Contemporary new media and technology allow learners to obtain knowledge in a number of ways. In terms of pedagogy it allows educators to share and expose learners to new knowledge in a number of ways as well. This gives a solid foundation for exploration of a phenomena called differentiated learning. Offering students differentiated learning within a classroom definitely requires some effort. As stated by Cope and Kalantzis “it is more of a logistical challenge for the teacher. It requires that you are a better teacher, with a broader repertoire of strategies, and superb classroom management skills.”

However, new media facilitates differentiated instructions. Learners are no longer required to be working on the same task at the same time and produce exactly the same product upon completion. Today, learners are welcome to pick their preferable format of accessing and processing information. In general terms, the intellectual project might be the same, but the topics may vary. Or, where the aim is collaborative knowledge creation, every student might be working on one distinctive piece in a jigsaw puzzle of class knowledge that is later disclosed when it is published and shared with the class community (Cope, Kalantzis). In this environment adaptive learning and teaching becomes a natural component of the educational process.

Wikipedia defined Adaptive Learning as an educational method which uses computer algorithms to orchestrate the interaction with the learner and deliver customized resources and learning activities to address the unique needs of each learner. Computers adjust the presentation of educational material according to students’ learning needs, as indicated by their responses to questions, tasks and experiences.

Another definition is suggested by Khafidurrohman Agustianto - “Adaptive learning (AL) is a learning process focusing on students’ personality through of recommendation-based learning and inquiry-based learning. Design adaptive learning system using metacognitive strategy path for learning in classroom and intelligent tutoring systems” (Khafidurrohman Agustianto at al.)

We can gather that the main idea in these two definitions is to underscore the personalization in the educational process. Learning and teaching are suggested to be needs and ability based, rather than the same material and format for everyone in the classroom. This approach is beneficial in many ways, such as:

• Student engagement. Engaged in a learning process students are more motivated and show better results)
• Assistance in learning to students who are not yet confident in studied material. Adaptive lesson format helps to detect problems on early stages and offer help when needed. Adaptive learning considers various aspects of learning such as learning style, memory capacity prior knowledge and experience (Siddique, Durrani, Naqvi, 2016).
• Advancement of those who are confident with the material studied. This helps to keep students, who are ahead of others engaged and motivated rather than bored.
• Adaptive assessments. A key component of an adaptive learning system is a recommendation system, which recommends the next material (video lectures, practices, and so on, on different skills) to the learner, based on the psychometric assessment results and possibly other individual characteristics. For example GRE, which is a computer adaptive test, will “choose” the difficulty level of your next section based on your success rate in the prior section.

In my own experience I have been watching my son's first grade teacher using adaptive teaching (and learning) methods. The students are divided into reading groups of the similar level (slower learner are not challenged with a harder to read book and advanced readers are not bored with beginners books). Students work in groups on a daily basis. They read to each other, assess each other etc. The book is then taken home where parents get a chance to work on reading skills with the child. Once mastered, book is exchanged to a different one and groups get re-arranged. I find this approach to be friendly and productive, which is especially important for a such a young age. 

Developing Adaptive E-Learning Environment Using Cognitive and Non-cognitive Parameters

Ansar Siddique, Qaiser S. Durrani, Husnain A. Naqvi, 2018 Research Article

https://doi.org/10.1177/0735633118769433

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adaptive_learning

Recommendation System for Adaptive Learning

Yunxiao Chen, Xiaoou Li, Jingchen Liu, 2017 Research Article

https://doi.org/10.1177/0146621617697959

AIP Conference Proceedings

Khafidurrohman Agustianto, Adhistya Erna Permanasari1, Sri Suning Kusumawardani1, and Indriana Hidayah1, https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4958507