Personalized learning is a student-driven model of education where student interests, motivations, individual needs, strengths and weaknesses are all taken into account. It is meant to create an environment where students manage their own learning and are given the resources to do this.
When we enter the educational technology realm, we can see that many different types of platforms and technologies are involved with creating an authentic PL experience. Indeed most platforms designed for students attempt to achieve this in some form or another as it is widely accepted that all students exist on a continuum which is not dictated by age or grade, but rather by their individual attributes, skillsets and areas of deficiency.
It follows then, that precise data collection and automated reasoning of massive amounts of information is needed if we are to achieve PL ideals. In such ideal systems, human constraints can potentially be removed.
As the video points out, digital learning technologies that aim to personalize learning are being used in the vast majority of schools. Many studies have affirmed the great benefits of PL but it is important to remember that studies of specific platforms that are driven by the goal of PL have not been conclusive.
The above-mentioned highlights a problem Groff (2017) alluded to, which is that the definition of personalized learning is unclear as it relies on the combination of a multitude of other emerging technologies and their success in the future.
Indeed the mention of over-reliance on technology and the potential problems of putting our faith in big tech companies whose motives can and should be questioned is a valid concern. From both an ethics standpoint and from a market standpoint one does need to approach this with caution.
When we apply the Gartner "Hype Cycle" to PL we need to remember that several important technologies encompass it and many of these are beyond "Peek Hype" and presumably on their way to the "plateau of productivity". However, there are several other innovations that are potentially integral to PL that have yet to reach their full potential. For this reason it is difficult to predict exactly when PL will reach its plateau but it is continuing to grow in popularity despite several key components being in the "trough of disillusionment" stage.
One technology that will no doubt drive PL is Artificial Intelligence. To achieve the most authentic PL for students requires massive amounts of data calculation and decisions that require extremely fast processing, as well as logical reasoning.
The “Education in 2030 Global Scenario” presented by HolonIQ (2018) supports the belief of our Emerging Market Team (EMT) in that it envisions a “Robot Revolution” that structures learning paths through AI, a “Peer to Peer” rise of online human interaction and the emergence of “Global Giant” organizations within the free market which will facilitate the growth of PL to a level of productivity and benefit that far exceeds what exists today.
It is clear that more research at the district-wide level is needed to truly assess the degree to which platforms that purport to be PL are achieving the stated intent of PL.
However, despite need for more in depth research and the difficulty in pinpointing the holistic current state of PL, our team is excited about the continued development of this technology. We see the potential and believe with further development of key pieces of emerging technology we can continue to move forward with the collective goal of true student centred education.