Transform learning through personalization
Student-centered learning emphasizes the individual needs of each student, helping them develop a stronger sense of self efficacy. To make learning more student-centric, strategies and tools must help identify where students are in their learning, what motivates them, and provide the flexibility for students to move through content at their own pace.
"Modern learning experience design should center attention on the needs of students; approaching learning as a fluid, holistic, seamless set of experiences…" - Dr. Cathy Cavanaugh, former Principal Program Manager, Professional Learning at Microsoft
What the research says
Personalization is among the most effective means for accelerating academic and cognitive growth. In addition to cognitive gains, student-centered learning models can provide opportunities to develop and apply social emotional skills, as well as a strong sense of agency and autonomy. One requirement for achieving student-centric learning is ensuring that learning can be personalized for all students, irrespective of their language skills, permanent or temporary learning challenges, current reading level, or other factors. Technology is leveling the playing field for all students by providing tolls that give them more control over how they learn and engage.
Students surveyed for the research study noted that they want:
- Learning experiences that give them control to focus on their interests
- Choices to set personal goals for learning
- The ability to motivate themselves during learning experiences
Students believe they learn more when they have greater voice. Let’s look at what student-centered learning looks like for both students and educators.
Student-center learning for students
- Direct their learning and set goals
- Specify content and pace that is tailored to their needs
- Engage in reflection as an organic part of learning experiences
Student-centered learning for educators
- Act as facilitator or guide, providing resources and support tailored to students’ needs
- Provide real-time, actionable feedback loops to monitor students’ progress and recommend adjustments
- Model critical thinking, contextual awareness, and empathy
What it can look like
There are many ways to create student-centered learning experiences, but they all begin with personalization. As you explore the stories below, notice different ways that leaders and educators are leveraging time, tools, and technology to provide students with agency and autonomy.
An integral part of creating student-centered learning is providing students with opportunities to use their voice. Students can be each other’s best teachers, building a global community and coming together to solve problems. With the help of tools that personalize learning for every student, young people of all backgrounds, genders, and abilities are able to collaborate and learn in new ways, developing life ready skills they need to thrive in an increasingly complex world. In this video (1:50), meet just a few of tomorrow’s great thinkers, who are using technology to take charge of their own futures.
This video (2:23) tells the story of how Laramie County School District 1, Wyoming’s largest public school district, aims to provide all students with an engaging education that helps them maximize their potential. The district uses Microsoft Learning Tools to help students with special needs exceed prior expectations and performance, personalize their own learning, and make the most of classroom experiences.
In Columbia, SC, Forest Hills Elementary School is meeting the diverse needs of their changing community by providing multiple ways for students to access content and communicate their understanding. The teachers here use technology tools to gather and use immediate feedback on student understanding to help students create personal “must do” and “may do” lists that give them insight when monitoring each student’s progress. The discrete nature of this one-on-one strategy helps to remove stigma students might feel about being treated differently in the classroom and replace it with student-driven choice.
In California, Caliber Schools—public charter schools that educate students in grades K-8—use a competency-based approach to monitor student progress. In a weekly cycle, teachers measure progress of each student based on emotional intelligence, critical thinking, and student agency. Using this model in daily and weekly interactions allows teachers to tailor their instruction to meet the specific needs of each student.
Actions you can take
As a leader, you can be a champion for student-centered learning by supporting both students and educators.
- Provide learning experiences that include inquiry-based and project-based learning
- Provide students opportunities to set goals, build self confidence, and make choices
- Provide educators with time, tools, and resources to increase personalized learning experiences
- Support educators in interpreting, synthesizing, and acting on student information
- Develop pedagogical models designed to foster student collaboration and ownership of their own learning
- Provide educators with intentional professional learning opportunities
You can also find ways to use technology to provide educators resources, support, and collaborative experiences that help them better tailor learning to the needs of each student. Two ways to do this are through collaborative platforms such as Microsoft Teams, and using tools like Microsoft Forms for formative assessment and real-time analytics.
Collaborative platforms (Microsoft Teams)
- Help educators scale their work and reallocate their time
- Educators can find on-demand content that matches standards and is relevant to individual student needs
- Educators can engage and grow their PLCs and PoCs by co-creating assets and collaborating with their peers
Meeting students where they are (Microsoft Forms)
- Create formative assessments that provide real-time information on students’ progress on an ongoing basis
- Use real-time information to adjust instruction to meet individual student’s learning needs
- Provide immediate feedback on student learning for self-reflection
Learn more
- Advancing Achievement and Equity: Growing Evidence from the Fresno Unified School District Personalized Learning Initiative (white paper)
- Meeting Learners Where They Are: Using Microsoft Forms to Drive Improvements and Learning Outcomes (white paper)
- Staff Teams for Effective Leadership and Saving Time (course)
- Microsoft Forms: Create Authentic Assessments (course)
Reflection questions
Achieving student-centric learning means ensuring that learning can be personalized for all students, irrespective of their language skills, permanent or temporary learning challenges, current reading level, or other factors. *Reflect on your efforts to support student-centric learning experiences in your building. Share your thoughts, wonderings, and ideas with other participants on the module Flip or with your team or colleagues.
- How are you supporting educators in your school to create student-centric learning experiences that meet the needs of all students?
- How can you intentionally remove barriers that might be in the way of teachers and students when it comes to student-centric learning?
- What tools, strategies, or pedagogies are educators in your school using to tailor learning to meet the specific needs of each student?