The EdTech Roundup
Connect:
  • Home
  • Reviews
  • Editorials & Press
  • Ed Tech Sites
  • Lesson Plans
    • Elementary
    • Secondary
  • Former Weekly Podcast
  • About Me
  • Contact

Epiphany Learning: Education in High Gear UPDATED

2/24/2015

2 Comments

 
Picture
Epiphany Learning is a new service that is designed to help personalize learning and empower students with a greater educational voice.  The application has elements of common learning management systems, but also allows for students to create dynamic, educationally relevant profiles as well.  It's a great service, so let's take a closer look!

To begin, Epiphany Learning is free for teachers to try out for 6 months so you can see if it fits your needs.  For administrators and districts looking to test the application, you can contact them directly for more information.  But, before we get in too deep, let's check out this introductory video from the team:


One of the central elements of Epiphany Learning, and in my mind the most beneficial, is the Learner Profile.  This Learner Profile allows for students to create individualized dossiers that showcase their learning styles, learning skills, goals, hobbies, and so much more.  It is an absolutely amazing tool to help students gain a voice in the classroom and it's great for bridging the distance between parents, students, and teachers.

Picture
The Learner Profile

The Learner Profile can easily help teachers see what types of learning styles a student prefers, how comfortable they feel with certain skills, what they view as their strengths and struggles (and what their parents and teachers view as their strengths and struggles), their hobbies, goals, interests, possible career choices, and so much more.  As I mentioned, it's an exceptional way for students to showcase their abilities and interests and it's a practical way for teachers to be able to connect and build better relationships with each of their students.

Picture
Student Strengths and Struggles

In addition to all that, Ephiphany Learning also keeps track of student assessment scores, to help make that process more transparent.  Since, in general, students have no idea what they score on major assessments (i.e. the MAP tests, the ITED, etc.) or what these scores mean, the learning profile can help to begin a more clear and effective dialogue about these scores.


Another feature I love is that when students are selecting their personal interests and hobbies, they're also able to link to possible careers and find out more information about how their interests align with job opportunities.  And one of the upcoming features is that this section will also be linked to the Department of Labor to get even more detailed job ideas.  Since students tend to only be exposed to the jobs of their parents and their friends' parents, I think this is a great way to help students think about what other opportunities are out there that are in line with their personal goals and interests.

Picture
Finding Out Possible Career Options

As for the goal setting feature, this is another that I'm particularly fond of.  Epiphany Learning uses a slightly modified version of the SMART goal system to help students keep track of their long term goals.  They allow for students to link to evidence towards the completion of their goals, add personal reflections, and basically help students explore the steps they need to take to accomplish what they want to accomplish.

Picture
Setting up SMART Goals

Outside of the Learner Profile, Epiphany Learning also offers the services you would expect from other learning management systems.  You can track behavior points, give out and receive assignments, align those assignments to any standards you want to (even in multiple subject areas), keep track of grades and attendance,  and pretty much anything else you can think of.  Soon, they'll even be able to easily create e-portfolios based on the artifacts that have uploaded to the system.

Picture
The Learning Path

Another excellent feature is the dynamic schedule system which allows for schools and teachers using a seminar system (where students have more choice in what lectures, activities, and assignments they complete, so long as they are meeting specific standards) to easily organize and keep track of which students attend which seminar and if they are meeting their learning needs.

There are a ton of other excellent features present in Epiphany Learning, but the ones outlined above are my favorite and what I feel have the most educational impact.  For those interested, I highly recommend testing it out and if you do, the team will contact you within a few days to make sure you're navigating the system all right and not running into technical difficulties.


Along with all that, the team has just released an update that allows for dynamic scheduling, so learners can better manage their own time and schedule, it's a pretty great feature.

In short, if you're looking to personalize learning in your classroom and give your students a greater voice, either in a very big way, or a more simple traditional way, Epiphany Learning is an excellent tool for the task.  The Learner Profile is an outstanding resource for helping teachers better connect with their students and parents, and can go a long ways towards giving students more power in the classroom.  With all that being said...

Picture


The opinions expressed in this review are my own.
I was not compensated for writing this review.
2 Comments
Sharin link
8/19/2015 08:33:28 am

I really like what Epiphay Learning has to offer in our school district, where we have embraced the major components of personalized learning in some of our sites and academies: learner profiles, customized learning pathways, and proficiency-based progress. They are new and quickly expanding (and they are local to me/my district). They really take in to account the feedback from users, in order to improve and be flexible to meet all stakeholders' needs.

Reply
Mike
8/19/2015 10:36:25 am

Thanks for the comment Sharin and thanks for reading! Glad to hear their services are working out!

-Mike

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Reviews

    Here you can find the Round Up's collection of in-depth reviews on the latest programs, apps, websites, and more.

    Make sure to click the review's title or the Read More link for the complete review!


    Picture

    Featured

    Picture
    Check out our featured review | ClassroomAPP: A Complete, K-12 Digital Platform for Online and In-Person Classrooms

    Teach.com

    Picture

      Subscribe

    Subscribe

    Connect


    Awards

    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture
    Picture

    RSS Feed


    Archives

    July 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    June 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    September 2013
    August 2013
    July 2013
    June 2013
    April 2013

           
​Except where noted, content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License
Picture

Copyright 2020 | Mike Karlin, Ph.D.