WEBVTT 00:00:07.252 --> 00:00:11.419 Hi, my name is Ilana Vines, and I go to the Emery/Weiner School. 00:00:11.419 --> 00:00:14.599 I like to think of myself as a pretty well-rounded person. 00:00:14.599 --> 00:00:15.949 I am an okay student. 00:00:15.949 --> 00:00:19.026 I'm an exceptionally hard worker if I say so myself. 00:00:19.026 --> 00:00:20.456 I play basketball. 00:00:20.456 --> 00:00:22.920 I like to think of myself as pretty creative. 00:00:22.920 --> 00:00:25.730 Like everyone, we all have strengths and weaknesses, 00:00:25.730 --> 00:00:28.121 some more easily recognized than others. 00:00:28.261 --> 00:00:31.101 For example, when you see someone who's in a wheelchair, 00:00:31.101 --> 00:00:33.502 the first thing you see is a weakness of theirs. 00:00:33.502 --> 00:00:36.195 But let's say you see someone who's not in a wheelchair - 00:00:36.195 --> 00:00:37.701 let's use me as an example. 00:00:37.701 --> 00:00:40.148 You may not see someone who gets distracted easily. 00:00:40.439 --> 00:00:44.909 For some people, they may have a unique quality that can be looked as a weakness. 00:00:44.909 --> 00:00:49.109 For example, not being able to work in a normal learning environment. 00:00:49.109 --> 00:00:52.991 School systems have worked incredibly hard to provide a good education 00:00:52.991 --> 00:00:55.906 for kids to take on and go and do exceptional things. 00:00:55.906 --> 00:00:57.971 However, there's one flaw. 00:00:57.971 --> 00:01:00.592 It only accommodates to one kind of learner. 00:01:00.592 --> 00:01:04.670 Classes are structured on that one learner's strenghts and weaknesses. 00:01:04.670 --> 00:01:08.157 By doing this, you're helping a lot of students, but not all. 00:01:08.157 --> 00:01:10.783 Why can't the other kids have the same advantage? 00:01:11.220 --> 00:01:15.110 So far, the only solution I've seen to this problem is one thing - 00:01:15.110 --> 00:01:17.128 One thing that seems like they're helping, 00:01:17.128 --> 00:01:19.747 but actually doing nothing to help the situation. 00:01:19.747 --> 00:01:23.422 The solution schools have come up with is to group all the other kids together 00:01:23.422 --> 00:01:25.143 that don't learn like everyone else. 00:01:25.463 --> 00:01:26.803 By doing this, you're saying 00:01:26.803 --> 00:01:30.121 they have more in common with each other than with the other students. 00:01:30.121 --> 00:01:33.957 But what if there was another way, a way for all kids to learn at their on pace? 00:01:34.157 --> 00:01:35.707 The idea I came up with 00:01:35.707 --> 00:01:39.152 is to allow the student to decide how they get the information. 00:01:39.152 --> 00:01:41.132 Yes, the child decides. 00:01:41.681 --> 00:01:44.561 Research shows that kids do tremendously better in college. 00:01:44.698 --> 00:01:45.698 They do better 00:01:45.698 --> 00:01:48.345 because they pick and choose their own classes. 00:01:48.345 --> 00:01:50.319 I mean, this makes so much more sense. 00:01:50.319 --> 00:01:52.409 No one knows you better than you. 00:01:52.758 --> 00:01:55.578 I'm not saying we get to pick our classes and what we learn. 00:01:55.578 --> 00:01:58.698 I'm just saying we get to choose how we get the information. 00:01:58.698 --> 00:02:01.707 For example, if a child has ADHD, 00:02:01.707 --> 00:02:04.756 instead of putting him or her in a separate learning environment, 00:02:04.756 --> 00:02:07.275 why not letting the child decide how they learn better 00:02:07.275 --> 00:02:09.097 and the teacher helps them from there? 00:02:09.847 --> 00:02:13.397 So far, in the United Kingdom, they're already using this idea. 00:02:13.397 --> 00:02:15.146 They call it PLE, 00:02:15.146 --> 00:02:17.463 Personalised Learning Environments. 00:02:17.463 --> 00:02:18.753 PLEs are environments 00:02:18.753 --> 00:02:21.154 in which individual learners and groups of learners 00:02:21.154 --> 00:02:26.446 can access a range of tools and resources for personalised learning activities. 00:02:26.690 --> 00:02:30.456 By doing this, you are not separating the child from the rest of the classmates. 00:02:30.456 --> 00:02:33.837 You are also putting the child on a path of academic success. 00:02:33.845 --> 00:02:36.945 Right now, they're being prepared because when they go to college, 00:02:36.945 --> 00:02:38.988 they will know exactly what to do. 00:02:38.988 --> 00:02:40.098 Thank you. 00:02:40.098 --> 00:02:42.368 (Applause)