What is a Personalized Web?

Personalization, according to Cambridge University Press (n.d.), is defined as “the act of making something suitable for the needs of a particular person.” Personalization can be observed both on the web and in educational contexts. On the web, it is evident in targeted advertisements, “recommended” videos, personalized feeds, and customized search results.

In education, personalization is an approach that tailors teaching, curriculum, and assessment to the individual needs, interests, and aptitudes of learners (Hopkins, 2010). A variety of learning technologies support this approach in practice. These include AI-powered chatbots, which provide tailored support or feedback, and personalized learning pathways, which adapt the sequence, pacing, or difficulty of activities to individual learner needs. In some cases, learning analytics are used to collect and analyze data about learners and associate them with learning patterns (Ramos de Melo et al., 2014 as cited in hemshack & Spector, 2020), which can then be applied to personalize learning pathways or provide individualized feedback.

Beyond these technological applications, personalization is pedagogically grounded in learning theories that emphasize the active role of learners in constructing knowledge. Personalized learning can be effective because it creates an environment that adapts to learners’ knowledge, experiences, and interests, thereby supporting their overall learning outcomes (Shemshack & Spector, 2020). Moreover, personalized learning aligns closely with constructivist principles, which emphasize that learners actively build knowledge through their experiences, contexts, and interactions. Baviskar et al. (2009) identify two core elements of constructivism: integrating new information with prior knowledge and inducing cognitive dissonance to promote deeper understanding. Personalized learning environments can be designed to intentionally activate prior knowledge through tailored content and to present appropriately challenging tasks that stimulate cognitive conflict, thereby fostering more meaningful knowledge construction.