Dive Brief:

• Facebook has made its next step in the education world with support for a new learning management system developed by charter network Summit Public Schools, giving students more power over what they learn when.
• The New York Times reports the Summit Personalized Learning Platform shows kids an entire year’s worth of lessons, broken down by subject and unit, and allows them to proceed through the content at their own pace.
• More than 1,500 educators participated in Summit Basecamp this summer, learning how to use the new platform, which 120 schools plan to do this fall, shifting teachers into mentors and coaches who help students make it through their units individually.

Dive Insight:

The opportunity for personalized learning is arguably one of the greatest benefits of having computers and other devices in schools. Teachers have historically differentiated instruction in classrooms by breaking students up into groups and tailoring lessons based on how far along certain students are. But software helps automate the process, minimizing the amount of work for teachers and providing them with data about how quickly students are progressing.

The Summit Personalized Learning Platform seems to upend the traditional classroom arrangement entirely. The free, online platform comes with its own curriculum, developed and maintained by teachers. While some early adopters reported a steep learning curve, it is expected to help students build skills in self-directed learning and time management that they will need if they hope to succeed in college.