Individual Learning Plans: 5 criteria for success

People learn in different ways. Customising education to individual students’ abilities and needs is becoming easier as technology to help teachers do so is becoming more widely available and easy to use. The Fronter Learning Platform suggests 5 criteria for succeeding with individual learning plans.

The Individual Learning Plan tool (ILP) is growing in importance as more and more educators realise that the old “one size fits all” type of education is not yielding good enough results. Students have different abilities and motivations and deserve a bespoke learning plan to achieve the best possible results.

- This is something good teachers have always been trying to do, the difference now is that we have the tools to follow up on an individual basis on a much larger scale, says Nils Olav Sundsteigen of the Fronter learning platform.

Most virtual learning environments come with a portfolio tool, where the pupils’ activities and results are recorded, that serves as the go to place for the pupil, parents and teachers. The communication between school, pupil and parents is crucial according to Fronter.

- Parental involvement in a child’s education is essential and why we have taken this one step further with the ILP tool. In the ILP tool it is easy to gauge performance against national curriculum goals or individually set goals. It makes it easier to catch if a pupil is starting to fall behind and both teachers and parents can encourage and help where needed. The ILP also gives plenty of opportunity for handing out well deserved praise for reaching learning goals, Sundsteigen continues.

5 criteria for success.

When asked how the individual learning plan is most successfully implemented, Fronter lists 5 points for succeeding:

1. Set clear goals. Giving the pupil something to strive for
2. Set challenging but realistic goals. If too ambitious goals are set, which the teacher knows is not attainable, then it can be demotivating when pupils continue to fail to reach them.
3. Make sure goals are dynamic and follow-up regularly. Achievement drives ambition and it is important that goals and objectives change as the pupil becomes more confident about what he or she wants and is capable of achieving.
4. Let pupils own their progress. Encourage pupils to evaluate their own performance on a regular basis.
5. Involve parents. Parents need to understand where and how they can follow up and support their child.

Be ambitious on behalf of your pupils, but also on behalf of your school. When each and every pupil is challenged to reach their greatest potential measured against national curricula or individually set goals, the school as a whole also performs better, creating a great environment for learning. For a teacher, there is no greater satisfaction than helping young people make progress in their lives through learning, says Sundsteigen.

For more information, please contact:

Kirsti Rogne
Fronter Communications Director:+47 90147076
[email protected]

Notes for editors:

Fronter is the leading learning platform for schools, delivered as a service – a learning management system - over the Internet. With about 160 million log ins per year, Fronter is transforming schools - the way technology has transformed the society our children are growing up in. Fronter was acquired by Pearson, the world's leading learning company. Our education business combines 150 years of experience in publishing with the latest learning technology and online support.

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