Personalized Learning through Canvas LMS

As a kid I can remember reading choose your own adventure novels. There was something magical about the way a reader could determine their own path 'through' the novel. In the same way, e-learning ecologies provide similiar affordances to personalize learning through e-learning ecologies. 

Defining Personalized Learning:

According to https://www.edglossary.org/personalized-learning/ "personalized learning, or personalization, refers to a diverse variety of educational programs, learning experiences, instructional approaches, and academic-support strategies that are intended to address the distinct learning needs, interests, aspirations, or cultural backgrounds of individual students. Personalized learning is generally seen as an alternative to so-called “one-size-fits-all” approaches to schooling in which teachers may, for example, provide all students in a given course with the same type of instruction, the same assignments, and the same assessments with little variation or modification from student to student." This is consistent with the description of personalized learning provided by Cope in this course. 

This fits broadly with the now viral TED talk from Sir Ken Robinson, who calls for a shift from an industrial model of education which is organised in much the same way as a production line organised in 'batches by age group', to a much more differentiated approach which is the polar opposite of standardisation. If you haven't yet seen this 11 minute clip, it is well worth a view and some consideration in relation to e-learning ecologies. 

What does personalization look like in e-learning ecologies though? 

This year I have begun using Canvas as the Learning Management System (LMS). This has challenged me to consider different ways to differentiate learning for students. Ten weeks into using this LMS I am still doing a lot of my learning about what this might look like. My secondary classes vary in a range of ways - social, emotional and competence with english. Some students have identified learning needs which are documented through Individual Plans (IPs). Others need accomodations made which are based on their interests and learning needs. 

I have been greatly encouraged by the quality of the learning community among other educators using Canvas as an LMS. For example, there are freely accessible discussion posts where educators can ask questions and peers provide answers. In a way this provides a a rich e-learning ecology which is differentiated for educators themselves with varying degrees of understanding! Educators collaborate to share expertise with some becoming teachers and others learnings (myself the latter!). 

See for example, this post, which refers to another outstanding post:

https://community.canvaslms.com/groups/k12/blog/2018/05/03/differentiation-and-groups

refering to this great post:

https://community.canvaslms.com/groups/k12/blog/2016/02/11/differentiating-assignments-k-12-in-canvas-helping-all-learners-be-successful

The latter link refers to concrete strategies that can be used to promote the affordance of differentiation. These include making personalized customisation to:

• due dates
• the number of attempts students can have
• mastery pathways, which allow educators to configure predetermined thresholds of understanding which determine the next step to learning based on the degree of competence shown
• exempt students from completing tasks or assigning different ones - this can be done in such a way that each student sees a different assignment
• allow for multiple ways of engaging with learning and demonstrating understanding e.g. using multi-literacies and providing tasks 
• feedback can also be provided in multiple forms, written, verbal or video

See here for an explanation of how this can happen with Canvas

This fits with the design principle of creating learning opportunities with "low floors, high ceilings and wide walls" (see for example http://gordonbrander.com/pattern/low-floor-wide-walls-high-ceiling/)

There are now widely accessible and cost effective e-learning tools that allow the benefits of e-learning (see for example Timms, 2012, in Glascodine and Hoad, 2012) to be possible for educators in a way that suits the discipline being studied (Redmond, Devine & Basson, 2014). 

References:

https://community.canvaslms.com/groups/k12/blog/2018/05/03/differentiation-and-groups [visited 17 Apr 20]

https://community.canvaslms.com/groups/k12/blog/2016/02/11/differentiating-assignments-k-12-in-canvas-helping-all-learners-be-successful [visited 17 Apr 20]

https://www.edglossary.org/personalized-learning/ [visited 17 Apr 20]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U [visited 17 Apr 20]

In 'Research Conference 2012 - School improvement : what does research tell us about effective strategies?' edited by Carolyn Glascodine and Kerry-Anne Hoad, pages 23-28. Melbourne : Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER), 2012

Redmond, Petrea; Devine, Jo and Basson, Marita. Exploring discipline differentiation in online discussion participation [online]. Australasian Journal of Educational Technology; v.30 n.2 p.122-135; 2014. Availability: <https://search-informit-com-au.ezproxy.sl.nsw.gov.au/documentSummary;dn=202330;res=AEIPT> ISSN: 1449-3098. [cited 17 Apr 20].