Program Description

The Personalized Learning Certificate is fully online, a nine-credit hour sequence that aims to provide learners with a foundational understanding of what personalized learning is, and the competencies necessary to effectively personalize a classroom or course. Learners demonstrate ten competencies as outlined by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GaPSC) standards for the Personalized Learning Endorsement, and plan how to personalize their own classrooms.

The program competencies include: Prioritized Executive Function, Learner Agency, Asset-based Dispositions, Growth and Mastery Mindset, Authentic and Adaptive Assessment, Flexible Education Resources, Individualized Path, Dynamic Communication, Expanded Collaboration, and Life-Long Professional Learning.

This certificate offers two tracks:  

1. Endorsement Track: This track is for those who are certified educators in Georgia who wish to add the GaPSC approved Personalized Learning Endorsement to their certifications. Candidates in this concentration are eligible to add the Endorsement to their GaPSC Teaching Certificate in addition to the three courses appearing on the KSU transcript under Personalized Learning Certificate.

• Please Note: To add the Endorsement to your GaPSC Teaching Certificate, required coursework must be completed, endorsement concentration declared, and certification steps provided by Bagwell Certification Office adhered to.   

2. Certificate Track: This track is for those educators who are in K-12 settings but not certified in Georgia or who teach in other settings and wish to gain competencies in Personalized Learning. When all requirements have been completed, the three courses will appear on the KSU transcript under Personalized Learning Certificate.

Program Student Learning Outcomes

Students who successfully complete this program will be able to: 

1. Prioritize Executive Function

The candidate explicitly teaches students the skills of executive function (self-regulation, emotional responsibility, task completion, working memory, cognitive flexibility, time management, reflection, etc.), teaches practices of metacognition, and prepares the learning environment to promote learner agency. The candidate will:

i. Prepare learners to take responsibility for their learning through the acquisition and practice of executive function;

ii. Design and transform curricula that supports learner acquisition and practice of executive function by considering the cognitive development of the learner; and

iii. Measure and report growth in learner executive function to coach learners towards independence.

 

2. Learner Agency

The candidate teaches and encourages learners to advocate for their needs, preferences, and interests to plan and drive their learning. The candidate will:

i. Support learners in identifying and advocating for their preferred modalities, talents, and interests when co-planning experiences that support mastery;

ii. Create a flexible or innovative learning environment that supports learner agency; and

iii. Ensure learning experiences reflect preferred modalities, talents, and interests when co-planning experiences that support mastery.

 

3. Asset-Based Dispositions

The candidate uses asset-based language and classroom practices to serve all learners. The candidate will:

i. Encourage all learners to value his/her own individualities and the diversity of peers and other educators as assets;

ii. Practice responsive pedagogy and curriculum design in a way that promotes diverse learner characteristics as assets; and

iii. Value diverse learner characteristics and demonstrates a belief that all students can learn any competency given adequate resources and time through asset based language.

 

4. Growth and Mastery Mindset

The candidate defines learning as an ongoing progression by embracing a growth and mastery mindset, rejecting the binary of success and failure. The candidate will:

i. Prepare learners to monitor their own pace and progress and persevere towards mastery, embracing mistakes as learning opportunities;

ii. Identify causes of learner struggles, prescribe solutions, and co-plan with learners to set short and long-term goals for growth; and

iii. Design and implement adaptive tools, strategies and learning experiences to support growth towards mastery for all learners.

 

5. Authentic and Adaptive Assessment

The candidate co-plans with the learner to collect evidence of mastery using varied and data-rich performances that are on-going, authentic, flexible, and relevant. The candidate will:

i. Prepare learners to self-assess by identifying, documenting and defending formal and informal learning experiences to build an assessed portfolio as evidence of mastery;

ii. Consider multiple means of demonstration when co-designing assessments aligned to competencies; and

iii. Assess learner experiences (formal and informal) in diagnostic, formative and summative ways as they align to mastery using authentic adaptive assessments.

 

6. Flexible Educational Resources

The candidate provides the learner access to flexible resources when co-planning unique ways to master competencies. These include, but are not limited to the resources available in the digital content ecosystem. The candidate will:

i. Provide opportunity for learners to seek or select content form a curated menu of educational resources that address the competencies;

ii. Employ engaging pedagogies and research-based best practices of instructional design to curate, mine, create and organize high impact educational resources and make them accessible to learners; and

iii. Monitor and observe the effectiveness of educational resources in real-time and suggest or seek alternatives as needed.

 

7. Individualized Path

The candidate prepares learners to be aware of competency-based learning progressions and to make informed choices in co-planning a unique pathway and pace towards mastery of the curriculum. The candidate will:

i. Co-Plan and co-design with the learner a challenging learning pathway towards mastery while considering the interdependencies within and across content(s);

ii. Use data of previously assessed competencies to coach and co-plan current and future learning paths ; and

iii. Facilitate and coach the learner towards independence in mastering the content.

 

8. Dynamic Communication

The candidate facilitates communication that flows multi-directionally from all stakeholders to meet learn needs in a variety of flexible formats. The candidate will:

i. Coach learners to initiate communication with all stakeholders as s/he advocates for her/himself and others;

ii. Communicate curricula to ensure resources are leveraged for best outcomes; and

iii. Model and nurture effective communication strategies to build relationships with all stakeholders.

 

9. Expanded Collaboration

The candidate values learners as equal contributors in the planning process. The candidate will:

i. Coach learners to effectively collaborate in all interactions (group work, instructional conversations, sharing ideas, critical feedback, roles, peer feedback, etc.);

ii. Collaborate using tools and strategies to acquire real-time feedback and data from all stakeholders to inform curriculum design and improvement;

iii. Build relationships with all stakeholders that foster success, and

iv. Commit to timely personal interaction (co-plan, monitor progress, provide feedback, reflect and celebrate, etc.) with all learners.

 

10. Life-Long Professional Learning

The candidate perceives his/her own learning as a life-long pursuit. The candidate will:

i. Value and participate in professional learning communities and networks for ongoing growth in personalized learning;

ii. Keep abreast of innovative strategies and technologies that hold potential to support personalized learning; and

iii. Seek and create opportunities as a teacher leader, mentor, coach or content expert within the school, district or state to promote personalized learning.

This program is a part of the Leland and Clarice C. Bagwell College of Education .

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Admissions, Enrollment, and Graduation Criteria

Admissions Criteria

The following are program-specific criteria beyond the general Graduate Admissions  requirements. To be considered for admission to this program, the following application materials must be submitted to the KSU Graduate Admissions Office: 

The admission requirements for the Endorsement Track seekers include: 

• A bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited institution. 
• A GPA of 2.75 from the most recent degree awarded. 
• Clear Renewable Georgia Teaching Certificate. 

The admission requirements for the Certificate Track seekers include: 

• A bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited institution. 
• A GPA of 2.75 from the most recent degree awarded. 

Enrollment Criteria

This program does not have specific enrollment requirements. 

Graduation Criteria

Each student is expected to meet the requirements outlined in Academic Policy 5.0 PROGRAM REQUIREMENTS & GRADUATION . 

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Program Course Requirements