Three Ways Learner Profiles Transform School

Learner Profiles support personalization, simplify conferencing, and invite all stakeholders to the discussion on student learning.
"Learner Profiles are essentially mini web pages that create a designated place to represent, support and celebrate each individual student."

Twenty-first century education has placed far greater demands on teachers and students than ever before. We expect students to master more content and increasingly complex skills, while teachers must work to create an environment that makes these crucial skills and knowledge pieces accessible for all students. Without the right tools, these lofty goals can seem almost impossible to accomplish. However, modern tech tools have stepped up to the plate to provide our education system with much-needed support.

One of these valuable tools is the Learner Profile. Learner Profiles are essentially mini web pages that create a designated place to represent, support and celebrate each individual student. Here are three examples of ways Learner Profiles can transform education:

Creating a place for all stakeholders to weigh in

Throughout the history of education, one of the main challenges for teachers and parents has been bridging the gap between home and school. Student outcomes are always best when there’s a synergy between the message at home and the message in the classroom, and Learner Profiles provide the perfect forum for those discussions to take place.

In order to fully represent a student’s strengths, needs, accomplishments and unique perspective on life, the Learner Profile calls upon all stakeholders (students, teachers, parents and administrators) to provide input. Each individual can provide valuable insights to help identify what kind of learning will be most valuable for the student in question, as well as what strategies or access points might be most effective. In the past, these conversations often didn’t happen because of scheduling difficulties or fear of social awkwardness, but with a Learner Profile, there’s a safe, positive place for these learner-centric discussions to occur.

Increasing opportunities for personalization

If your school has begun to experiment with elements of personalized learning, you already know that PL requires a deep understanding of what makes each student tick and what motivates them. Without that information, you’ll always be fighting for buy-in, and authenticity will be low for the learner. Learner Profiles are the perfect support for personalized learning because they provide a living, breathing document that speaks to what students enjoy, what’s worked for them in the past and what you can leverage to motivate them to success.

In this way, the Learner Profile is the perfect starting point when brainstorming personalized learning experiences. Using information from the Profile, teachers can identify which content or skills the student needs to work on, which of their long-term goals that knowledge piece connects to, and which of the student’s skills or preferences can be accessed to support the learning process.

Providing structure and visual aids for conferences

Let’s face it: Parent-teacher conferences can be either extremely valuable or just plain frustrating, depending on how they’re structured and executed. If you’re trying to ensure that your discussions with parents remain positive, effective and grounded in the student, the Learner Profile is a perfect tool.

Teachers and students can use the Learner Profile to brainstorm and prepare talking points for each conference. This guarantees the conference speaks to each individual student’s strengths and needs rather than simply focusing on generalities or overarching discussions of the class. During the conference itself, the Learner Profile can be used as a visual aid to make the discussion more engaging and better structured. The Learner Profile provides an outline for key talking points, which keeps things focused and allows whoever’s leading the conference (whether it’s a teacher or a student) to stay focused on the topics or issues that are truly relevant to that individual.

To learn more about how Learner Profiles can transform learning in your school, schedule a demo of Epiphany Learning today!