I feel like Khan had such a good idea with his focus on personalized learning. I know when I was in grade school I was one of the kids that could finish and understand all of the assignments really easily without having to put in a lot of extra effort. I would always bring my book to class and read that when I was finished with everything. That led to me having the perspective that school is just something where you have a list of tasks to do and you just check them off one at a time. It honestly didn't even feel like learning but more like an objective to be met in general. Personalized learning would have been so valuable for me at that time. I would have been able to actually learn and delve deeper into what I was learning at the time and have enjoyed the learning process much more.
I feel like google classroom is a good tool, but it lacks a lot. I appreciate the fact that it's very simplified, something that is really valuable for grade school children. It only has a couple different things that you can click on and is very easy to see what needs to happen. However, the assessments are not the best. It does not allow for you to see if it has been done unless you go and click the mark as done button. This is frustrating especially when you can't tell if you have finished it if you forget to click the button. They should allow for you to see that it has been completed without you having to go in and mark it done yourself.
Hey Julia! It was interesting to read your post about your personal experience in grade school and hoe personalized learning could have helped you learn so much more. I think it could have helped everyone learn so much more, of all levels and interests. I believe this is why Khan was so inspired to create the program that he did.
What do you think personalized learning would look like in your classroom? I have an ideal that my classroom has fewer of the "why do we have to know this" questions and more, "Tell me more" type questions, but what does that look like in practice? We can't teach people to be interested in the topic of our specialty, right?
I think Mr. Kahn had a good idea with finding the students' interests near the beginning of study. I guess it's up to us to find out how to translate these interests into meaningful objectives.
I like how you share your personal experience. Indeed, every student is at a different level. As a teacher, with that in mind, the best way to deal with that is using differentiation, personalized learning is one of differentiation. That could make the approach elevate learning and provide content that is relevant, engaging, active, and memorable according to the level of students. The end result is a learner who is pleased with their interaction with the material and is better at their job.
I really like how you gave a personal example of personalized learning. I relate, I sometimes still feel like I am just checking off boxes to get through school, but it is so much more than that! If it is slowed down and more personal to your own needs, you can learn so much more and also understand the importance of what you are learning. I agree, Google Classroom can be quite frustrating. I do like how it is simplified, in which young kids may benefit, but for us it is not as easy to navigate.