how individualized would you go?

Seems were at the intersection of a couple of eras in education, at least in my view. Remember back a decade or so, maybe two, when "individualized education" was the calling cry for meaningfulness? Then we hit the era of standardization, big time, bigger than ever, and even the moderated "individualized expectations" bit the dust. But now with technology we're back to the possibility of individualizing education again. There's a way... is there a will? Is anyone experimenting with setting out courses that match individuals' desires and needs in learning? Is it just too tough with all else that's going on?
And with or without technology, how individualized would you go? Do you think students benefit from highly individualized plans for learning? What would you do if anything were possible?

Connie
http://firesidelearning.ning.com

Tags: individualized+education

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Permalink Reply by Connie Weber on June 29, 2008 at 7:53am

My question came up because of a a book I'm reading currently: Disrupting Class. The idea is that we can now effectively move towards "customizing learning" as a new (and very old) way of going about education. Anyone else read the book? What do you think? I'm finding it fascinating.

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Permalink Reply by Ian Grove-Stephensen on June 29, 2008 at 9:46am

Just some off-the-top-of-my-head thoughts:

> Is anyone experimenting with setting out courses that match individuals' desires and needs in learning?

Yes. Homeschoolers. Nearly all of whom have student:teacher ratio of 4:1 or less.

> Is it just too tough with all else that's going on?

If you try to layer this on top of a traditional curriculum, yes. Way too tough. Here in England the government is pushing teachers towards this; already actual contact time is dropping, to give teachers enough time to do all the required administration. Not a wise tradeoff IMHO.

> What would you do if anything were possible?

* Picking up on the homeschoolers idea, I would use technology to include all willing parents more in their child's education. Homeschool Lite, if you like.

* Require (not just allow) students to design their own curricula from scratch. Ban teachers from teaching content, and instead use them as coaches to help students develop the skills they need for life through whatever content they have chosen.

If I think of more, I will add them. Please take them as brainstorm ideas and spark off them if you are so moved.