Michele Eaton - The Perfect Blend: A Practical Guide to Designing Student-Centered Learning Experiences

The Perfect Blend

A Practical Guide for Designing Student-Centered Learning Experiences

Michele Eaton

2020 International Society for Technology in Education

World rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval systemwithout prior written permission from the publisher. Contact Permissions Editor: ; fax: 1.541.302.3780.

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Senior Acquisitions Editor: Valerie Witte

Development and Copy Editor: Linda Laflamme

Proofreader: Lisa Hein

Indexer: Valerie Haynes Perry

Book Design and Production: Danielle Foster

Cover Design: Edwin Ouellette

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Eaton, Michele, 1986- author.

Title: The perfect blend : a practical guide to designing student-centered learning experiences / Michele Eaton.

Description: First edition. | Portland, Oregon : International Society for Technology in Education, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index.

Identifiers: LCCN 2020006290 (print) | LCCN 2020006291 (ebook) | ISBN 9781564848451 (paperback) | ISBN 9781564848437 (epub) | ISBN 9781564848420 (mobi) | ISBN 9781564848444 (pdf)

Subjects: LCSH: Blended learning. | Student-centered learning.

Classification: LCC LB1028.5 .E274 2020 (print) | LCC LB1028.5 (ebook) | DDC 371.33/4--dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020006290

LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020006291

First Edition

ISBN: 978-1-56484-845-1

Ebook version available

Printed in the United States of America

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The International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE) is a nonprofit organization that works with the global education community to accelerate the use of technology to solve tough problems and inspire innovation. Our worldwide network believes in the potential technology holds to transform teaching and learning.

ISTE sets a bold vision for education transformation through the ISTE Standards, a framework for students, educators, administrators, coaches and computer science educators to rethink education and create innovative learning environments. ISTE hosts the annual ISTE Conference & Expo, one of the worlds most influential edtech events. The organizations professional learning offerings include online courses, professional networks, year-round academies, peer-reviewed journals and other publications. ISTE is also the leading publisher of books focused on technology in education. For more information or to become an ISTE member, visit iste.org. Subscribe to ISTEs YouTube channel and connect with ISTE on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn.

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Michele Eaton has a passion for high-quality online and blended learning, both for students and adults. As Director of Virtual and Blended Learning for the Metropolitan School District of Wayne Township in Indianapolis, Indiana, Michele provides support for the Achieve Virtual Education Academy teachers and students, oversees online course design throughout the district, and helps to lead the districts many blended learning options. She started her career as a second-grade teacher but has also taught online for IUPUI (Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis) in both its Learning by Design masters program and undergraduate education program.

Michele is a Certified Education Technology Leader (CETL) and was recently named a NextGeneration Leader by EdScoop and the Consortium of School Networking (CoSN). She was also selected as a 2018 Education Week Leader to Learn From and a 2019 ISTE Making IT Happen award winner. Michele currently serves as President for the ISTE Online and Blended Learning Network and as a conference chairperson for ISTEs Indiana affiliate organization (Indiana Connected Educators).

Continue the conversation beyond the pages of this book by connecting with her (@micheeaton) on Twitter or using the hashtag #PerfectBlendBook. You can also follow along as she helps moderate the #INeLearn chat on Thursday nights at 9 p.m. ET.

ISTE gratefully acknowledges the contributions of the following:

At the time of this publication, we are in the midst of a pandemic, prompting educators to find innovative ways to teach their students from home. While staying at home during this time is difficult for all of us, consider what it means to be a teacher working at home with children who have their own needs. Teachers want to make a differencethats the reason most of us went into the profession in the first place. Its important to remember as we deal with this changing world whats most important: to foster relationships.

Building a culture of learning is based on trust and respect that starts with the relationships between the teacher and students. An effective teacher:

empowers students to be a designer of their own learning

helps students gain confidence in their abilities to acquire new skills

shows students what it means to be invested in their success

This personalized learning approach is about focusing on students as learners and empowering agency so they have choice and a voice in their learning. Many teachers believe that providing a set of pre-planned choices may be enough to give students opportunities for choice. Actually, providing choice in this way means teachers are doing most of the preparation and planning. In designing with student agency in mind, Michele Eaton shares how to provide choice in assessment by providing options with the tools students use to demonstrate what they learn. The idea of developing opportunities for choice is to start turning over these decisions to students so they can drive their own learning.

To achieve true student agency, providing opportunities for choice is not enough. Students need a real voice in their education. Students have more flexibility at home to work online with individualized content at their own pace while having more control over time and place.

Michele defines blended learning as any combination of traditional instruction and online learning. Because of the newfound need to stay at home, teachers are becoming more creative in using collaborative tools. There are more instances of blended learning via video conferencing using tools like Zoom, Skype, Microsoft Meeting, and Google Meet. You will also see students self-advocating for their learning at home and as a partner in learning with teachers. They will self-reflect on their learning journey and who they are as a learner by creating and monitoring their learner profile. The teacher uses a Flex Model with checklists, playlists, choice boards, and formative assessment strategies to encourage voice and choice. Videoconferencing creates an environment where you can listen and see each student more than when you are in a traditional classroom. You may find yourself spending more time building those relationships online using humor, games, and creative student-to-student interactivity.