Giving Compass' Take:

• Student-centered learning puts students on the path of accountability for developing a deeper understanding of concepts. 

•  How can education philanthropists support student-centered learning approaches in more schools? 

• Read about nonprofit EdVisions and its commitment to deeper school learning. 

The World Economic Forum calls this bundle of AI-driven trends the Fourth Industrial Revolution (the first three were steam, electricity, and computers). It demands a new approach to learning and living together in community.

AI will steadily improve teaching and learning as well as most back office services. Following right behind it will be improvements in security, portability, and efficiency using distributed ledger technologies.

Self-direction and project-management can be learned by engaging in extended challenges. Individual needs can be addressed through personalized learning. More time and support can be provided through competency-based progressions. Social capital can be developed by supporting rich community connections. The Nellie Mae Education Foundation calls this approach student-centered learning.

With new practices, tools, and structures, student-centered learning holds the promise of providing powerful learning experiences for every student while developing deeper learning outcomes. The four tenets of student-centered learning (see the Students At The Center Hub) are described below with associated trends and challenges.

  • Personalized learning recognizes that students engage in different ways and in different places.
  • Competency-based learning enables students to move ahead in the curriculum based not on the number of hours they spend in the classroom but, primarily, on their ability to demonstrate that they have reached key milestones along the path to mastery of core competencies and bodies of knowledge.
  • Anywhere anytime learning creates equitable options to learn outside of the typical school schedule and away from the campus.
  • Ownership (Agency, Growth Mindset) is developed as students gain an increased understanding of and responsibility for their own learning via frequent opportunities to decide such things as the topics they study, the books they read, the projects they pursue, and the curricular pathways they take en route to meeting college and career-ready standards.

Read the full article about student centered learning by Tom Vander Ark at Getting Smart