Using Integrated Learning Systems: What I Recommend and Why
One of the main concepts taught over and over in college courses is the process and effectiveness of differentiating lessons. As a Special Education major, I take this strategy and information to heart. Regardless of that, though, any good teacher will differentiate any given lesson to meet the needs of all learners present in the classroom. A great way to ensure this is through the use of an Integrated Learning System.
Integrated Learning Systems are software programs that have been designed to provide content to students in an effective way. The delivery of these programs provide content that is measurable, monitored, and easily maintained through a series of assessments. Here's how it generally works-students each have a personal account set up! Through the program, students are given direct instruction on what they need to do for that specific assignment. Students work through the generated problems and are given immediate feedback and results. This cuts down on the amount of time students have to wait for their teacher to finish grading their handwritten work.
Looking back on my own time in school, I was most familiar with the Accelerated Reader Program. This program consists of reading AR leveled books and then taking a test on the story. The quiz asks questions that pertain to reading comprehension and covers both literal questions and inferential type questions. This program relies on the independent reading of students and assesses them afterwards.
Study Island is an online program that I am not as familiar with, but it is used frequently in schools today. According to an article written by Derrick Meador, Study Island is offered in every state in the United States. It is also used in more than 24,000 schools within our country. From what I can observe, this resource offers information for all grades, K-12 in Math, Language Arts, Science and Social Studies. Because of the amount of interactive resources available through this program, this is an effective way for students to study and prepare for their final assessments given by the state. Meador's article provides many beneficial components that Study Island offers. One of my favorite things is that the site provides instant feedback and is adaptable depending on each student and course. Students are constantly working towards accomplishing goals and if they don't meet their standards, this learning system provides remidational work that students can continue to complete. Therefore, all students are working towards their specific needs. This is a system that is worth looking into for many reasons. It allows for teachers and parents to take a break from constantly reviewing material and gives students a chance to work as long as they can on a specific goal before moving on to a new concept.
Overall, Integrated Learning Systems can be beneficial to students and teachers both. Individualizing instruction to fit the needs of that student is perfect for the student because they are working on their own needs and not working on someone else's needs. Teachers benefit from using these systems because the assignments and assessments are graded through the used system, which saves the teacher time. It also gives the teacher feedback on specific goals and objectives the particular student needs to work on. "Some experts suggest that through implementation of an integrated learning system requires a minimum of 45 minutes and four lessons per week in a given subject area as well as high levels of teacher integration" (Tutorials Explaining ILS, teched). This resource also states that research indicates that "students who participate in activities through the integrated learning systems spend more time actively engaged in the learning system spend more time actively engaged in the learning tasks than their counterparts who are engaged in the same offline learning tasks in traditionally structured classrooms" (Worthen, VanDusen, & Sailor, 1994).
Sources:
Institute of Educational Services. What Works Clearinghouse. Accelerated Reader. Retrieved 11/17/2015 http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/interventionreport.aspx?sid=12
Technology in Education. Integrated Learning Systems. Retrieved 11/17/2015 https://teched-su2011.wikispaces.com/Integrated+Learning+Systems
About Education. Review of Study Island. Retrieved 11/18/2015 http://teaching.about.com/od/tech/fr/Study-Island.htm
Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Integrated Learning Systems. Retrieved 11/18/2015 http://college.cengage.com/education/grabe/int_tech/5e/prepare/chapter/chap4.ils.html
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Study Island is an online program that I am not as familiar with, but it is used frequently in schools today. According to an article written by Derrick Meador, Study Island is offered in every state in the United States. It is also used in more than 24,000 schools within our country. From what I can observe, this resource offers information for all grades, K-12 in Math, Language Arts, Science and Social Studies. Because of the amount of interactive resources available through this program, this is an effective way for students to study and prepare for their final assessments given by the state. Meador's article provides many beneficial components that Study Island offers. One of my favorite things is that the site provides instant feedback and is adaptable depending on each student and course. Students are constantly working towards accomplishing goals and if they don't meet their standards, this learning system provides remidational work that students can continue to complete. Therefore, all students are working towards their specific needs. This is a system that is worth looking into for many reasons. It allows for teachers and parents to take a break from constantly reviewing material and gives students a chance to work as long as they can on a specific goal before moving on to a new concept.
Overall, Integrated Learning Systems can be beneficial to students and teachers both. Individualizing instruction to fit the needs of that student is perfect for the student because they are working on their own needs and not working on someone else's needs. Teachers benefit from using these systems because the assignments and assessments are graded through the used system, which saves the teacher time. It also gives the teacher feedback on specific goals and objectives the particular student needs to work on. "Some experts suggest that through implementation of an integrated learning system requires a minimum of 45 minutes and four lessons per week in a given subject area as well as high levels of teacher integration" (Tutorials Explaining ILS, teched). This resource also states that research indicates that "students who participate in activities through the integrated learning systems spend more time actively engaged in the learning system spend more time actively engaged in the learning tasks than their counterparts who are engaged in the same offline learning tasks in traditionally structured classrooms" (Worthen, VanDusen, & Sailor, 1994).
Sources:
Institute of Educational Services. What Works Clearinghouse. Accelerated Reader. Retrieved 11/17/2015 http://ies.ed.gov/ncee/wwc/interventionreport.aspx?sid=12
Technology in Education. Integrated Learning Systems. Retrieved 11/17/2015 https://teched-su2011.wikispaces.com/Integrated+Learning+Systems
About Education. Review of Study Island. Retrieved 11/18/2015 http://teaching.about.com/od/tech/fr/Study-Island.htm
Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Integrated Learning Systems. Retrieved 11/18/2015 http://college.cengage.com/education/grabe/int_tech/5e/prepare/chapter/chap4.ils.html
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Excellent report. Most of the research confirms that ILS help improve standardized test scores.
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