I find that vendors from private companies are very interested in personalized learning. There are not many, but smart sparrow and realizeit are key vendors that communicate with the LMS via LTI protocols. Additionally, LMS vendors are starting to adopt adaptive technologies. Desire2 Learn I know has been at the forefront of this as an LMS.

As the video mentions, assessment is a key point for these systems to function effectively. If the learner is not assessed accurately, the content cannot be personalized in a meaningful way.

On the ground, this is challenging though, because faculty members need to create assessments that meaningfully judge the level of understanding in a universal way.

Today private companies are more learner-centered. The virtual learning focuses on the mastery of the student as opposed to current curricula. The current curricula focuses and test on proficiency that does not take into account the level of acumen for each individual student.

The Dept of Ed. is shining a light on what others states are doing. The Federal government is supplying some grants like race to the top and other grants rewarding others for their innovation. As an innovator the fed is not doing much of anything.

There are a few ways that I think government can support personalized learning. The first is to support research initiatives that look at the results of current integrations. This is discussed in the talk and the mention of turning the government into an engine of innovation is novel.

Also mentioned in the video is standards. I think this is a critical component of developing personalized learning. No it might not be sexy but protocols like SCORM and Tin Can API have been around for a long time and aren’t cutting it in many ways. LTI integrations are more popular at this time but need further government support to really drive adoption.

Last, I would love to see government support open source initiatives to drive an adaptive or personalized project. All current systems that I have seen are proprietary. For a system to scale, open source may be the way to develop a freely available platform.

Scalability is good at this time because we can get information out quickly and efficiently and disseminate it to most educators. The module has to be tried and true in nature, but one that can be used in the current educational environment. The great news is that you can use the innovation inside or out of the traditional learning environment. The platform can be scaled to individuals and produce better learner-centered results.

Ms. Weiss speaks about giving internet access to everyone in all areas. She explains the partnership between Comcast and the the DoE to allow citizens in low income or undeserved communities access to broadband. Leveling the playing field and using current digital devices to serve as learning devices with the addition of internet access. She speaks about innovating an meeting learners where they are and with what they have as a learning device. The utilization of share equity to level the playing fields of education.

Popovic’s argument is that game-based learning will be more engaging than traditional modalities. Therefore, since students are more engaged, they will spend more time in the learning environment.

His next argument is that since there will be so many students spending so much time in the platform, researcher will have more data to draw from. The second argument I found more interesting and have not heard before. I think that these are valid arguments, if you truly have a game that engages students.

Mr.Popvic expresses that learning happens when students are engaged no matter where they come from or there particular background. He makes it known that students like games and introducing education through games in an informal environment is key. The gaming platform can also provide mass data on many sample points with the amount of students that participate.

The key elements are reading, thinking and communicating. With the digital learning environment this as to be communicated in scale. The information to be disseminated must be safe, integrated that is at scale from an international perspective. The DLE has to be collaborative across all learning environments asynchronously and synchronously.

Ms. Zolt is speaking about assessments based on the knowledge the students have learned as a core group. Hughes and Popovic are looking at individual learning and assessments geared toward mastery as opposed to group proficiency.

The policy areas that were addressed consisted of the anytime, anywhere virtual school attendance issue. Some state participate in the anytime attendance and some states do not.

The accountability systems at the state and federal level are proficiency based and some virtual programs are mastery based. The no child left behind and age causes issues with assessments and student progress.

I agree with both Hughes and Popovic with respect to open learning and personalizing student education. Popovic is looking at scaling models that workfor the benefit of the student. Zolt wants learning outside the halls of traditional schools and preparation for the future. Weiss pushes her DoE and dancnes around a lot of issues and can suggest the necessary changes at the fed and pass that down to the states. However DoE shines a light on state achievements and lets the states run their own state policy.