Faced with tougher state standards and new research about how children learn, more schools and school districts have plunged into variants of personalized learning, or approaches to instruction that seek to better cater to students’ individual learning needs. This special report from Education Week explores that growing interest in personalized learning, looking at how related instructional initiatives are playing out in the classroom and what solutions and challenges they pose for teachers and schools.
HIGHLIGHTS FROM THIS EXCLUSIVE ONLINE SPECIAL REPORT:
Betting Big on Personalized Learning
In 2012, the Iredell-Statesville district in North Carolina won a $20 million grant to pursue a personalized-learning initiative. Now, the district’s leaders want to make sure they get it right.
Before Buying Technology, Asking ‘Why?’
Districts might believe that personalized learning follows directly from major technology purchases, but the reality tends to show otherwise.
Amid Skepticism, Blended-Learning Models Aim to Transform Teachers’ Work
Some advocates say that digitally oriented instructional arrangements can improve not only student learning but teachers’ working conditions and job satisfaction as well.
Award-Winning Educator Taps Technology to Layer Instruction
English teacher Diana Neebe helped create her school’s 1-to-1 iPad curriculum. Along the way, she reconceptualized English class.
Learning by Universal Design (Interview)
Neuropsychologist David H. Rose, a principal architect of Universal Design for Learning, says classrooms need a richer mix of resources and more emotion.
How I Blended My Math Class (First Person)
Silvestre Arcos, an award-winning math teacher at KIPP: Washington Heights Middle School, says that bringing technology into his classroom has boosted engagement and given him more flexibility to address students’ learning needs.
Any Way You Want It: A Video Collection on Personalized Learning (Video)
In these videos from our editorial partners at Teaching Channel, teachers and students discuss personalized learning and the instructional approaches that ground it.
