Dear WinkWorld Readers,
What in the world is personalized learning? It sounds wonderful, doesn’t it? Be careful. I have a hunch that it is called personalized learning to fool well-meaning people. I fear that it means one little person sitting in front of a computer (which the district has to buy), a program (which a district has to buy), and specific software (which district has to buy), plus someone to “manage” the kids and computers.
Ka-ching. Ka-ching. Ka-ching.
I fear the day will come when we just have managers, computers, and kids… I far prefer my tax dollars be used to support a teacher, who actually knows the students and their needs and the wishes of the local community.
In what follows is a little overview of scholars, whom I respect, and their thoughts on personalized learning, which is also known as competency-based education.
“Testing All The Time? by McDermott, M., Robertson, P., and Krashen, S. (2016). Language Magazine, January.
Donalyn Miller on Twitter simply says:
“Personalized learning comes from kids, not programs.”
