Showcase: On the Journey to Personalizing Learning

Beth Eddy, a chemistry teacher at Westerville South High School, has been interested in creating customized learning opportunities for her students throughout her career. In the videos below, Beth talks about her journey to create these opportunities and shows how she has harnessed the power of technology to expand upon her efforts. Beth does not view herself as a "techie" teacher, but her passion for helping her students build ownership in their learning and approach the content in ways that make sense to them has driven her to make creative use of the digital tools available to her. In the first video, Beth takes you through her process, talking about how she came to creating a learning environment that allows students to learn at different paces and through different methods, and discussing some of the challenges and successes that she has had along the way. 

In the next video, Beth takes you on a tour of her Schoology course. You will see how she has set up her course, what Schoology tools she uses to deliver varied content to her students, and how her course design encourages students to reflect on who they are as learners and how they can be successful in her class. 

The way that Beth has designed her course allows her students to take part in classroom activities when they are ready, helps them reflect upon their understanding throughout the learning process, and encourages them to truly master the material. And she isn't done yet! Beth is continually reflecting upon her own practice, trying out new ideas, strategies, and tools to further engage her students and individualize their learning. As Beth points out, success is a messy business, but the messiness makes it all the more rewarding.

Interested in learning more about how you can develop ways to customize learning opportunities for your students? Contact your Ed Tech Coach today!

#WestervilleWay

Using E-Portfolios in the Classroom

For years teachers have displayed their students' work on school walls and bulletin boards. However with the new digital age and more schools going paperless student work has become more easily shareable, accessible and more easily organized.  

Both students and educators need to share their achievements and to reflect on what they learn. Portfolios provide them with the ability to quickly and easily collect, organize, and share their work with others.

Schoology makes this feature fun and streamlined with their new e-PORTFOLIO feature. Located in your Schoology personal profile, portfolios make it easy to showcase students’ work, interests, and talents.

Above is a sample collage of items that were easily shared in the student’s Schoology portfolio. 

If you would like to try the ePortfolio feature but would like a help getting started, please contact your EdTech Integration Coach.