Epic Think Tank

Personalisation and e-learning

Some expert thoughts

A think tank dinner was held in July with some top minds in education including publishers, BECTA, DfES, QCA, City and Guilds, Cambridge University, CfBT and the private sector at Jamie Oliver’s restaurant in London.

Personalisation is a hot political topic. However, it is not yet clear what is meant and how it will be implemented. There were no shortage of exciting ideas at this dinner.

The state has discovered the customer and words like empowerment, entitlement, unblocking, flexibility abounded in a discussion among a wide range of learning professionals. Rather than relate the entire discussion, the participants were asked to summarise their recommendations at the end of the three-hour discussion.

1. As there is no real ‘content’ in the word personalisation, concentrate on the principle of using data to make good decisions about learners. This can be applied across the board.
2. Ask yourself whether the customer really is king. The debate is skewed as it is currently between the government and suppliers, not between customers and suppliers.
3. Focus on the sensible assessment of learning, not the end-point assessment regime. Assess students not schools, and assess to plan for the next step in learning, not social climbing.
4. Personalisation is largely about the need to increase focus on vocational learning, as this is what most people actually need and want at the personal level. Get physics into hairdressing!
5. Artificial subject divides and the subject-driven administrative structure can steer us in the wrong direction. Half the content in the curriculum and focus on workforce development.
6. Current ideas on personalisation are too vague, wide-ranging and fragmented. They need to be made concrete. Set a clear target of half of all students doing at least one vocational subject.
7. Personalise by taking away non-vocational content in the curriculum such as Latin, some of maths and literature. Let learners broadly follow the things they are good at.
8. If personalisation is to stick it needs some evidence-based research and robust criteria. Perhaps less focus on schools and FE. A ‘Unique learner number’ for all would be a start.
9. Personalisation is about choice and making appropriate decisions about what you want to learn. We need less subject segmentation and much more workplace learning.
10. Listen to the voice of the learner. Be serious about their hopes and aspirations. The voice of the child and learner is the voice of realism, whereas the voice of government and educational supply is the voice of old values.
11. Be bold. Give schools the freedom and ability to make brave decisions and be radical in their approach to personalisation.

See also the Epic White Paper on Personalisation by Donald Clark, Epic.