VIEWS & OPINION


Adopting adaptive learning: a teacher’s guide


Comment by CONOR FLYNN, COO, Adaptemy


Adaptive learning fuses education with IT, using computers as interactive learning devices. It presents educational content and resources to the user according to their unique needs.


While adaptive learning has the power to deliver incrementally better learning experiences and outcomes, and to relieve teachers of the paperwork and reporting that cloud their evenings and weekends, it’s also veiled in mystery, jargon and scepticism.


From a teacher’s perspective, what is the reality of working with an adaptive learning solution?


Just what is adaptive learning?


It’s important to understand exactly what adaptive learning is and is not. In a nutshell an adaptive learning solution:


• responds to the learner’s individual learning journey • adapts to the curriculum, context and culture of the school and country • focuses on the people using the solution, using technology only to add value • continually seeks feedback and adjust its behaviours accordingly • collaborates with learners, teachers, parents and publishers to perfect its proposition


Adaptive learning in no way seeks to replace the teacher. It can’t. Education is inherently human and no technological innovation can replace the teacher’s intuition, emotion and experience. What it does, is arm a teacher with immediate and accurate insight into the learning experiences and outcomes of each student.


Managing expectations


Adaptive learning first and foremost provides insight into which students are working hard and when. If students are asked questions that are too easy or too hard, learning is not optimised. All effective learning happens when you’re working hard.


With an adaptive learning solution, teachers can access real-time data empowering them to pinpoint who needs assistance and how. This is the real and most immediate impact of adaptive learning.


Knowing its place in education


Adaptive learning provides an excellent resource to hone skills and achieve a fundamental understanding before elevating that to mastery. While there’s more to education than the mastery of questions, adaptive learning serves to spot holes in understanding and highlight those students lacking key skills and abilities. Incrementally establishing this with evidence from the solution enables teachers to create a more relevant learning path for students, and direct them towards an educational future that will see them thrive.


Winning over stakeholders


For teachers exploring the use of adaptive learning in their school, the number of stakeholders involved can be a barrier to success.


In our experience, students adore, and readily engage with, anything cutting- edge. You won’t be challenged here.


Some teachers can be intimidated by classroom technology. Ensuring the solution fits the way they work, rather than the other way around, is essential.


Parents are pivotal


Parents are key to the discussion, involvement and success of adaptive learning solutions, not least because these tools enable effective learning outside of the classroom. Normalising adaptive learning for parents, by referencing it at teacher- parent meetings, using reports to demonstrate student progression, and showing its effectiveness can help get them on-board.


When problems occur


When a text book is misprinted or inaccurate, we turn to guides and colleagues for a steer in the right direction. When technology goes wrong, we tend to panic. Our inability to fix a problem frustrates and stifles, and this is particularly disconcerting when the technology is new.


Here, the role of the teacher is vital once again. It’s that human element that enables the school to navigate glitches and manage student expectations. Remember – adaptive learning is a part of the solution, not the whole solution.


July/August 2017 Money saving


strategies for schools Comment by SU JOHAL,


director and co-founder of SAAF Education


It’s been reported that schools are now taking “desperate measures” as the funding crisis hits. And to make ends meet schools are cutting lunch breaks, reducing the number of minority subjects and asking for parent donations.


So how can today’s headteacher save as much money as possible when budgets are squeezed?


Whilst there are no “quick fixes” for tight budgets, there are ways to make the pennies stretch further and ease strains.


Show me the money


Lettings can provide a crucial income stream. To do this effectively, you’ll need good links with the local community to share details about your facilities and how clubs and groups can hire them. Added to this, you could advertise the availability of your space on your school website and you will need to introduce a pricing strategy and timetable. This will make it easy for third parties to book your facilities, and ensure external events do not impact on school commitments.


Review your purchasing


Go and speak to your school’s finance team and review how your cash is being spent, and identify “bulk buying” alternatives. Purchasing in large volumes can bring down the price of goods and offers greater value for money.


Even if you’re a small, rural school, you’ll still benefit. Explore potential partnerships with other local schools, or join a purchasing consortium.


This will allow you to reap the rewards of purchasing large volumes of things such as stationary, toilet paper and the day-to-day essentials.


Think green


Save money on your energy bills by ensuring your heating is set on a timer and change it as the months grow warmer. You could also install sensors on lights to save costs, as they’ll turn off when nobody is in the room, and consider using LED lighting which consumes 90% less power then incandescent alternatives.


Do you spend a lot of money on paper and postage? By moving to a “paperless office” and sending emails instead, you’ll notice a big difference.


Food for thought


Most headteachers will admit they didn’t get where they are because they’re experts in catering.


Despite this, they’ll end up managing budgets that must cover the provision of school meals for hundreds of pupils. So how can you manage it to the best effect?


Catering is difficult to price, and can be high on waste. By refining menu choices you can significantly decrease spend. Introduce seasonal, succinct menus to reduce the number of menu options, but still provide variety. This is perfect for bulk buying too, as you can pick and choose items when they are the cheapest and “in season”.


And finally, gaining insight from education financial management experts can ensure your funds are used efficiently. At SAAF, we offer a range of consultancy services tailored to your needs including cash flow monitoring, budget setting and curriculum costing.


www.education-today.co.uk 19


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