Self-Paced Learning

The article, State of E-Learning in Canada, contains a quote regarding the benefits of e-Learning that captured my interest: "enabling students to control the timing, location, and pace of their studies" (p. 13).  I am reminded of a Ted Talk by Salman Khan using video to create a self-paced learning environment.  This approach is particularly poignant for my practice as there is significant talk around personalizing learning in our Board.  How then can a classroom allow for this?

Consider the following: inclusive education, mandated curriculum, differentiated instruction, personalized learning, cross-curricular connections, assessment for learning, and inquiry.  All of these terms have implications for practice and all are impacted by issues of funding, time, expertise, and professional development.  But did we not create these?  During my practicum a number of years ago, I remember a partner teacher of mine declaring, "In public education, all are welcome.  We don't pick and choose who we get, we take them all."  Indeed, we do welcome all and embrace diversity, however, with this our practice must shift accordingly.

Now what of personalized learning?  Perhaps we should take a closer look at Khan's work.  Khan started posting short You Tube math videos for his family and steadily received user feedback and requests to continue posting additional content.  This incidental approach to education has since garnished attention from the likes of Bill Gates and Khan has now formalized his self-paced approach by developing the Khan Academy (http://www.khanacademy.org/).  His site contains over 2400 videos on topics ranging from math to history to physics.

I am very impressed by Khan's work and inspired to take this into my classroom.  I'm wondering how to translate the e-Learning opportunity Khan has created to the physical classroom space.  I want my students to be able to create, revisit, and reflect on their learning at their own pace, yet the demands of curriculum and timetabling pose certain challenges.  I have experimented with D2L in past years and been pleased with some of the outcomes in terms of students extending their learning beyond the classroom.  Students have posted websites they've come across on a particular topic on their own time and contributed to discussion strands.  This may have some semblance of what Khan is doing while students are at home, yet when they return to the classroom the next day, curricular demands necessitate a different rhythm.

Further reflection and reading is needed in this area.