Maximizing Competency Education and Blended Learning: Insights from Experts

In May 2014, CompetencyWorks brought together twenty-three technical assistance providers to examine their catalytic role in implementing next generation learning models, share each other's knowledge and expertise about blended learning and competency education, and discuss next steps to move the field forward with a focus on equity and quality. Our strategy maintains that by building the knowledge and networks of technical assistance providers, these groups can play an even more catalytic role in advancing the field. The objective of the convening was to help educate and level set the understanding of competency education and its design elements, as well as to build knowledge about using blended learning modalities within competency-based environments. This paper attempts to draw together the wide-ranging conversations from the convening to provide background knowledge for educators to understand what it will take to transform from traditional to personalized, competency-based systems that take full advantage of blended learning

System Design and Architecture of an Online, Adaptive, and Personalized Learning Platform

The authors propose that personalized learning can be brought to traditional and nontraditional learners through a new type of asynchronous learning platform called Guided Learning Pathways (GLP). The GLP platform allows learners to intelligently traverse a vast field of learning resources, emphasizing content only of direct relevance to the learner and presenting it in a way that matches the learner’s pedagogical preference and contextual interests. GLP allows learners to advance towards individual learning goals at their own pace, with learning materials catered to each learner’s interests and motivations. Learning communities would support learners moving through similar topics. This report describes the software system design and architecture required to support Guided Learning Pathways. The authors provide detailed information on eight software applications within GLP, including specific learning benefits and features of each. These applications include content maps, learning nuggets, and nugget recommendation algorithms. A learner scenario helps readers visualize the functionality of the platform. To describe the platform’s software architecture, the authors provide conceptual data models, process flow models, and service group definitions. This report also provides a discussion on the potential social impact of GLP in two areas: higher education institutions and the broader economy

Just in Time: The Beyond-the-Hype Potential of E-Learning

Based on a year of conversations with more than 100 leading thinkers, practitioners, and entrepreneurs, this report explores the state of e-learning and the potential it offers across all sectors of our economy -- far beyond the confines of formal education. Whether you're a leader, worker in the trenches, or just a curious learner, imagine being able to access exactly what you need, when you need it, in a format that's quick and easy to digest and apply. Much of this is now possible and within the next decade, just-in-time learning will likely become pervasive.This report aims to inspire you to consider how e-learning could change the way you, your staff, and the people you serve transfer knowledge and adapt over time

Integrating knowledge tracing and item response theory: A tale of two frameworks

Traditionally, the assessment and learning science commu-nities rely on different paradigms to model student performance. The assessment community uses Item Response Theory which allows modeling different student abilities and problem difficulties, while the learning science community uses Knowledge Tracing, which captures skill acquisition. These two paradigms are complementary - IRT cannot be used to model student learning, while Knowledge Tracing assumes all students and problems are the same. Recently, two highly related models based on a principled synthesis of IRT and Knowledge Tracing were introduced. However, these two models were evaluated on different data sets, using different evaluation metrics and with different ways of splitting the data into training and testing sets. In this paper we reconcile the models' results by presenting a unified view of the two models, and by evaluating the models under a common evaluation metric. We find that both models are equivalent and only differ in their training procedure. Our results show that the combined IRT and Knowledge Tracing models offer the best of assessment and learning sciences - high prediction accuracy like the IRT model, and the ability to model student learning like Knowledge Tracing

Personalized Professional Learning Experiences and Teacher Self-Efficacy for Integrating Technology in K-12 Classrooms

The studies in this dissertation were designed to develop an understanding of the impact of personalized professional learning experiences for K-12 teachers. These studies took place in a large, preK-12, public school district in the Southwest region of the United States. Through a combination of quantitative and qualitative methodology, these studies measured the growth of teachers’ perceptions of their ability to work with technology tools and their self-efficacy towards integrating technology purposefully to improve the learning experiences of their students, as well as delving into the personal experiences of select teachers in the program. The Core Conceptual Framework for teacher professional development (Desimone, 2009), theories of personalized learning (Pane, Steiner, Baird, & Hamilton, 2015), and self-efficacy theory (Bandura, 1997) served as the theoretical framework for examining these experiences. The quantitative results of both studies showed a significant improvement in teachers’ technology skills and self-efficacy toward integrating technology in the classroom after the personalized professional learning program. The interview findings of the second study revealed that the elements of personalization that produced the most positive learning experiences for the teachers interviewed were choice, coherence, and support. The challenges that were revealed in the interview process were an increased need for content specific courses demonstrating technology integration, a desire for increased community of practice among teachers in the program, and the overarching struggles of teaching as a practice. Based on the findings of these studies, recommendations were developed to support increased personalization and improved teacher learning experience

An International Study in Competency Education: Postcards from Abroad

Acknowledging that national borders need not constrain our thinking, we have examined a selection of alternative academic cultures and, in some cases, specific schools, in search of solutions to common challenges we face when we consider reorganizing American schools. A wide range of interviews and e-mail exchanges with international researchers, government officials and school principals has informed this research, which was supplemented with a literature review scanning international reports and journal articles. Providing a comprehensive global inventory of competency-based education is not within the scope of this study, but we are confident that this is a representative sampling. The report that follows first reviews the definition of competency-based learning. A brief lesson in the international vocabulary of competency education is followed by a review of global trends that complement our own efforts to improve performance and increase equitable outcomes. Next, we share an overview of competency education against a backdrop of global education trends (as seen in the international PISA exams), before embarking on an abbreviated world tour. We pause in Finland, British Columbia (Canada), New Zealand and Scotland, with interludes in Sweden, England, Singapore and Shanghai, all of which have embraced practices that can inform the further development of competency education in the United States

Integrating personal learning and working environments

This review paper part of a series of papers commissioned by the Institute for Employment Research at the University of Warwick under the title of 'Beyond Current Horizons – Working and Employment Challenge'. In turn, in forms part of a larger programme of work under the banner of Beyond Current Horizons that is being managed by FutureLab on behalf of the UK Department for Schools, Children and Families. The brief was to cover: - The main trends and issues in the area concerned; - Any possible discontinuities looking forward to 2025 and beyond; - Uncertainties and any big tensions; - Conclusions on what the key issues will be in the future and initial reflections on any general implications for education. Given the wide ranging nature of the brief, this paper largely confines itself to trends and issues in the UK, although where appropriate examples from other countries in Europe are introduced. We realise that in an age of growing globalisation the future of work and learning in the UK cannot be separated from developments elsewhere and that developments in other parts of the world may present a different momentum and trajectory from that in the UK. Thus, when reading this report, please bear in mind the limitations in our approach

It's Not a Matter of Time: Highlights From the 2011 Competency-Based Learning Summit

Outlines discussions about the potential and challenges of competency-based learning in transforming the current time-based system, including issues of accountability, equity, personalization, and aligning policy and practice. Includes case summaries

Strengthening Students’ English Competence Based on the Results of Their English Proficiency Test with the Use of the Expert System with Forward Chaining Method

This article presents the results of a study that aimed to strengthen students' English language competency based on the results of their English proficiency tests using an expert system with a forward chaining method. The study employed a quasi-experimental design, with an experimental group receiving intervention using the expert system and a control group following traditional classroom instruction. The analysis of pre and post-test assessments revealed significant improvements in language skills for the experimental group compared to the control group. Additionally, the comparison of English proficiency test results showed higher mean scores for the experimental group, indicating a positive impact of the expert system intervention. The findings highlight the potential of the expert system with forward chaining in providing personalized and adaptive learning experiences, supporting language educators in addressing individual students' weaknesses, and enhancing overall language development. Further research with larger sample sizes and diverse participant groups is recommended to validate these findings and explore the scalability of this approach in language education

Understanding the Experiences of Middle School Social Studies Teachers Creating Personalized Learning Classrooms: A Phenomenological Study

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to examine teachers’ experiences of implementing personalized learning in the social studies classroom at middle schools in Georgia. Personalized learning is the ability to tailor learning to each learner’s interest, strengths, and needs. The theory guiding this study is the discovery learning theory, which was introduced by Jerome Bruner. The central research question guiding the research was “How do middle school social studies teachers in Georgia describe their experiences creating personalized learning classrooms?” Sub-questions used to further refine the central question were: (1) How do teachers motivate students in the personalized learning classroom? (2) How do teachers relate to the students in a personalized learning classroom? (3) How do teachers identify ways to adjust learning in the personalized learning classroom? (4) How do teachers describe the student’s ability to achieve autonomy in the personalized learning classroom? The setting was three middle schools in Georgia. The sample was 15 middle school social studies teachers who currently teach in the personalized learning classroom. The data received came from interviews, focus groups, and document analysis. The Van Kaam Method of Analysis was used for this study. This method and the transcendental phenomenological approach allowed the researcher to obtain a full description of the participants’ experience of the phenomenon (Moustakas, 1994)