Competency-Based Learning focuses more on students demonstrating their knowledge of a subject or lesson rather than just using a test and moving on. We can do this by using technology that enables students to learn at their own pace with support from teachers. For example in the video “What do the learning theories say about how we learn?” It gives examples of the variety of theories about how we learn and how they can relate to our teaching. Basically, everyone learns in a variety of ways and at different paces, so as educators we need to be more aware of this and try to give our students as many options as possible to demonstrate their knowledge instead of just giving instruction and expecting students to understand, then take a test. The article "100 Things Students Can Create To Demonstrate What They Know" gives wonderful examples of how we can do more of this in the classroom.
Being an art teacher, sometimes I focus more on the end project and I don’t give my students the opportunity to explain what they learned, but maybe could not demonstrate it technically yet. They could do this by creating an advertisement, animation, blog, bulletin board, or brochure of how the techniques work. I could actually use a majority of these examples in my class by giving the student an opportunity to choose which way would work best for them to demonstrate their knowledge.
Another aspect I could use with my classes are micro credentials. I really like the microcredicials that are used for this course. It is a great way to break lessons down into simple parts instead of one whole assessment piece. I like that it gives examples and then gives you feedback to try again or rewards you with a badge once you have completed that competency. This is a very straightforward approach and badges could be used with prerequisites before moving onto the next competency.
Being an art teacher, sometimes I focus more on the end project and I don’t give my students the opportunity to explain what they learned, but maybe could not demonstrate it technically yet. They could do this by creating an advertisement, animation, blog, bulletin board, or brochure of how the techniques work. I could actually use a majority of these examples in my class by giving the student an opportunity to choose which way would work best for them to demonstrate their knowledge.
Another aspect I could use with my classes are micro credentials. I really like the microcredicials that are used for this course. It is a great way to break lessons down into simple parts instead of one whole assessment piece. I like that it gives examples and then gives you feedback to try again or rewards you with a badge once you have completed that competency. This is a very straightforward approach and badges could be used with prerequisites before moving onto the next competency.