Learning Should NEVER be Lonely.

Posted by Bill Ferriter on Tuesday, 03/17/2015

One of the terms that I just can't come to grips with in education is "personalized learning."  Maybe I'm being paranoid, but it literally frightens me. 

In my worst nightmares, I see rows of quiet kids sitting behind computers in quiet classrooms clicking away at keyboards as they work on individual tasks that are "customized to meet their unique sets of strengths and weaknesses."  I see principals reveling in "the responsiveness of their classrooms" and teachers relaxing because there's nothing to grade.  Worse yet, I see corporate giants drooling over heaping piles of cold, hard cash forked over by districts trying to "make the grade" even when "making the grade" means stripping every last drop of humanity out of our schools.

(click here(link is external) to view and download on Flickr)

Here's a simple truth, y'all: Real learning is sometimes personal and oftentimes social, but it is NEVER lonely.