Empowered to Choose: How to Design and Lead Learner-Driven Learning

Purpose & objective

Participants will define and discuss Personalized Learning in their own words. (This will ensure that participants grasp the fundamental concepts and design principles behind this approach to instructional design.)

Participants will build their understanding of how to design opportunities for learners to personalize their learning.
(Participants will leave having been offered examples of what personalized learning looks like in action and how to scaffold to prepare learners for academic autonomy.)

Participants will identify an idea and discuss and outline their PL implementation plan.
(Participants will leave having identified an entry point for them to begin this work in their own classroom and context. The outline will be something they start that serves as a guiding support document as they get into the nuances of building out their implementation plan.)

Outline

The session breaks down into three distinct parts: the Why, the How, and the What behind designing experiences for learners to personalize their learning. In each phase, there will be 1-2 turn-and-talk opportunities that then promote whole group share outs in the development of the key ideas presented. It feels more like a collaborative conversation than a presentation. In a 30-minute timeframe, the segments break down to 2-4 minutes for introductions and establishing learning objectives. That's follow by 6-8 minutes on the Why. From there, the How and the What will receive 10 minutes each. At the end, there will be a check-for-understanding game where participants can win a prize.

Supporting research

The research I did for this presentation is highlighted in my book, Empowered to Choose, A Practical Guide to Personalized Learning