Expanded Collaboration

In order to personalize learning, teachers must first get to know their student to know what makes them tick, their strengths, their goals, etc. As teachers get to know their students, then they can more readily design a flexible pathway of learning geared for that individual student. Expanded collaboration looks like students, teachers, schools, communities working together to make learning accessible, meaningful, and powerful for each student.

Researched Based Strategies Used for Expanded Collaboration in the Online Classroom

Four Corners: an activity that helps students make connections to course material, research ideas, and voice their own decisions and thought process.
Jigsaw: one student/group researches and learns about a concept and then teaches it to another student/group.
Breakout Rooms: within a larger online synchronous session, breakout rooms can be created so that smaller groups are made for students to brainstorm and work together in order to have all participate.
Peer Review: establishing a feedback loop in which students have the chance to provide feedback on each other's projects and work toward mastery ahead of final submission for teacher feedback.

Coaching the Learner Examples

One example of expanded collaboration is individual conferences between the student and instructor. In my role as coach, I recently sent an email after coming back from Spring Break to inquire to each student about their plans for the remainder of the semester. This was a great experience to speak one-on-one with students to not only get to know them better but also to know what they are most worried about as the semester winds down. I was able to provide specific appropriate support to both students and parents in response to their answers.

Tools and strategies used to acquire real-time feedback and data

Canvas Access Reports

Canvas is the Learning Management System utilized by my organization. There is so much data at my fingertips to be able to collect when looking at student progress and academic achievement. In my role as a coach, I understand that online learning can be out of sight, out of mind for teenagers. I also know that time and energy spent in the course yields products. When I see poor progress, I want to know is it because of not understanding concepts or another factor such as not spending time learning. The access report allows me to see the date and time they clicked on various pages within their modules. Not only can I see how they spend their time within the module, I can also look for patterns of when they are working (early in the morning, late at night, variable, etc). If I see varied times spent in the course, then I encourage the student to set up a schedule to regularly access their material at the time of day that they can be most productive. These data points help me have meaningful conversations with the student to help them reflect and make a plan for moving forward.

Genius Data

Genius is the Student Information System used by my organization that pulls in data from Canvas. There is additional data that is retrievable with sortable tabs including % of assignment completion, overall grade, last activity date, and more. When students take more than one course with GaVS it can be extremely helpful to be able to compare the progress in each course. In my role as coach, I use this data to see if there is a particular subject area that the student is struggling most with or if it's nearing the end of the semester and they've only completed 25% of the assignments. This helps drive my communication so that it is meaningful and the student and I can then work on an appropriate plan for moving forward.

*Pictured below are portions of the data points I can review in the two systems and then example emails of how I used those data points when communicating with stakeholders.

Building Relationships

Online learning often has a bad reputation of not being able to connect with students in a meaningful way. Over the last decade, I have found that to be a false notion. While it does take intentional communication between all stakeholders to build a relationship, once the lines of communication are open I have found that students are more relaxed and more honest with their questions and struggles. Because I believe in the importance of relationships, when working with parents and students I try to listen first and then problem solve second. By starting with listening first, I can empathize with the individual situation instead of merely using a prescribed solution. I love when I am able to support the same student semester after semester as I do get to know how to best support and encourage their academic progress.

Another important relationship to foster is that within the student's local school, whether that be a counselor or principal or other teacher that can work in person with the student. I often speak on the phone with the local school personnel to get a better picture of the student in order to know how we can work together to help the student achieve. I value the relationships I have been able to make with personnel in the school buildings.

Included in the pictures below are a couple examples of communication with individuals that I have been able to build a relationship with and get to know beyond the walls of the classroom.

Timely Communication to Personalize Learning for Specific Situations

References:

Anselmo, L., Kelly, P., Yu, L., & Bair, H. (2021, May 12). Collaborative Activities for Online Learning. Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning. Retrieved April 11, 2022, from https://taylorinstitute.ucalgary.ca/resources/collaborative-activities-for-online-learning
Burns, M. (2018, October 5). Why You Should Create a Collaborative Classroom This Year. Getting Smart. Retrieved April 12, 2022, from https://www.gettingsmart.com/2018/10/05/why-you-should-create-a-collaborative-classroom-this-year/
Farber, K., & Bishop, P. (2019, July 19). Collaboration in Personalized Learning. Edutopia. Retrieved April 13, 2022, from https://www.edutopia.org/article/collaboration-personalized-learning
Koch, K. (2017, April 4). IEP: Students Benefit When We Collaborate. Edutopia. Retrieved April 11, 2022, from https://www.edutopia.org/blog/improving-collaboration-iep-table-katherine-koch
Qasim, A. (2021, August 2). 10 Collaborative Learning Strategies for Online Teachers - Teachfloor Blog. TeachFloor. Retrieved April 11, 2022, from https://www.teachfloor.com/blog/10-collaborative-learning-strategies-for-online-teachers
Vergroesen, L. (2020, September 28). 7 Online Collaborative Learning Strategies to Keep Students Engaged While At Home. EduFlow. Retrieved April 11, 2022, from https://www.eduflow.com/blog/online-collaborative-learning-strategies-to-keep-students-engaged-while-at-home

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