PLN – Project at a Glance

The Personalized Learning Network Project is a one-of-a-kind global program for high school students, combining an advanced learning curriculum, the development of innovation and design skills, together with a cutting-edge pedagogical protocol for individualized learning.

The project combines the expertise of Susannah Johnson and Individualized Realized, with more than 15 years of experience developing real life personalized learning experiences with students, and The Learnerspace, specialized in developing ad hoc learning environments that constitute their own self case study, implementing the same skills and pedagogies that students and teachers seek to develop for the school of the future.

This learning experience is delivered entirely online, involving global cohorts of students who want to go beyond their regular school experience, as an add-on program to regular schooling, with skills and continents that are relevant worldwide. The PLN project provides students with a unique opportunity to network with their peers all over the world, engage in product design and project creation, learn about innovation, design thinking, advanced topics such as creativity, critical thinking and ethical implications of technology, whilst developing their own network of contacts and being able to pursue these projects in the real world.

The Program

Students sign up for a 5-week digital immersion experience, delivered entirely online, comprising a commitment of approximately 10 hours per week. This includes a 1h 30 weekly videoconference meet, which allows students to engage with each other in a live interaction that constitutes a profound and relevant periodic learning experience.

Every week, students have to complete challenges related to the advanced curriculum being learned, as well as engage in individual and group interactions regarding exploration of their personal interests and passions, discovery of their abilities, development of personal and community projects, as well as performing research and participating in online interactive experiences.

How it works

Through a series of online asynchronous interactions, students are challenged every week to explore prompts and other learning resources, in the form of videos, simulations, and other engaging learning activities.

Concurrently, the engage in a one-to-one exploration, through the Individualized Learning Curriculum, of their hobbies, passions, interests, learning styles so that they can progressively gain a greater sense of the topics and themes that interest them the most, as well as a measure of their abilities and, especially, what it is that they are passionate about.

They then engage in the development of a short personal project, as a first step into the design thinking process, combining these newfound insights about their interests and skills with principles of design and innovation.

The program works by applying knowledge, skills, and the awareness developed by students to exercising their creativity in the design and development of projects.

The Group Project

A fundamental part of the program is the development of global projects, during which students are paired, by virtue of their interests with their peers from all over the world, and they follow a rigorous step-by-step protocol that combines design thinking, creativity, innovation whilst they develop their entrepreneurial skills.

During the development of the project, students engage in research, investigate primary sources, contact mentors and real-life experts, analyze ethical implications and other market norms, and, in general, embark on a will the week process during which they would review and critically provide feedback to each other’s creations, whilst honing and gradually improving their projects through design iterations.

At the end of the program, students can choose to fully develop and materialize their projects at their schools, with support from corporate sponsors and real-life experts. All projects will be showcased in a global projects gallery that will be prominently featured on the site.

The PLN Hub

Every interaction is hosted at the Personalized Learning Hub, only accessible to participants, which provides both a platform for communication, reflection send joint learning, as well as a repository of all learning activities, which participants can go to at any given time.

This personalized learning environment utilizes state-of-the-art AI tools for summarization and the garnering of information insights on the work being done by students.

Facilitators

Every cohort will have a dedicated facilitator, all of them experienced educators who have been certified and trained to deliver the program. Program leaders are continuously supervising and monitoring every cohort’s progress and interactions.