Personal Learning with Self-Directed Project-Based Learning Activities

What is personalized teaching?  

In short, personalized teaching is offering personal learning / customized learning opportunities for each student. Learning experiences are based around every students' unique background, interests, strengths, challenges, goals, and more.

What are some personalized learning strategies?

Personal Learning with Self-Directed Project-Based Learning Strategies

There are many ways to make learning personal, and I highly recommend you go back to my post on that for more details. But my go-to strategy is self-directed project-based learning. All other personalized teaching strategies can fall under this category. 

For example, if a student is interested in doing a scientific inquiry experiment, they would write it into their project-based learning plan. They would design their PBL experience with that inquiry experiment in mind as one way to gather information. How to gather information is one of many opportunities for choice in self-directed PBL. 

I'm not going to bog this post down with the details of project-based learning because I have already done that in previous posts. But if you have not already, head back to these posts to catch up:

• Benefits of Project-Based Learning
• Elements of Project-Based Learning
• Steps in Project-Based Learning

What are some personalized Project-Based Learning Opportunities? 

A common question is when and how do I incorporate self-directed project-based learning into my curriculum? My simple answer is that self-directed project-based learning can be implemented in any learning environment, every subject matter, every skill level, every grade level, and so on.

I also recommend that you don't slip it into your curriculum or day-to-day here and there. Make it THE curriculum if you're able.

• Open-Ended PBL Curriculum (think passion projects): My advisory students do open-ended PBL projects on any and all topics of interest. Each student chooses a topic that sparks their curiosity. They then design and lead a PBL experience around that interest. Each student is doing something different from their neighbor at any given time. This is a great approach for advisory groups, summer school sessions, and homeschoolers.
• Subject-Based Classes: I am technically a trained high school life science teacher. We as teachers, especially at middle and high school levels, are more often than not parceled into teaching subject-specific classes. My curriculum for my life science classes are still self-directed project-based. My students still design and lead their own PBL experiences, they just do so around parameters and/or required targets or standards.
• Educational Travel: I helped coordinate travel experiences for our school's travel program. I incorporated self-directed project-based learning into every facet of each trip. All of my student travelers design and lead pre-trip PBL experiences to learn about their upcoming travel destinations. They also do community action project-based learning experiences during the trip.

Community Action Project Blog Posts: 

• Four Ways to Take Action Using Project-Based Learning
• How to Facilitate Self-Directed Community Action Projects
• Ten End-of-the-School-Year Community Action Project Ideas

What does personalized, project-based learning look like in the classroom or homeschool?

The structure of a project-based learning classroom, project-based homeschool, and project-based educational travel experience all follow the same general idea; get to know your students. Then have each student design and execute PBL learning experiences that reflect their own personal needs and interests.

What do we need? 

There are some specific tools that help get you and your students started and keep you organized throughout. I have a resource for each of the following, but you're welcome to create your own. These resources are simply to give you and your students guidance and to save you time. 

• Personal Learning Plan: Get to know your students and help them get to know themselves so that they are ready and eager to design their own project-based learning activities. My editable Google Slides personal learning plan guides you and students through this experience.
• Project Design Tools: All students are new to self-directed project-based learning at one point or another. They don't show up knowing how to design a personalized PBL experience. A project-based learning design workbook is often helpful to guide them through this experience, such as mind mapping community experts or defining their authentic audience.
• Guiding Templates: A project proposal or project plan is a necessity. Students fill in a one-page document with their project plan in place. It includes a driving question, project final product plan, authentic presentation plan, guiding research questions and more. A project-based learning tool kit of guiding templates is essential. 
• Planning Materials: I recommend a personalized PBL-specific planner. Mine is a digital Google Slides project-based learning planner that includes drag and drop elements of each task involved in the self-directed PBL process. I also have my students use a student version to help keep their project tasks organized. Check out this free sample project-based learning digital planner.
• Evaluation Materials: My students self-evaluate and I evaluate them with a project-based learning rubric. I use a generic project-based-learning rubric for beginners but my students eventually develop their own rubrics. Self-generated rubrics are essential for personal learning because each student's experience will vary. My PBL tool kit includes both of these rubrics.
• Reflection Materials: I also have my students reflect after every PBL experience using pre-written learning reflection guiding questions. But I also have students reflect after a session of project-based learning experiences such as after a class or semester or at the end-of-the-year. They do this using an editable Google Slides learning reflection template.
• PBL Assessment Portfolio: This is my favorite part! Students add all of their learning outcomes into a self-directed project-based learning assessment portfolio to showcase cumulative learning experiences. Students manage their own portfolios, displaying rubrics, reflections, photos of final products, authentic presentations and more. This resource is FREE to you. Go grab it now! Check out my blog post on how to use a project-based learning assessment portfolio.

How do I Start?

Go back to my blog post on steps in project-based learning for a detailed post on how to facilitate self-directed project-based learning in your classroom or project based homeschool.

I also recommend grabbing some of the tools that I mentioned above. You can get my editable Google Slides personal learning plan, self-directed PBL design workbook, PBL tool kit with rubrics and reflection materials, and digital PBL planners for both teachers and students in my self-directed project-based learning starter kit. This kit includes the editable Google Slides learning reflection template as a free bonus resource.​

Alright, so now you know the "why", the "when", and the "how" of personalized self-directed project-based learning. The only thing that could possibly be holding you back at this point is self-doubt! Don't let that get in the way.

YOU CAN DO THIS. The hardest part is getting started. A little guidance from Experiential Learning Depot will give you the confidence to start. Once you try it you'll never look back. You'll be hooked! 

Good luck to you, and if you ever have questions, reach out!

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