Throughout this blogging adventure I have spoken about new and different approaches that we must take to reach the modern day learner. We all clearly remember learning in straight rows and listening to the teacher talk. Frequently the only approach to our instruction was direct instruction with a little bit of group work sprinkled in here and there. The pace of learning was based upon the majority of the class. When the teacher thought most of the students had mastered the concepts we had a summative assessment. The students who were not ready to move on where left with holes in their education that would make for future speed bumps. If these speed bumps were never corrected they became impassible road blocks that forced learners to give up on education and try their hand in other endeavors.
This old approach cannot continue! We cannot just force students to move on due to the pace of the rest of the course. The good news is that we no longer need to utilize this strategy. On the other hand we must now use technology to allow education to evolve. This evolution that must happen is now possible with student centered/objective based learning and technology and the flipped model. Read this articele http://www.chattanoogan.com/2016/11/30/337122/Personalized-Learning-Task-Force.aspx to learn how the Tennessee Department of Education is putting such a plan in place.
This approach is truly recognizing that education cannot simply stay the same however it must evolve. Education must allow for student based learning where learners truly master concepts and not simply just move on. Education must utilize a hybrid model where student learn both inside and outside the classroom. When the students are outside we must provide them with both synchronous and asynchronous learning opportunities. With this approach we must also recognize that this model is not perfect and will need to evolve over the years. We as teachers must continue to focus on the most important aspect of our jobs the success of our students!
