While reading Learning Management Systems of the Future: A Theoretical Framework and Design by Dr.Saba, I was excited by the proposed possibilities for the future of Educational Management Systems.
Over the past two years, learning more about educational technology, I have had a consistent nagging feeling that education and specifically the K-8 public education environment is so behind the times. Not only do our standards dismiss technology, but they seem to be continually making it more difficult to incorporate theories of implementation by the few instructors who have the ambition and foreseeable benefits for its use.
I can see the role of the higher institutions moving to a more individualized education plan. At the elementary level, we have Individual Education Plans (IEPs) for our Gifted and Talented Education (GATE) students. Mostly, they address learning environments and needs of the students with regard to behavior and communication. They address academic content and design objectives as to what the student should or should not be able to accomplish and set goals reflective of such statements. They do not allow for a molded curriculum specific to the child’s interests or abilities. However, this could be the earliest form of the future Dr. Saba has discussed and is very primitive in its infancy.
Allowing the student to take a more active role in their education just seems elemental to me. It allows for that intrinsic motivation I have come to respect and strive for in my own teaching. Adopting this type of method, which may guide their entire academic career and play a huge part in the design of their instruction, gets me very excited about not only the individual progress of my students, but the entire role education could (and should) have in creating a better, more efficient society.
Having an Educational Management System which centers solely on the abilities, background, and needs of the learner will not only help obtain the goals necessary for mastery, but allow learners to streamline and achieve their goals more efficiently and effectively. I would love to see the paradigm shift from in seat learning and time set rewards to achievement based awards and fulfillment of life-long dreams.
However, I do see some issues not addressed which need further consideration. With the younger age students especially, pin pointing academic needs and intrinsic motivation may be very difficult. Learning anything requires discipline which is often hard to find in K-5 age students. Overall, creating a self-motivating, needs of the learner structure will require adult monitoring and continual progress checking.
It will be difficult to change a system that has rooted in so much of “we don’t do that”, or “because that is a state mandate”. Overall reform will take many years and will almost have to start (which it already has) in higher education institutions. This need for creating an individual plan for each student will need to start at a much younger age, so the ability to have both will definitely require some major reform so that there can be a meeting in the middle.
If I was to create a LMS for our school district, I would begin with 2nd or 3rd grade students. I would need to take polls to help understand what motivates them individually. An LMS would need to be started to work with just those grade level instructors across 3 or 4 school sites. This trial study of implementing a more focused individualized instruction plan and LMS would be difficult for staff and administration, but it would be interesting to take those schools and students throughout the years up through about 8th grade and see what motivates them, and how far they have progressed past other students not involved in the program. I am sure they will be better learners with more individualized skills.
A trial such as this trial would require additional resources and considerations for modifications that allow for dialogue and structure. There would have to be considerable parent communication and participation. We would need extensive professional development opportunities for the teachers throughout each grade, along with coaches for implementing project based learning and other focused collaborative lessons designed to enhance the specific skills of each student and their abilities.
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