Team: “Change Agents” Our Teaching Resource: “Motivating the UnMotivated”
Personalization Personalization is education that puts the learner at the centre, providing assessment and instruction that are tailored to students’ particular learning and motivational needs (adapted from Hullan, Hilland Crevola, 2006) [1]. To start with, Personalized Learning requires knowing your students very well. What it means is their interests, learning styles, and their ability levels. In this case, teacher can cater for their needs and choose the activities which match their interests. Only knowing them, teacher can chat with them as with my friends, discussing different topics, relevant to them and showing deep understanding of them (topics). Furthermore, knowing students’ ability levels allows teacher to differentiate instructions, find all opportunities for remediation to help struggling learners, and understand how to provide enrichment to challenge the advanced student(s). However, some teachers say that personalization requires more preparation for the lessons, using more resources than for traditional lessons, high classroom management skills. We can’t but agree with this point of view, but, they are rather challenges than disadvantages. Besides, in today’s world of computer technologies it’s not a big deal to find and print some handouts, worksheets or even ready lesson plans and adapt or modify them keeping personalization in mind. How can we personalize students’ learning?: Adapting materials to make them more relevant to the students is an important part of personalization. Adapting materials can produce excellent results, and provide your students with a successful and dynamic learning experience. Here is a list of ideas on how you can bring personalization into classes where you are using typical textbook activities such as gapfills. The tasks mentioned can be done instead of the task given in the book (sometimes the textbook exercise will need rewriting in order to make this possible), as a warmer/ lead-in and/ or as a personalized extension activity: http://www.tefl.net/elt/ideas/games/textbook-activities-personalized/. Changing the context and situation to fit the students will give the target language real meaning. Try to make it a routine to personalise your teaching materials, so your students get the most out of learning your subject [2]. Make learning content engaging and unique to each student. This meets the student where they are at, in a time, place and modality that works best. Using tools such as Raptivity enables you to incorporate motivational interactions including brainteasers. Formative assessment platforms like Buzz from Agilix, and adaptive learning tools like i-Ready from Curriculum Associates are next-gen tools that can support in personalizing learning experiences for students. Make sure the tool you use is not just an online slideshow presentation, but a truly engaging, interactive and, above all, a useful exercise for students [3]. I would also recommend such online tools as Kahoot, Symbaloo, Storybird, Ourboox, Kizoa, Code Reader, Padlet, Mentimeter, Glogster and others to make learning more engaging.
What can help teachers to personalize activities? Firstly, surveys can help teachers know their students’ needs and interests better: e.g. https://www.pinterest.com/explore/student-survey/?lp=true. Secondly, teachers can fill in students’ profiles during the school year or some shorter period of time. For example:
Finally, online learning is an engaging way for students to learn together with their peers from other countries. They can choose programs, teachers and courses according to their interests and needs.
Cultivating students’ Interest in the learning process: In poor countries, such as Federal Republic of Nigeria, teachers should find some instructional materials for parents and students which can help explain them the importance and advantages of learning because most of the families send their children to school just to avoid abusement and bulling from neighbours. A teacher, a school counselor and students’ parents should work in team to help students set the goal for learning. For example, to improve reading skills, a teacher makes up a Reading time table. Parents monitor reading process at home and teacher then cross- check the results in the classroom. The role of either teacher or school counselor (depending on the school) is to explain the importance of being literate in modern world. The example of Reading cards: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/800163058763844788/ In more developed countries, such as Ukraine, for example, using technology for education is very motivating for students. Like we collaborate in this PISA4U program, students can collaborate with their peers from different countries exploring something together, commenting, sharing outcomes, creating different online products or just communicating online. In our school, we do it in such International programs as eTwinning Plus, Education Without Borders, British Council Schools Online and others. You can see what we do on my website: http://vnadia.wixsite.com/english/------------------How can we measure that our goal is achieved? 1.By completing students’ profiles at the beginning and in the end of testing our teaching resource: [5]. 2.By collecting as many evaluations of our teaching resource as possible.
References: 1.
https://www.slideshare.net/HumanidadesUCSF/learningforall2011
2. https://www.teach-this.com/ideas/personalising-activities 3. http://www.gettingsmart.com/2015/08/online-guided-learning-activities-and-
personalization-could-be-the-key-to-supporting-opportunity-youth/ 4. http://www.tefl.net/elt/ideas/games/textbook-activities-personalized/ 5. https://www.slideshare.net/HumanidadesUCSF/learningforall2011 6. https://www.pinterest.com/explore/student-survey/?lp=true 7. https://www.pinterest.com/pin/800163058763844788/