New platform content: Two levels of self-directed learning modules
Persona Life Skills e-learning now includes two levels of My Guided Tours – 20 minute self-directed learning modules focused on developing one of Persona's 22 life skills from our six Skillsets, as a building block for wellbeing in social, learning and work contexts.
21-Feb-22
By Dr Leila Khouja Walker, Chief Product Officer
The Persona Life Skills e-learning platform is unique in secondary school SEL provision. It uses a unique personality insights framework to inform, improve and accelerate students’ acquisition of social-emotional life skills, through understanding of self and others.
Teacher-facilitated 'Island' learning modules are used for whole class learning, usually focusing on three life skills per module. As with other areas of the school curricula, SEL requires a teacher to identify students who need additional support or personalised intervention so that they can make progress.
Persona Life Skills now includes two levels of 20 minute self-directed learning modules – 'My Guided Tours'. There are 44 modules across two levels: Level 1 is all about 'Getting Started' with life skills, while level 2 is about 'Applying' the life skills learning. Each self-directed module is focused on developing just one of the 22 life skills from our six Skillsets, as a building block for wellbeing in social, learning and work contexts.
A dashboard helps teachers identify any students reporting lower learning acquisition than expected, on each life skill they have covered. From here, the teacher can unlock self-directed modules to enable individual students – or a whole group – to work on improving and building up a specific life skill, from a foundation level.
In the example below, a student has reported a low outcome on life skill 13: Conflict Management. Here a teacher may decide to give the student a learning boost by asking them to take a self-directed learning module to support development in this specific skill.
Selecting a My Guided Tour self-directed learning module is simple. Teachers have access to our full curriculum – the Archipelago – which is a growing library of life skill focused activities, and can unlock any modules for an individual student or a whole group, with just a couple of mouse clicks.
Within each self-directed learning module, students are provided with a single 'signpost' as a take-away tip to focus on. They are asked to practise applying this tip in a social, learning or work situation – then report back on how they got on, and think of further changes to their thinking, communication or behaviour they could make in future.
As with all Persona Life Skills learning modules, teachers are able to see students' activity and progress, as well as any answers they have input and their interactive activity results. At the end of each module, students are asked to self report on how well equipped they feel to improve at the targeted life skill, providing teachers with evidence of individual and group learning outcomes.
Persona Education offers free access to its Persona Life Skills e-learning platform for secondary schools and colleges interested in developing their students’ social-emotional life skills, to boost wellbeing and employability. To request a live demo of the platform please get in touch – we would love to talk to you!
About the author: Dr Leila Khouja Walker has been working in the education sector for 25 years. An ex-teacher and pastoral deputy head, she is now a respected edtech and pedagogy thought leader, leading development of the personality insights life skills e-learning app Persona Life Skills, at the Bristol based edtech company Persona Education Ltd. www.persona-life.com
