Defining Personalised Learning

"In the evolving scheme of learning, personalised learning refers to approaches that individualise learning for each student taking into account each student's specific strengths and needs, interests, and/or individualized learning goals" [1].

Image source: http://www.execsintheknow.com/blog/

Student is at the very centre of a personalised learning set up. The second critical aspect is respecting the student's uniqueness in learning. This approach comes across very clearly in this educause video. They also provide a working definition for Personalised Learning using a comprehensive framework.

Forces shaping the phenomenon

Personalised Learning has been around in a similar form/shape for years. However, the hype around it is a function of political and market forces in recent times [2]. With governments around the world becoming increasingly focused on admission to graduation ratios in colleges, educational institutions are increasingly under the pressure to adopt student centric learning practices that would keep students in colleges. The second major force is that of the publication businesses succumbing to digital challenges and facing the threat of closing businesses. Leading publication houses are forced to either innovate/ jump on to the personalised learning bandwagon or perish. The third aspect is that of adaptive learning technologies, that have traditionally existed in college labs for over three decades being commercialised. All of these have led to an environment and a climate where adoption of personalised learning has become imperative.

How does Personalised Learning manifest in today's classrooms

Feldstein and Hill in their article summarise characteristics of personalised learning as well as critical questions that need to be addressed before implementation. 

Moving content broadcast outside classroom: A variant of the flipped classroom model, personalised learning moves most of the content broadcast away from the classroom. Lectures, course content etc., can be accessed anywhere, anytime.

Increasing contact time: Moving content broadcast also frees up the instructor time for more contact. Technology environments can help instructors see what students are doing in homeworks as well as monitor their efficacies. These can then be discussed during the contact time.

Tutoring to help in challenge areas: Intervention of technology can help instuctors see what content is being consumed by the student at what rate and thus spot areas of challenge. This can help them use tutoring sessions to address specific challenges.

However, certain key areas need to be taken into account before going for a personalised learning implementation, caution Feldstein and Hill.

These include clear identification of student needs, creating a winning pedagogical structure, identification of technologies that will be purchased, schedules for faculty training, how will tech support be handled and measurement systems that will be incorporated.

Here is an infographic [3] that summarises the PL journey and challenges, quite comprehensively.

And here is a case study of a Geography Professor at Middlebury College who used Personalised Learning to teach a particularly tough course.

Summing up

In week 4 of the e-learning ecologies course, we were exposed to the last 2 of the seven affordances that the e-learning ecosytems provide - metacognition and differentiated learning.

Personalised learning enables students to learn at their own pace and allows for better levels of feedback - both from peers as well as from their instructors. As far as attributes of differentiated learning goes, personalised learning and the environments they provide , using cutting edge analytics and technology are truly geared to attining learning outcomes, provided they are implemented well and are supported by trained faculty.

References

[1] "PERSONALIZED LEARNING." Personalized Learning | NextGen Learning. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2017.

[2] Feldstein, Michael, and Phil Hill. "Personalized Learning: What It Really Is and Why It Really Matters." Personalized Learning: What It Really Is and Why It Really Matters | EDUCAUSE. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2017.

[3] "6 most common challenges of personalized learning and their solutions." Hanover Research. Bit.ly/personalizedlearningsuccess.com, n.d. Web.