Tuesday, September 23, 2008
America commits to personalised learning
The US commits to personalised learning as crucial to successful education in the 21st century.
The US Congress has backed a commitment to creative use of technology for successful learning by passing a bill to set up a national centre to explore how communications technology can improve learning. The National Center for Research in Advanced Information and Digital Technologies has been given initial funding of $50million and will open in 2009.
The key focus of the center will be "bringing education into the 21st century" by looking at the role of technology in the lives of young people versus the role of technology in their educational experience. The center will provide a comprehensive research and development programme aimed at improving learning at all stages from pre-school to university. It will have a grant scheme to support ideas and products which can demonstrate how they will improve learning through better use of communications and technology. It has set as its challenge to answer the question :
"If you could teach someone without limits or resources, how would you go about it and how would you measure it?”"
Personalised Learning was identified as central to the vision for 21st century education in the US at the launch of the project.
"This new National Center will do research that is essential for the United States in this digital age..... finding ways to make learning more compelling, more personal, and more productive in our nation’s schools."
Learning scientists and educators have known for years that people learn faster if education can be personalized, and if students are motivated by seeing how their knowledge can help them solve problems they, and their future employers, actually care about. These new technologies can help deliver on this promise". Click here to read more.
The center is a non-profit organisation with all research findings and developments being made free to all educational institutions across America.