Choice and voice: emerging questions of personalised professional learning

ABSTRACT

Personalised professional learning (PPL) for teachers is increasingly seen as a route to improving student outcomes. The U.S. Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) legislation urges personalisation in learning for both students and educators, but states have yet to settle on shared definitions or approaches. Infrastructure such as microcredential and digital badge systems offer opportunities for PPL. Future research using Self Determination Theory and Organismic Integration Theory can yield better understanding of learner motivation vis-à-vis PPL, while the Universal Design for Learning (UDL) framework is a promising approach for effective learning design with PPL.

KEYWORDS:

• Personalisation
• professional learning
• microcredentials
• digital badges
• universal design for learning

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Daron William Kennett

Daron William Kennett is a doctoral candidate at Utah State University. His research focuses on the use of microcredentials and other digital credentials to support K-12 educators’ professional learning and teacher leadership. Daron is the project manager of the Utah State Board of Education’s Utah Microcredentials system. He also serves as the professional learning supervisor in Davis School District, Utah, USA.

A. Gardner

A. Gardner received a Ph.D. in Special Education and an M.S. in Reading and Literacy from the University of Utah, and a B.S. in Elementary Education from Brigham Young University. She began her educational career as a member of the external evaluation team for Utah’s K-3 Reading First Grant, working with the University of Utah and the Utah State Board of Education to support schools and districts across the state. She later taught first grade, served as a new teacher mentor, and worked as a research analyst for the Salt Lake City School District, Utah, USA. Aubree has taught graduate level courses and supervised pre-service teachers at the University of Utah and Argosy University. She currently works as a Professional Learning Specialist for the Davis School District, Utah, USA, where she helps support the Utah Microcredentials System.

L. Scott

L. Scott is a Doctoral Candidate and Lead Next Scholar in Exceptional Education at the University of Central Florida. Lynn’s experience in special education includes teaching and educational leadership roles supporting students with exceptionalities in grades pre-k through 12+ settings. Her research focuses on preparing teachers and administrators in the pursuit of inclusive and equitable practices through the use of simulation and multimodal data collection to increase outcomes for diverse learning populations.

M. S. Patterson

M. S. Patterson is a doctoral student at the University of Central Florida. Her research focuses on coaching pre-and in-service teachers on inclusive instructional design.

L. Zhang

L. Zhang Ph.D., is an associate researcher at the Center for Research and Learning at the University of Kansas. Dr. Zhang’s research primarily focuses on the design, implementation, and measurement of personalised learning that supports learner variability through the lens of Universal Design for Learning (UDL).

R. A. Carter

R. A. Carter Jr., Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Counseling, Leadership, Advocacy, and Design (CLAD) at the University of Wyoming. His current research focuses on the implementation of self-regulation practices for students with disabilities in both fully online and blended learning environments. In addition, Dr. Carter is part of a team that is investigating the role of Voice User Interface in delivering instruction to multiple stakeholder groups in novel learning settings.