Education
• Youth Development Activities – Students are given the opportunity to engage
in hobbies outside of the classroom for the chance to find out what makes them
excited to learn.
TEACHING THE FUTURE
Teachers are tasked every day with correcting spelling tests,
entering grades, writing lesson plans, and now with integrating
technology along the way. They would be doing their students
a disservice if they choose to ignore the fact that technology
has become woven into our daily lives, but they are taking
cautious steps to ensure that they are using and teaching
technology in a beneficial way. Doing so provides
students with a fundamental approach to utilizing
technology to increase productivity, access resources
and to lay the groundwork for use in their future careers.
Teachers continue to learn and grow through continuing
education courses that allow them to integrate new methods
for incorporating technology in the classroom to ultimately
guide our students to a successf ul future.
Providing students with access to technology in a structured
setting provides them with the freedom to individually learn and discover solutions
to real-world problems and prepare them for the future. Students have a paved path to
achieve success with the help of cooperative, communal workspaces, online portals that
encourage cross-collaboration, and support from their teachers, peers and parents.
PERSONALIZED LEARNING FOR
HIGH SCHOOL
Personalized learning adapts a structured educational environment into a
malleable approach to learning and teaching. Each learning style is different, and there is
not one approach to teaching that fits them all. Personalized learning provides students
with attainable success in the classroom by allowing teachers to understand the strengths
and weaknesses of each individual student and adapt lesson plans to allow students to
work at their own pace.
Building Student Profiles: Personalized learning pulls from the strengths and
weaknesses of individual students and tailors lessons to improve learning outcomes.
Teachers are able to utilize these pathways to learning to guide their students to success.
Digital Approach to Personalized Learning: Utilizing data
from digital coursework provides an even stronger approach to
personalized learning through analytics. These analytics monitor
a student’s performance and can predict future patterns for
learning, giving teachers the tools necessary to prepare an
appropriate curriculum for their students.
Teacher Adaptation: Teachers develop a new approach
to instructing their students when adopting personalized
learning. In a typical classroom, there are students who are
ahead of the curve and students behind the curve, with very
few considered to be on the curve. A teacher typically aims to
teach on the curve, with students on either end falling short of their
learning capabilities. Personalized learning gives faculty the ability to
spend more time tailoring their approach on an individual level.
Use Case: A high school in San Diego is currently implementing the
personalized learning approach in classrooms after receiving a $10 million grant aimed
at making high schools more personal. The effort launched two years ago with a small
group of students. After seeing firsthand the academic success of these students, the
school decided to take the approach school-wide by introducing one grade level every
year, starting with the freshmen of 2017.
5 ONLINE
EDUCATION TRENDS
FOR COLLEGE
Online education allows
non-traditional students the
opportunity to earn a degree
without leaving the comfort of their
own home. This educational approach
has opened doors for individuals with
circumstances prohibiting them from
participating in on-campus education.
Whether they are working full time,
raising families, or they live in a
different state, online education
provides the opportunity to earn a
degree remotely. According to U.S.
News and World Report, the number of
online students is continuing to grow and
experts are predicting a number of trends
within the next year for online learning.
1. Adoption of “Microcredentials” –
As non-traditional students are on the
rise, universities are developing multiple
program levels since not everyone is
looking to complete a four-year degree.
Microcredentials offer certificate programs,
digital “badges” of completion, and other
types of credentials to prove successful
completion of continued education
coursework.
2. Tailored Curriculums from Data
Insights – Since students complete all of
their work online, universities are receiving
data that is not typically available in a
traditional classroom setting. Analytics
teams are using this data to predict student
success, and in turn, teachers are enhancing
their curriculum to meet the needs of their
students.
3. Artificial Intelligence – Universities are
investing in artificial intelligence, such as
virtual assistants, to provide an additional
layer of support on top of that which
students receive from their professors.
4. Nonprofit Programs – Experts are
continuing to see a drop in for-profit
programs as more nonprofits are ramping up
their online education offerings. Nonprofit
institutions are working to keep up with the
demand for more online programs.
5. Ranging Disciplines – As online
programs continue to grow, they are offering
an increasing number of focus areas that may
not have been thought of until recent years.
Some students who already have degrees
are looking for specialized programs to learn
new technology in their field and to increase
their knowledge and credibility.
Continued on next page >
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