2. Personalized Learning in Action
How does personal learning look like? Although the specifics of
personalization can and should vary according to individual learners and their
unique situation, most individualized learning practitioners today agree that
the same general process is usually following:[1]
- All learners have tailor-made learning experiences. This could include teacher-led activities of a full-class or small group, learners working groups or individually, and learners involved in digital learning activities.
- The performance of each learner is measurable. The type of learning experience sets the types of data that can be collected. For example, when learners are involved in a small group activity, the teacher may ask for targeted, open, probing questions that will help to adapt the upcoming lesson components. When technology is used, performance can be measured continuously in real time.
- he data of each learner's activity performance is interpreted according to the set criteria. Criteria could include learning objectives and formal standards for college or career development. It could also include other successful skills, such as problem solving and critical thinking.
- The learning experience is personalized to each learner based on data. Learning experience can be adapted by teachers or technology-based, individualized learning systems or their combination. In some methods, learners can also make their own adaptations to the data.
- The performance of each learner is measurable once again. Once the learning experience has been personalized, the teacher and technology-based system re-establishes efficiency and repeats the cycle. The collected data is used by a teacher and sometimes a learner to improve the learner's experience, as well as to develop a technologically enhanced learning system for personalized learning support.
It is worth noting that although each of the five components in this continuous process can be carried out without technology. The technology allows the teacher consistently and precisely adapt these activities to more students, which is important given the practical realities of teacher-student ratios in classrooms.
When technology enhanced learning is available, learners can receive more frequent and immediate feedback through assessments, quizzes, and verify the understanding with results provided to teachers and learners in real time.
Using technologies that enable teachers to tailor training to individuals, teachers are given more time to focus on learners who suffer or go faster than peers rather than being forced to "train in the middle."