"MyPlan" - a Personal Learning Plan for Secondary Students

	A Personal Learning Plan
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MyPlan and the South Australian Personal Learning Plan On this page: Background. Learning Activities. How teachers use MyPlan. Background MyPlan was developed prior to the promotion of a Personal Learning Plan (PLP) by the South Australian Future SACE Office. MyPlan is a tool for use by students to build skills in goal setting and strategic planning and to manage an electronic portfolio which can be flexibly produced in various formats for various purposes. In the South Australian Certificate of Education, the PLP is a subject taught to students as part of stage one of the certificate “to help students make informed decisions about their personal development, education and training”. It aims to enable students to develop knowledge and skills to: "Identify appropriate future options" “Choose appropriate subjects and courses for their SACE” “Review their strengths and areas for development, including literacy, numeracy and information and communication technology skills” “Identify goals and plans for improvement” “Monitor their actions and review and adjust plans as needed to achieve their goals.” “ Students will generally “start their PLP in Year 10 so that they can plan for successful, relevant SACE learning in Years 11 and 12”. MyPlan has been designed as a tool to be used by students from Year 8 through to Year 12 and beyond. It can be started at any time (the earlier the better) and maintained as a work in progress to a stage appropriate for each year level. It is used by teachers in a number of State and Private schools in South Australia as a tool or framework to deliver the PLP subject. Learning Activities The PLP requires teachers to “plan and implement a structured program of learning” which is likely to vary between schools. It identifies a set of common elements and suggests “further possibilities as starting points”. Teachers devise programs that support and teach students to: “set review and adjust goals for success and make sound choices throughout the SACE program and beyond” “develop, use, monitor, review and adjust their plan” “develop literacy, numeracy and information and communication technology skills” “identify their own learning strengths and areas for development; these include their capabilities and literacy and numeracy skills as well as other knowledge and skills needed to pursue particular pathways through education, life and careers” “research options and preferences for employment, study, training and community participation using expert resources” “identify goals to build on their strengths, address their challenges and develop their capabilities” “work towards making their future options become a reality”. MyPlan introduces personal planning principles adapted from the “Deming” PDCA cycle which is used widely as a corporate management tool and even in sports training. The instructions which are included with every page and which can be accessed in the “notes” view, give examples of goals using the guiding principle of having very goal start with the words, “To have ….” or “To be ……”. The goals which can be identified by students as early as Year 8 are revisited throughout MyPlan. The PDCA (plan/do/check/act) cycle is applied at regular intervals depending on the nature of the goal. For very long term goals (”To be the owner of a large house in a seaside suburb within 15 years”) an annual cycle would be appropriate, while a shorter term goal (“To have an after-school part time job in retail by end of next month”) would require a weekly or even daily PDCA cycle. The MyPlan PowerPoint template introduces students to basic planning concepts including financial planning and career interest identification at Year 8. Students who start MyPlan in later years will also complete the same elements as Year 8 students; but will progress further, stopping only when they have reached a level appropriate for their year. In this way, Year 10 students will have set, reviewed and adjusted goals (PDCA), made sound choices (including identifying career interests) into their SACE program and beyond. MyPlan can be thought of as a cyclical process, with students progressing around the PDCA cycle at frequent intervals and with increasing success as goals and strategies are evaluated and modified. Students who start MyPlan in Year 8 will move on to a formal evaluation of their learning styles in Year 9. Students who start MyPlan in Year 10 will have started at the same point as Year 8 students but will need to progress more rapidly completing the Year 8 and Year 9 elements before describing in detail their Community Services and Work Training and Experience. In Year 10, they build on the earlier elements to “research options and preferences for employment, study, training and community participation” while continuing to use the PDCA cycle to link both long and short term goals, build on their strengths, address their challenges and develop their capabilities. These stages of MyPlan provide a foundation for a planned future through years 11 and 12 and beyond into further study and employment as well as other personal ambitions and achievements. How Teachers Use MyPlan in Delivering the PLP MyPlan was initially designed to be student owned, not unlike the way teenagers use and develop skills in Web2 programs such as MYSPACE and FACEBOOK. PowerPoint was chosen because not all students have comparable access or skills in the Web2 world. PowerPoint does not require students to be accessing the internet in a classroom situation with all the usual distractions of games, blogs etc. It is also widely understood by secondary students, most of whom have gained competency in PowerPoint at primary school. The set of MyPlan files is normally loaded to a folder or directory on the school network which can be accessed by students but to which they cannot save files. Students are therefore forced to save their own MyPlan in their own network space or in their own USB device or MP3 Player. Students work at their own pace in MyPlan with maximum ownership of the appearance and content. As students complete the MyPlan module appropriate for their year level, they can either go back to earlier stages to reiterate the PDCA cycle or, if completing SACE stage 1, check their MyPlan tasks to present for assessment. Examples of tasks used for assessment in South Australia are: MyAttendance.xls MyBudget.xls MyCommunityService.doc MyLearningStyles.xls MySubjectSelection.doc MyWorkExperienceReport.doc MyWorkExperienceJournal.doc These tasks are fully documented and are made available in both the Personal MyPlan download and the School MyPlan disc. They can be purchased here.
MyPlan Home \| e-Portfolios \| Personal Learning Plan \| Learning Styles\| About the Author \| How to order MyPlan \| Bu$$ine$$ Cla$$\|

Bridge Logo Myplan

A Personal Learning Plan

MyPlan and the South Australian Personal Learning Plan

On this page:

Background.

Learning Activities.

How teachers use MyPlan.

Background

MyPlan was developed prior to the promotion of a Personal Learning Plan (PLP) by the South Australian Future SACE Office. MyPlan is a tool for use by students to build skills in goal setting and strategic planning and to manage an electronic portfolio which can be flexibly produced in various formats for various purposes.

In the South Australian Certificate of Education, the PLP is a subject taught to students as part of stage one of the certificate “to help students make informed decisions about their personal development, education and training”. It aims to enable students to develop knowledge and skills to:

"Identify appropriate future options"

“Choose appropriate subjects and courses for their SACE”

“Review their strengths and areas for development, including literacy, numeracy and information and communication technology skills”

“Identify goals and plans for improvement”

“Monitor their actions and review and adjust plans as needed to achieve their goals.”

“ Students will generally “start their PLP in Year 10 so that they can plan for successful, relevant SACE learning in Years 11 and 12”.

MyPlan has been designed as a tool to be used by students from Year 8 through to Year 12 and beyond. It can be started at any time (the earlier the better) and maintained as a work in progress to a stage appropriate for each year level. It is used by teachers in a number of State and Private schools in South Australia as a tool or framework to deliver the PLP subject.

Learning Activities

The PLP requires teachers to “plan and implement a structured program of learning” which is likely to vary between schools. It identifies a set of common elements and suggests “further possibilities as starting points”. Teachers devise programs that support and teach students to:

“set review and adjust goals for success and make sound choices throughout the SACE program and beyond”

“develop, use, monitor, review and adjust their plan”

“develop literacy, numeracy and information and communication technology skills”

“identify their own learning strengths and areas for development; these include their capabilities and literacy and numeracy skills as well as other knowledge and skills needed to pursue particular pathways through education, life and careers”

“research options and preferences for employment, study, training and community participation using expert resources”

“identify goals to build on their strengths, address their challenges and develop their capabilities”

“work towards making their future options become a reality”.

MyPlan introduces personal planning principles adapted from the “Deming” PDCA cycle which is used widely as a corporate management tool and even in sports training.

The instructions which are included with every page and which can be accessed in the “notes” view, give examples of goals using the guiding principle of having very goal start with the words, “To have ….” or “To be ……”.

The goals which can be identified by students as early as Year 8 are revisited throughout MyPlan. The PDCA (plan/do/check/act) cycle is applied at regular intervals depending on the nature of the goal. For very long term goals (”To be the owner of a large house in a seaside suburb within 15 years”) an annual cycle would be appropriate, while a shorter term goal (“To have an after-school part time job in retail by end of next month”) would require a weekly or even daily PDCA cycle.

The MyPlan PowerPoint template introduces students to basic planning concepts including financial planning and career interest identification at Year 8. Students who start MyPlan in later years will also complete the same elements as Year 8 students; but will progress further, stopping only when they have reached a level appropriate for their year. In this way, Year 10 students will have set, reviewed and adjusted goals (PDCA), made sound choices (including identifying career interests) into their SACE program and beyond.

MyPlan can be thought of as a cyclical process, with students progressing around the PDCA cycle at frequent intervals and with increasing success as goals and strategies are evaluated and modified.

Students who start MyPlan in Year 8 will move on to a formal evaluation of their learning styles in Year 9. Students who start MyPlan in Year 10 will have started at the same point as Year 8 students but will need to progress more rapidly completing the Year 8 and Year 9 elements before describing in detail their Community Services and Work Training and Experience. In Year 10, they build on the earlier elements to “research options and preferences for employment, study, training and community participation” while continuing to use the PDCA cycle to link both long and short term goals, build on their strengths, address their challenges and develop their capabilities.

These stages of MyPlan provide a foundation for a planned future through years 11 and 12 and beyond into further study and employment as well as other personal ambitions and achievements.

How Teachers Use MyPlan in Delivering the PLP

MyPlan was initially designed to be student owned, not unlike the way teenagers use and develop skills in Web2 programs such as MYSPACE and FACEBOOK. PowerPoint was chosen because not all students have comparable access or skills in the Web2 world. PowerPoint does not require students to be accessing the internet in a classroom situation with all the usual distractions of games, blogs etc. It is also widely understood by secondary students, most of whom have gained competency in PowerPoint at primary school.

The set of MyPlan files is normally loaded to a folder or directory on the school network which can be accessed by students but to which they cannot save files. Students are therefore forced to save their own MyPlan in their own network space or in their own USB device or MP3 Player.

Students work at their own pace in MyPlan with maximum ownership of the appearance and content. As students complete the MyPlan module appropriate for their year level, they can either go back to earlier stages to reiterate the PDCA cycle or, if completing SACE stage 1, check their MyPlan tasks to present for assessment.

Examples of tasks used for assessment in South Australia are:

MyAttendance.xls
MyBudget.xls
MyCommunityService.doc
MyLearningStyles.xls
MySubjectSelection.doc
MyWorkExperienceReport.doc
MyWorkExperienceJournal.doc

These tasks are fully documented and are made available in both the Personal MyPlan download and the School MyPlan disc. They can be purchased here.