular as well, which include online components

and in-class eatures. One increasingly common

model is rotational and can encompass students

moving between stations in a classroom. Flipped

classrooms are also becoming more popular, where

students view lectures or other content outside

o class, allowing instructors to use class time or

more active, tailored learning such as d iscussions

and project-based, small-group activities.35

The University o Cincinnati College o Engineer-

ing & Applied Science works with local Cincinnati

high schools to teach introductory engineering cours-

es using a fipped approach. University instructors

provide content in short online instructional modules

o about 10 minutes, usually containing a mix o video,

text and resource links. Students view the modules on

their own time, then do projects in class supervised by

their high school teachers. For example, one class built

a solar heating system or their classroom.

Rutz ound that or high school instructors, the

transition to fipped learning was initially dicult.

Every one o the high school teachers in the out-

reach program Ive worked with has said the rst

year they did it was the hardest year theyve ever

had, but theyd never go back, says Rutz. They say

this is the way we should be teaching.

In a personalized environment, instructors cant

just plan a one-size-ts-all lesson and stop there.

Students need to become engaged in content in

multiple ways and to be involved in choosing their

learning paths.

Adaptive content and other personalized

eedback tools make a just-in-time approachmore easible, allowing instructors to adjust to

student needs on the fy. Learning programs can

help instructors dierentiate content based on a

students learning style and strengths and weak-

nesses, and also help identiy groups o students

who share common learning traits and can benet

rom small-group work together.

rolling. Tables are available in dierent shapes,

some with displays embedded in them.

Walls can be made up entirely o interactive

whiteboards or can include monitors, used or

students and teachers to display content rom

mobile devices, or perhaps hooked to devices that

stream YouTube or other videos.

aRRangEmEnt. Instead o a ront o the

classroom, personalized classrooms are more likely

to have a central open area where group activities

can take place. Movable partitions, such as foating

shelves or whiteboards on wheels, can be used to

easily recongure space. Small groups or clusters o

desks can be used or small group instruction.

At Albermarle High School in Charlottesville,

Va., a new Writers Studio opened in August

2013 a student-centered and student-led learning

space outtted with computers, tablets, cameras,

projectors, and videoconerencing and recording

equipment. Furniture includes wired couches

so students can charge electronic devices whileworking, plus rolling chairs and tables. 31

Princeton City School District in Cincinnati,

Ohio, is designing a new middle school and high

school with project-based learning in mind.

Hallway corners will have semicircular areas cut

out or booths that students can use or collabora-

tive work. Classroom areas will have retractable

glass walls, allowing or the modication o space.

Whiteboards are being created out o smaller

whiteboards that can be removed or student work

as needed, and then reassembled.32

In 2012, the University o Wisconsin - La Crosse,

opened a new $44 million building that includes

our innovation rooms, says Jim Jorstad, director

o academic technology services. The rooms were

designed to be totally fexible, with all urniture

being movable, large plasma monitors on all the

walls, projectors, interactive whiteboards and

videoconerencing equipment.

The morning may start out with the rst

lecture being presented traditionally to the class,

but then maybe 20 minutes in, all the desks might

be moved around, says Jorstad. A class on thera-

peutic recreation might have students dancing and

sharing projects, with urniture moved to create an

open space. Other classes might eature lectures,

with more traditional seating.

Its a combination o using technology to fip

the instruction, but in addition, its how you designthe room that provides that fipped perspective,

says Jorstad.

lEaRning CEntERs. Learning centers and other

spaces are coming in or makeovers as well. At the Uni-

versity o Cincinnati College o Engineering & Applied

Science, reshmen work on projects in small groups

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11/21

The biggest challenge in implementing person-

alized approaches, says the University o Cincin-

nati College o Engineering & Applied Sciences

Eugene Rutz, is the aculty and their understand-

ing o how education is to be done. Instructors, he

notes, may have been successul teaching a certain

way or 15 years and see little reason to change.

New teachers, on the other hand, oten havent

been prepared by colleges o education to teach

with technology. According to a 2012 Speak Up/

Blackboard survey, there was a gap between what

principals expect new teachers to know versus

what proessors were teaching them. Two-thirds

o principals want teachers to know how to use

multimedia such as podcasts, video and other

media, but only 44 percent were being taught this.

Almost hal the principals (45 percent) wanted

teachers to be able to incorporate students mobile

devices into lessons but ew education students

(19 percent) could do this. Principals also wanted

teachers to have practical experience with personal-

ized learning techniques, such as being able to use

technology to dierentiate instruction and create

authentic learning experiences or students. 37

Proessor Skip Fennell works with educators

and education students through the Elementary

Math Specialists and Leaders Project. He observes

teacher resistance to using new technologies and

new approaches all the time. Some teachers

even resist non-technological teaching tools such

as physical manipulatives to teach ractions.

We have to educate the eld, says Fen-

nell. I cant assume or a minute that teachers

will say, This is great, lets try this. First o

all, you have to understand it and then you

have to have some level o comort yoursel,so there is a bit o a learning cur ve.

New technology can actually help in this

area i its intuitive and easy to implement. For

instance, Catherine Twomey Fosnot, CEO o New

Perspectives on Learning and the ormer ounding

director o Mathematics in the City (a nationally

recognized center or proessional development

at the City College o New York), describes digital

math sotware on the market that mines data

about students as they are using it to automatically

provide personally appropriate lessons. With the

help o the sotware, teachers are then ree to aid

students one on one as issues arise. Technol-

ogy like this makes dierentiation simple. Some

children can be independently working on laptops

with earphones while the teacher works with

others. Assessment is also seamless, says Fosnot.38

pRofEssional DEvElopmEnt. Showing

how new technologies can enhance learning

can open instructors eyes, says Eastern New

Mexico Universitys Ayala. The best way to get

aculty excited about a new pedagogical strategy

or tool is by letting them talk to or see what other

colleagues are doing successully, she says.

For instance, her university, which oers

online courses, held a new acult y workshop about

distance education. Sitting in the back, I heard a

lot o mumbled grumbling about how misguided

the whole distance education concept was and how

you could never replicate the in-person interac-

tion o the traditional classroom, s ays Ayala.

But then teachers were given a live demon-

stration o an interactive online class, including

videoconerencing with students. The demo,

says Ayala, accomplished more than a years

worth o research and workshops could have.

Faculty got a good eel or the possibilities,

saw a live example o best practices, and saw

how their main logistical and pedagogical

concerns were overcome. The insights were

visible in their aces the A-ha! moment.

Other proessional development ideas include: Find early adopters to inorm and excite

other aculty. Lincoln Middle Schools

Antoniou uses re-starter teachers to

pilot projects, such as the 1:1 program

beginning in her school. These early adopters,

who are passionate about their subjects

and their new learning tools, help spread

Project-based learning lets learners o varying

levels seek a common goal. Students can work

i needed with dierentiated materials, such as

content presented to dierent reading levels, but

providing the same basic inormation. The mate-

rial would appear the same on device screens, so

students wouldnt realize each others levels.

I an instructor uses a rotational model, students

can be divided into groups that work on dierent

activities. This keeps student interest and engage-

ment up since tasks dont last too long in any

one rotation. It also allows instr uctors to spend

individual time with some students while others are

engaged in group or online activities.

Rotation can also help i resources are limited, so

that one segment o the class ca n work on devices

while other groups do other activities. This allows

the learning sotware and devices to be shared

when 1:1 access is not possible.

massivE opEn onlinE CouRsEs (mooCs).

With their massive enrollments oten tens o

thousands o students MOOCs depend on small,

online student groups to orm so students can

discuss lessons and learn rom each other. MOOCs

started as ree, non-credit-granting classes, but

are evolving so that some g rant college credit and

charge minimal ees.

Tin University in Ohio is oering a three-

credit MOOC course in social sciences or $50.

The course, which began in July 2013 and uses a

personalized learning platorm, diers rom typical

MOOCs in both granting credit and a llowing

students to attend in person. 36

The University o Wisconsin - La Crosse recently

began oering ree math MOOCs based on online

learning modules. The online learning modules

are easy-to-use collections o tools such as videos,

podcasts and presentations illustrating math

concepts. Ater a rst successul math MOOC in

2012, a second developmental math MOOC was

planned or 2013.

a ne tec prd

Personalized learning is a transormation o

the actory-based, decades-old educational

model. Moving toward this method o learning

requires a reimagining o the teachers role in

the classroom, which oten means additional

training to ensure a successul t ransition.

RolE of thE tEaChER. Whether in K-12

or higher education, instructors shiting to a

student-centered, personalized learning environ-

ment ace new roles. No longer are they expected

to be all-knowing providers o inormation, butinstead are needed as coaches and guides, leading

students to actively nd their own knowledge.

Instructors also need to know how to u se new

digital data to inorm instruction; its a shit in

pedagogy and teaching methodology that can

be startling, especially when teachers are also

asked to use new and unamiliar technologies.

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12/21

In addition, the Common Core emphasizes

the type o independent, critical thinking

skills ostered by personalized learning,

making the approaches complementary.

However, the sel-paced nature inherent in

personalized learning presents a tension point. I

students are to learn at their own speed, mastering

concepts when they are ready to do so, then how does

this t with having all students in a specic grade

expected to know the same things on a testing date?

Other high-stakes tests besides the Common Core

present similar challenges. States that dont partici-

pate in the Common Core, such as Texas, have their

own standards exams beore students are allowed

to graduate. According to the State Educational

Technology Directors Association (SETDA), 33 states

have some orm o online testing already in place.39

There has been a recent movement to delay

or cancel Common Core standards implementa-

tion and assessments, with Indiana opting out

completely.40 Still, it is unlikely to slow the

near-nationwide momentum or this program

and its assessments, not to mention the trend in

general or online testing. Personalized learning,

then, must work within a system where there

are endpoints that all students no matter the

route they take must reach at the same time.

However, a competing trend that may eventually

up-end standardized high-stakes testing altogether is

gathering steam: that o measuring student achieve-

ment based on proo o competency. Competency-

based learning means a student receives credit or

mastery o a subject with no consideration given to

the amount o time spent sitting in a classroom. It is

especially relevant to online learning, where students

learn at their own pace outside o the classroom.A move by states to shit to competency-based

learning in K-12 education has gained traction in

recent years. Altogether, about 40 states are imple-

menting competency education in some orm, includ-

ing Iowa, Maine, New Hampshire and Oregon.41

Some school districts are also implementing

this approach. In Carson City, Nev., or example,

students who complete their high sc hool work

beore graduation can shit to college-level

courses, while the Middletown district in New

York lets elementary students move up a grade

level whenever they master all the concepts.42

In higher education, competency education is be-

coming more common as well. Universities awarding

credits based on mastery include Western Governors

University, Northern Ar izona University and

Southern New Hampshire University, which oers a

delivery model that directly assesses student knowl-

edge in 120 competencies, without regard to credit

hour. The U.S. Department o Education recently

began allowing ederal student aid to be awarded

to students in such competency-based programs.43

In May 2013, Northern Arizona University

began oering a new personalized learning online

degree platorm based on competency and using a

subscription model instead o paying per class. The

ee is $2,500 every six months, and students can skip

classes i they can show mastery o the material.44

The Smarter Balanced Assessment Consor-tiums Prociency-Based Learning Task Force in

2012 endorsed a new denition o competency-

based learning, noting that such instruction is

personalized, fexible and adaptable to student

needs ... students both direct and lead their

learning even as they learn rom and with oth-

ers, both within and outside o schools.45n

the enthusiasm to other teachers in the

building. Teachers can also be paid extra

to train their less tech-savvy colleagues,

notes Cynthia White, who did this in the

transition to adaptive learning at her school.

Use webinars, screencasts and other

tools to show instructors how its done.

Demonstrate practical benets to instructors.

Ill show examples where Ill do a webstream

on a specic topic and Ill get emails rom all

over the world, says University o Wisconsins

Jorstad, who is a blogger with ollowers in

90 countries. You show this to a physics

proessor who does research on lasers that

they can connect with others doing similar

or more innovative research elsewhere and

then you can see the light bulb go o. Make proessional development an ongoing

efort, using repeat training sessions, as well

as proessional learning communities, Twitter

and social media groups, and other kinds o

networks or teachers to stay inormed and

motivated. Florida Virtual School instructors

meet in proessional learning communities

(PLCs) weekly, or example, to discuss student

data, stumbling blocks and teaching strategies.

Create a database o lessons and

learning objectsthat instructors can haveaccess to long ater training ceases.

ae sde

The Common Core State Standards online

assessments, aecting students in the 45 states

that have adopted these standards, are set to begin

in the 2014-15 school year. With these high-stakes

tests on the horizon, school districts are scrambling

to make sure they have the technology in place to

handle them. Not only will the district need su-

cient bandwidth, but students will need access to

devices and not just a handul on a computer cart.

These devices also must meet requirements set upby the two online testing consortia, Partnership or

Assessment o Readiness in College and Careers

(PARCC) and the Smarter Balanced Assessment

Consortium. (Tablets, or example, are allowed

but must be pairable with external keyboards.)

The technology needed or the Common

Core can also be used or personalized learning.

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13/21

the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is one

o many that recognizes the promise in

emerging personalized learning models.

In 2012, the oundation ormed a Personalized

Learning Network comprised o post-secondary

institutions with innovative programs. One goal: to

work together to share inormation about adap-

tive learning technologies. The oundation is

also oering a new round o $100,000 grants or

institutions with adaptive learning programs. 46

Educators and administrators CDE surveyed

say within the next year, they oresee adopt-

ing more blended learning (61 percent). Other

elements o personalized learning that are likely

to be seen more commonly include fipped

classrooms (38 percent), as well as curr icu-

lum tailored to s tudents needs (38 percent).

These approaches may rely on technology,

such as 1:1 devices that make it easier or students

to access customized curriculum. But even

more than any particular piece o hardware or

sotware, personalized learning depends on

educators being willing to open their institutions

to emerging models models that ocus on

students personal needs, abilities and interests.

In his work with Cincinnati high schools to de-

velop fipped engineering classes, Eugene Rutz sees

how excited students can get when their learning

switches are turned on when they nd something

in school that is relevant and interesting to them.

One time Rutz was at Kings High School or an

ater-school meeting when an assistant principal said

he had just ound engineering students still in their

classroom. The students told the assistant principal

we just had to gure this out, says Rutz. They

said, this is so much un we dont want to leave.

This is the promise o how p ersonalized

learning can transorm education.n

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PerSonalized learningcan Be enhanced throughthe uSe o advancedtechnology. educatorS andStudentS can Build a Strong

connection and have a trulycuStomized exPerience.

- c Bs, S. mk m,B o

PerSonalized learningPlayS a crucial rolein maximizing Studentachievement. aS innovativetechnologieS continue toPermeate the claSSroom,teacherS can acilitate atailored learning exPerienceor their StudentS.- J S, d Pb S Ss,K-12 Education, CDWG

cloud comPuting Willextend the agility otraditional on-PremiSeScaPaBilitieS, reduce coStSand imProve the lmS(learning managementSyStem) uSer exPerience.hoWever, Security controlSthat emPloy Strong tWo-actor authentication tocloud lmS reSourceS andProtect againSt the leaKageo SenSitive data imProve thePrivacy exPerience.- r rss, n cb S & P a,S Pb S S Ps

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While technologymaKeS it eaSy to collectand diSSeminate maSSiveamountS o data, itS notalWayS PoSitively aectingeducation. We need to maKeit eaSier or educatorSaS We develoP rePortSand come uP With WayS oviSualizing data.

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15/21

Learn how DreamBox can personalize math learning for your students at www.dreamb

DreamBox iPad App coming for Fall 2013:www.dreambox.com/ipad

NOT ALL STUDENTS LEARN MATH AT THE SAME PACE.

Some understand key ideas with ease, while others need more time and

help to make sense of fundamental concepts and skills. Like in any subject,

a one-size-fits-all strategy does not work when trying to teach students with

different backgrounds, prior knowledge and content familiarity.

As part of its Intelligent Adaptive Learning platform, DreamBox Learning

Math enables differentiated learning so students experience lessons that are

just right for them, at just the right time. By leveraging gaming fundamentals

in a Web-based system, the program captures student data and adapts the

experience to best suit their unique, personalized needs. Then, through fun

tasks and interactive lessons, students are motivated to achieve math profi-

ciency by continually working on problems inside their optimal learning zone.

Responsive instruction and instantaneous assessment capabilities are

embedded in over 1,100 Pre-K through 5 math lessons that adapt in real time.By allowing for millions of individualized learning paths, DreamBox can tailor

every math lesson to meet a students unique needs. With DreamBox Learning

Math, every student can become a mathematician.

Helping StudentsBecome Math MastersDreamBox Learning Math Enables Interactive, Personalized Learning

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The DreamBoxDifferencDreamBox Learning Math allows e

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Content

AS MANY SCHOOLS PREPARE

for Common Core State Standards and

online student assessment, technology

is receiving renewed attention because

of its ability to promote, enhance and

support personalized learning.

According to CDWGs new

Common Core Tech report

(www.CDWG.com/CommonCoreTech),

which surveyed 300 IT professionals

in public school districts across the

country, more than three-fourths of IT

professionals expect Common Core to

have a positive impact on their districts.

In particular, IT professionals antici-

pate benefits, including on-demand

student data analysis, new classroom

technologies and even improved student

engagement. For teachers, these

benefits give them the ability to move

away from the one-size-fits-all class-

room model, creating more personal-

ized learning experiences through

one-to-one computing and the use

of mobile devices, response systems

and learning management systems.

Ultimately, personalized learning

uses technology to meet the needs

and goals of individual learners.

It enables students to progress at

their own pace and gives educa-

tors the opportunity to connect with

every student in the classroom.

Many schools are already embracing

personalized learning. In the Passaic

Public School District in New Jersey,

personalized learning is fully supported

through intense professional devel-

opment for its teachers. Earlier this

year, in preparation of Common Core,

the district purchased 5,500 Google

Chromebooks and the Chromebook

management consoles for students

and teachers in grades 7-12.

According to Joanna Antoniou,

technology coordinator, Passaic Public

Schools, Passaics professional develop-

ment program ensures that teachers

are able to use every available tool

associated with the Chromebooks to

provide students with the resources

they need to succeed. Critically,

Passaics students are required to be

active participants in learning so they

can take ownership of their educa-

tion. Passaic teachers help foster

this engagement by using interactive

elements in their lesson plans, helping

students practice independent work

skills and providing immediate feed-

back after quizzes and assignments.

For more about CDWGs solutions an d services to K-12 sch ools,

please call 1.800.808.4239, email [email protected] or visit cdwg.com/k12.

CDWG Common Core Tech has four

key recommendations for schools to

ease the transition to Common Core

and personalized learning.

Move forward confidently with a strong

infrastructure before bringing in new technology.

Share your vision with all stakeholders to

ensure everyone is on the same page.

Focus on instruction and good teaching,

so technology becomes transparent.

Embrace change; a year from now things

could look very different. Continue to share best

practices and borrow ideas that unify your vision.

Approaching the Common Core with ConfidenceTechnology helps schools comply with standards and personalize learning for students


16/21

Educators have long known that classroom projects

can enrich and personalize student learning, improve engage-

ment and enhance collaboration skills. Now, with a push to

personalize learning sweeping the country, many schools

are tapping a new generation of digital video cameras and

camcorders to cater to individual student needs and bring

history, science, language and other core topics to life.

For example, students at Cochrane Elementary School

in Louisville, Ky., produced their own video podcasts about

everything from women in the American Revolution to the

development of the inline skate. The kid-friendly education

videos were then posted online and available to students

for free.

Likewise, for a more three-dimensional understanding

of history, novice videographers at Mt. Hebron High School

in Ellicott City, Md., interviewed people who lived through

significant events such as the Kennedy assassinations.

This novel approach engaged students in important topics

and created an opportunity to give them a more well-rounded

educational experience.

Video and related production add another dimension

Instead of just writing a paper, (students) really enjoy

producing a video, says Mt. Hebron Media Specialist Scott

Robinson. Students also discover how to share, collaborate,

budget time wisely and present core subjects in a different

context, he says.

Other successful Mt. Hebron video learning projects

have included:

An English literature class production of theCanterbury

Tales, Pride and Prejudice and Hamlet

A student forensics class version of the Forensic Files

show that videotaped detectives solving a crime

A TV news show in Spanish created by Spanish

language students

Digital VideoTurning the lens on personalized learning

As todays classroom continues to evolve, the

possibilities for tapping new and updated technologies

to personalize and enrich learning experiences can

be endless.

Committed to personalizing education

Canon is devoted to helping students inquire about the

world at an ever-deepening level. Canons easy-to-learn and

use PowerShot point-and-shoot and VIXIA camcorders take

stunning HD video and still photos. Theyre an ideal choice

for schools pursuing projects that promote student thinking,

learning, problem solving and collaboration and mastering

21st-century technology skills.

For more details about how Canon Video products

can personalize classroom learning, contact the Canon

Education Department.

PHONE: 866.50.CANON

EMAIL: [email protected]

WEB:www.usa.canon.com/educationsales

PRODUCT SERVICE & SUPPORT: 1-800-OK-CANON

SOLUTION

SPOTLIGHT:SYMANTEC

Symantec is a global leader in providing security, storage and systems managemen

to help consumers and organizations secure and manage their information-driven

software and serv ices protect against more risks at more points, more completely a

enabling confidence wherever information is used or stored.

For more information, visit http://go.symantec.com/education.

Confronting the CloudAs K-20 education institutions work to offer a personalized

learning environment for students, they are increasingly turning to

cloud apps and solutions to provide anytime, anywhere flexibility.

These cloud offerings build a foundation for many key personalized

learning initiatives such as online and blended learning and bring

your own device (BYOD) programs.

But there is one challenge that is a particular stumbling block

for education leaders when moving to the cloud: security. In a

personalized learning environment, since so many students and

instructors will be accessing and sharing different types of informa-

tion at different times, how do you ensure your information remains

secure? How do you maintain high availability without putting too

much of a burden on IT staff?

Ensuring Security with SymantecSymantec is the industry leader in the information security space.

With the backing of their Global Intelligence Network (comprised

of 69 million attack centers that keep track of 40,000 vulnerabilities

across 15,000 vendors), Symantec eases common cloud concerns.

From students in a distance learning program to an instructor

working from home, Symantec offers innovative solutions like dataloss prevention, file sharing, encryption and authentication that keep

the focus on personalized learning rather than information security.

Symantecs cloud service solutions also benefit IT st

allowing them to extend the same roles and access to t

solution so they can focus on providing added capabil

single sign-on. With Symantec, education leaders can p

personalized learning environment by tailoring access t

based on individual needs, ensuring high availability an

eliminating security concerns in the process.

For more information about all of Symantecs clo

service solutions, see below:

SYMANTEC 03: Reduces risk of unauthorized a

to cloud assets.

DATA LOSS PREVENTION: Discovers data at

in motion across your network, storage and endpo

DEEPSIGHT SECURITY INTELLIGENCE: E

access to the Global Intelligence Network of threat

vulnerability intelligence.

ENCRYPTION (PGP): Offers protection for lapto

tops, endpoints, email, mobile and data in the clou

VERISIGN USER AUTHENTICATION: Providtwo-factor authentication for network, Web and mo

Securingthe Age ofPersonalizedLearning

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17/21

Personalized learning is transforming

education by increasing student engagement

and achievement. And new technologies are

breaking down barriers that previously inhibited

more personalized education for students.

However, reduced school budgets are making

it diffi cult for schools to invest in this new

technology. Until now.

Brothers innovative OmniJoin web

conferencing solution is cloud-based,

meaning its a far more flexible and

affordable collaboration solution for students,teachers and administrators that enables

personalized learning. OmniJoin web

conferencing doesnt require a large upfront

investment education institutions can

use their existing networks and no costly

infrastructure components are required.

With OmniJoin web conferencing,

education institutions can:

Give students the best learning for their

individual needs, while also providing the

quality education their students deserve

Provide a high-quality online meeting

experience for e-learning programs, virtual

classrooms, online seminars, web tutoring,

professional development and much more

Make it easy to connect and collaborateso students, teachers and administrative

staff can share and markup files, and

play video files virtually instantly all with

surprisingly simple desktop controls

To learn how Brother and OmniJoin can

transform your personalized learning program,

visitwww.OmniJoin.com

Personalized

Learning for Allwith OmniJoin

Cloud-based web conferencing from Brothercan break down distance barriers in education

Only the Bestwith OmniJoin

OmniJoin goes above

and beyond standard

web conferencing

solutions, offering:

Cloud-based

technologythat is

cost effective, easy

to use and secure

HD video,smoothly

synched audio

and an advanced

collaboration tool,

in one system

Intelligent Video

technology that

instantly responds

to changes in

display layout sizes

and bandwidth

availability

There is no doubt that the iPad has taken K-12 education by storm. A 2012 report

found that nearly 2,000 schools and districts were providing iPads to students,

teachers and staff. The iPad is evolving how students are learning they are interac-

tive, engaging and have the ability to personalize education for students. However, after rapid

adoption, teachers have also found that managing these devices in the classroom, including

keeping students on task and providing access to educational content, is a challenge.

Challenge Averted: Introducing Casper FocusCasper Focus, an innovative new solution from JAMF Software, enables iPads to live up to their

full potential in education. It removes distractions from the classroom by allowing teachers to

control what students are viewing at all times all without help from the IT department.

Teachers can perform classroom management tasks from their own iPad. This keeps the

focus on what is being taught versus worrying about which students are staying on task.

With Casper Focus, educators can truly use technology to support the transformation to a more

personalized learning environment for all students.

To learn more about JAMF Softwares solutions, visit www.jamfsoftware.com/softwa

New software eases classroom management for teachers

Keeping the Focus onStudent Learning

TAKING CONTROLWITH CASPER FOCCasper Focus enables seam

manageability of iPads, so t

focus on individualizing lea

Only allowing access to a

Maximizing time on task

can work at their own pa

specific for their needs

Regulating which apps c

can access

Ensuring access to iPads

forget their passcode

SOLUTIONSPOTLIGHT:JAMFSOFTWARE

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18/21

To learn more, visit www.panasonic.com/business/projectors/, or contact

[email protected]

How can an educator facilitate individualized learning while stillmaintaining control of the entire classroom? Panasonic wire-less projectors featuring Multi-Live Mode build the foundation for

connected classrooms. By enabling whole group and collaborative

learning within a personalized learning environment, projectors like

the PT-VW435N give educators the control and flexibility required

to support each students needs.

Multi-Live Mode on Panasonic projectors brings cutting-edge

capabilities to education by enabling seamless display of content

among devices, without cables or a network connection. When

students with their own devices are working in small groups or are

asked to present their work to the class, they can easily transfer

video and audio on their device to the projector for the class to

experie

Documents

Pathways To Personalized Learning