Personalized learning has many important components, one of them is expanded collaboration. Collaboration allows for student engagement, retention, increase in self-esteem and responsibility. Utilizing collaboration allows students to be exposed to diverse perspectives, and can promote higher-level thinking, and purposeful reflection.

Expanded collaboration is a blend of collaborative learning and personalized learning. Through personalized learning students are able to identify their strengths, interest, and qualities that make them, and even enhance them. Students get to utilize these strengths and interests through collaboration. Collaboration can happen in many different ways. Students could collaborate in pairs, or groups. Students can collaborate within the classroom or with students in another class/period, another school, another state, or even with community members or organizations outside of education. As educators, we should open up more opportunities for students to collaborate outside of the classroom to strengthen their skills, deepen their interests and maybe even find a new interest. Allowing for collaboration outside the classroom opens up new possibilities and opportunities for learning.