Reignite Passion: Embracing Technology and Learner Agency

Outline

Igniting Passion: The Why Behind Personalized Learning
Introduce the why: burnout is rampant, and traditional methods are failing teachers and students. Share stories of real-life examples of schools transformed by personalized learning, where teachers rediscover their purpose, and students take charge of their learning. Discuss how culture, relationships, and student engagement thrive when we focus on learning over grading.

Personalized Learning in Action: Teacher as Designer
Dive into practical examples of personalized learning: how AI tools enable teachers to become designers of learning experiences, rather than deliverers of content. Highlight tools like choice boards flipped classrooms, and real-time data collection, which free teachers from grading every paper and allow them to focus on real learning.

Tech-Driven Transformation
Explore how technology, especially AI, supports personalized learning at scale. Show how technology provides instant feedback to students and helps teachers gather live data for meaningful, personalized interventions. Discuss creating proficiency scales that clarify learning expectations and allow for real-time adjustments based on student needs.

Building a Culture of Empowerment and Agency
Content: Shifting the focus from compliance (points and grades) to student agency. Demonstrate how a student-centered environment builds stronger relationships and engagement. Teachers move from the front of the classroom to become facilitators of learning, providing personalized feedback while students take ownership.

Leading the Change: Administrator Strategies
Content: Practical strategies for administrators to lead this transformation. How to support teachers in shifting their role from lecturer to designer, including creating time for professional development, and building buy-in for proficiency-based, student-driven learning models.

Q&A
Open floor for questions about overcoming challenges, sustaining culture change, and using technology to its fullest potential.

Supporting research

Our presentation has been significantly enriched by various influential sources. Notably:

Universal Design for Learning: Center for Teaching Innovation. Universal Design for Learning | Cornell University’s Center for Teaching Innovation. (n.d.). https://teaching.cornell.edu/teaching-resources/designing-your-course/universal-design-learning

U.S. Department of Education, Office of Educational Technology, Artificial Intelligence and Future of Teaching and Learning: Insights and Recommendations, Washington, DC, 2023.

Winnick, A. (2023). The Generative Age: Artificial Intelligence and the Future of Education. ConnectEDD.

Winnick, A. (2024). Empowering leaders to adapt to the AI-driven future. Vanguard: School Administrators Association of New York State, Spring 2024 (Education Meets AI), 13–15.

Sheninger, Eric, and Slaugh, Nicki (2024) Personalize: Meeting the Needs of All Learners. ConnectEDD.

Tamim, Rana M., et al. “What Forty Years of Research Says About the Impact of Technology on Learning: A Second-Order Meta-Analysis and Validation Study.” Review of Educational Research, vol. 81, no. 1, 2011, pp. 4–28.

Tucker, Caitlin. Power Up Your Classroom: Reimagine Learning Through Student-Driven Instruction. Solution Tree, 2018

Lifting Student Engagement Through Smart Tech Use.” ASCD, www.ascd.org, 2021.

Zmuda, Allison, and Bena Kallick. Personalizing Learning: Rethinking the Classroom Experience. ASCD, www.ascd.org, 2021.