This is the 3rd post in the Personalized Learning series, and contains affiliate links.
If you want to personalize learning in the Library Media Center, Academic Choice is a natural place to start! It provides students with choice in what and/or how they learn. It is because of this that Academic Choice increases engagement and motivation. One of the unintended consequences of Academic Choice is that it decreases the need to respond to behaviors. When using Academic Choice, it is important to remember to:
Even with limited time with students, sometimes as little as 30 minutes, critical skills are being taught. The Library Media Center is often the one and only place digital citizenship, media literacy, research, coding, and engineering and design (makerspace) are being taught. Even with those time constraints, Academic Choice can still be incorporated.
I am deep in coding with my PreK – 1st grade students right now and this is a perfect opportunity to incorporate Academic Choice! When introducing the concept of coding to my PreK students, I give them the choice of how to be a computer: Osmo Tangram, Design and Drill, MegaBloks and more. Instead of making them visit every coding station as is typically the case in a centers based environment, they get to choose which station/center to do. Leaving the stations out for a few weeks also gives them the opportunity to repeat stations or try a new one. This is highly engaging for them!!!
With the Kindergarten and First graders who are learning how to code be creating algorithms and loops, they choose if they will code with an app or a robot: Scratch Jr. or Ozobot. Then the choices increase as I introduce them to new tools: Scratch Jr, Ozobot, Codeable Crafts, Cubetto, Code & Go Mouse. An outstanding elementary computer science teacher in my district gave me this awesome idea for structuring Academic Choice when you have a lot of tools to introduce:
I typically say things like:
“If you like to build, you may be interested in MegaBloks or Design and Drill. If you like to move, you may be interested in Coding Alphabet. If you like technology or iPads, you may be interested in Osmo Tangram.”
“What are some reasons why someone would want to use Scratch Jr. and others would want to use Ozobots?”
It can be helpful to name for students what is appealing about a choice, or how it will meet a need or two. It is also powerful for students to determine why a choice is appealing or differentiated.
Whether Library Learners are coding, engineering and designing, or researching, they have choice. When engineering and designing, they may have choice in what they design: apps, vehicles, characters, solutions to problems. They may also have choice in the materials they use: Playdoh, Legos, recyclables, etc.
It may not seem possible, but Academic Choice is also possible when teaching students to research. They can have choice of what they research (the historical figure, animal, etc.) and how they research (websites, books, augmented and virtual reality).
Even something like citation can have Academic Choice. An Academic Choice I have provided students to learn about citation have included BrainPOP, Citation for Beginners, and a chatbot that I’ve created! Library Learners love being able to make decisions about how to meet their own learning needs and interests.
What other questions can I answer about using Academic Choice to personalize learning in Library Media?
In the next part of the series, I’ll share about gamification.
