PERSONALIZED LEARNING (PL)

Author: Mickinzie Johnson, Angela Heider

DEFINITION

The term personalized learning refers to a variety of educational programs, learning experiences, instructional approaches, and academic support strategies that address the distinct learning needs, interests, aspirations, or cultural backgrounds of individual students. Personalized learning is generally seen as an alternative to so-called “one-size-fits-all” approaches to schooling in which instructors may, for example, provide all students with the same type of instruction, the same assignments, and the same assessments with little variation or modification from student to student. Personalized learning may also be called student-centered learning, individualized instruction, personal learning environment, or direct instruction since the general goal is to make individual learning needs the primary consideration.

Personalized learning is intended to facilitate the academic success of each student by first determining the learning needs, interests, and aspirations of individual students, and then providing learning experiences that are customized—to a greater or lesser extent—for each student. To accomplish this goal, schools, teachers, guidance counselors, and other educational specialists may employ a wide variety of educational methods, from intentionally cultivating strong and trusting student-adult relationships to modifying assignments and instructional strategies in the classroom to entirely redesigning the ways in which students are grouped and taught in a school.

In some settings, personalized learning may take the form of "blended-learning", or the practice of using both online and in-person learning experiences when teaching students.

CRITIQUES OF PERSONALIZED LEARNING

When discussing personalized learning, it is important to determine precisely how the term is being used in a specific context.

In some cases, criticism and debate about personalized learning may come from a misunderstanding of the strategy. For example, the idea of “individualized instruction”—creating distinct courses of study and instructional strategies for every student—was popular for a brief of time in the 1970s until educators realized that it was impractical and unfeasible to develop unique academic programs for dozens of students in a class. Personalized learning is not synonymous with individualized instruction as it was defined in the 1970s. The conflation of related but distinct terms and strategies such “differentiated instruction,” “personalized instruction,” and “individualized instruction” has likely contributed to ongoing confusion and debates about personalized learning, particularly given that these distinct terms are commonly used interchangeably.

It should also be noted that online schools and educational programs promoting personalized learning have also become the object of criticism, debate, and controversy. Many for-profit virtual schools and online collegiate degree programs, for example, have been accused of offering low-quality educational experiences to students, exploiting students or public programs, and using the popularity of concepts such as personalized learning to promote programs of dubious educational value.

HELPFUL RESOURCES

View the videos, articles, websites, Podcasts, and presentations below to help you learn more about Personalized Learning and how to incorporate it into your classrooms, trainings, or online courses!