Actively Learn - Station Rotation & Blended Learning

During station rotations students move to different learning centers. At these stations, students engage in activities that extend or reinforce learning objectives. Learning stations allow teachers to differentiate instruction and provide opportunities for cooperative learning. As students rotate between stations, the teacher either provides targeted support to individual students or delivers small group instruction at a teacher-led station. Digital tools can be used at stations to support a blended learning model and increase students' access to technology when devices are limited.

Goal: Promote cooperative learning and engagement through differentiated instructional activities

Challenge

It’s difficult for the teacher to design meaningful learning activities for every station that promote engagement while also providing appropriate challenge and support.

Solution

The teacher creates reading assignments in Actively Learn that include scaffolding notes as well as higher-order questions. The teacher uses the data from assignments to revise student groupings and determine future learning goals.

Challenge

Since students are working on different activities, the teacher may not be able to provide timely feedback or closely monitor students’ progress during station rotations.

Solution

Students use “I Don’t Understand” flags when they have an urgent question while reading on Actively Learn. This allows the teacher to easily see where students are struggling and provide immediate feedback to individuals or the whole class.

Challenge

Instead of engaging in thoughtful discussion and collaboration that deepens learning, students get distracted while working in groups or have conversations that are not related to learning goals.

Solution

The teacher adds notes to the reading with questions that promote discussion. Students share their thinking as they respond to notes from the teacher and other classmates. The teacher reviews notes and redirects students if needed.

Thinking about using Actively Learn for Station Rotations? Here are some tips:

• To differentiate instruction based on student needs, create multiple versions of the same assignment with varying levels of support. Use additional notes and Extra Help to create the most scaffolded version of the assignment first. Then, duplicate the assignment and revise it as needed.

• Use the Assign to Individuals feature to assign specific assignments to certain students or groups.

• Allow students to freely revise their answers until graded. This will improve students’ productivity and reduce the need to constantly monitor responses as students are working in stations.

• Examine assignment data and provide feedback to students after station rotations. Establish a routine where students review previous feedback before beginning a new assignment on Actively Learn.