After Individualized Learning, What Comes Next?

This was my classroom in the latter part of the last block of the day.

I should point out that I usually have students seated closer together in groups. Conversation happens more organically in that configuration. I gave a quiz where I didn’t want to set hard time limits. As each finished, I nudged them to work on their own on a PearDeck assignment.

This is what it looks like when everyone is working at their own pace. Each student with a single screen, each solving problems and answering questions.

I like that I can drift from student to student and either ask or answer questions when the time seems right. I can see each student’s answers on the online teacher dashboard. I can decide which conversations I need to have. Students can also decide if they need to have conversations with me. I involved myself in student learning with surgical precision.

Some claim this is the future of learning in schools.

For me, the silence in the room today was unsatisfying. No sharing of ideas. No excitement shared between friends. Nothing that might compel a student to contemplate the other living, breathing beings in the room.

I don’t do this every day, so I know this isn’t how it will always be. Whenever I do this type of lesson, I know that the students are better off when they get what they need. I know it is good for them. My thinking always go to the next step. What will we do when we are back together in a big group, or at least in groups larger than one?

I asked the students the following question:

We have all worked independently today. What is the best way to use our time when we are back together?

Their answers gave me the direction I needed to think about the next steps:

• Either going over answers so people who haven’t put the answers in will know what to do and what the correct answer is.
• Maybe review the questions people were confused with or got wrong a lot. This would help to review what we did.
• Go over some of the answers together or answer some of the difficult problems.
• I don’t know.
• To check where the majority of us got stuck and had trouble, and discuss how to figure out those problems. That, and to possibly discuss new concepts that we have yet to master.
• Going through the questions that could be tricky and solve challenging problems together
• I think it is good to have a mini lesson to quickly teach what we are learning and to go over, but also save time for students to work independently.
• Give us a few examples at the beginning of class so we don’t forget what we learned, and then learn new things.
• To quickly go through and review all the topics we’ve learnt about polynomials.
• Learn something new

Knowing what to go over is certainly where the online tools are helpful – they make incorrect answers or misconceptions stand out.

I know that the students prefer the social aspects of the classroom. Whatever our next step is, it should involve coming together and acknowledging and appreciating we are in a room of people learning together.

We need to make sure that we are social when being social is productive to learning.

We need to make sure students have time to learn and think on their own.

We need to make sure students can also learn what they need to know in the hands of an experienced guide.

All of these are crucial. Any one channel we use loses its effectiveness to learning when it becomes routine. I think this is especially the case when that routine involves staring at an entity that can’t talk or laugh back.