Among the common goals in schools include improving student’s engagement and achievements, molding students as long-term learners, preparing students for college life and careers and reducing immorality. And the most important thing is to be able to create your knowledge management system.
As it is known, accomplishing these objectives may not be easy. However, it does not imply that they are impossible. According to researchers, educators and experts in the education field, personalized learning can help achieve these goals and bring a significant difference to students when done correctly.
Throughout this post, we will outline everything you need to know about personalized learning, including it’s benefits to students.
Contents
Let’s Get Into It
What is Personalized Learning?
Often referred to as student-centered learning, personalized learning is an educational model that aims to customize learning to fit each learner’s strengths, interests, needs, skills and background.
This method is not like the standard “one size fits all” approach in education as it seeks to provide every learner with the same type of assignments, instruction and assessments with a bit of variation from student to student.
Personalized learning places the students at the center of focus. With that, the primary aim is to make individual learning needs a significant concern in vital instructional and educational decisions instead of what might be considered easier by the school and teachers.
What is The Importance of Personalized Learning?
Most people have a story of that particular teacher who made a positive change in our studies or our children’s learning. These teachers recognized our needs, interests and passions. They offered special support, which ended up making a positive, meaningful and lasting impact on our lives.
Besides this personal impact, personalized learning has the following importance:
- It promotes student agency.
- It creates life-long learners.
- Increases students’ achievements.
- Boosts learner engagement.
- Focuses on the students, strengths, needs and interests.
Benefits of Personalized Learning
If you are undecided about implementing personalized learning yet, here are it’s benefits that should compel you to do so.
Increased Student Engagement
One of the significant benefits of this learning model is it’s ability to keep your learners engaged for longer. When students are given customized lessons, they become more engaged and will spend more of their time learning and absorbing more of the information being taught.
Personalizing could be as simple as using colors, pictures, or games for each individual; it can also be more sophisticated based on the student’s preference. Students are allowed to choose a specific learning method, what units they need to learn first etc., allowing them to take a self-directed approach to their studies.
Improved Motivation
With increased engagement comes improved motivation. Personalized learning gives your learners the freedom to choose a learning system that suits them best. Ultimately, they will be encouraged to learn and invest more of their time in their studies.
Whether you are in education or business, it is good to have motivated learners or trainers since they will be more productive or get better results. Unmotivated learners are generally troublesome and spend less of their time on studies, resulting in poor grades at the end of the training.
Saves Time
With personalized learning, you could assess every learner before starting the course to find out what their learning need is. The assessment can be in the form of quizzes or surveys with a series of questions to ascertain what the students know and what they don’t know.
Training programs and most courses are always linear, which forces learners to study a large amount of repetitive information before getting to what should be learned immediately. This leads to wasting a lot of time and poor engagement among students.
You can avoid wasting this time by providing relevant content to the students as required. You can as well make personalized recommendations according to the results of the questions.
Improved Results
Generally, when students are more engaged, they are likely to spend more time learning and understanding the concepts they are taught. As a result, learners will be well prepared to solve every problem they may face.
Whether it is completing a task satisfactorily as an employee or taking a test or exam at school, personalized learning provides better learning, leading to better results.
The Potential of Personalized Learning
Personalized learning has the potential to revolutionize education by tailoring the learning experience to each student’s unique strengths, needs and interests. This approach can help reduce the stigma associated with special education and better meet the needs of students with learning and thinking differences. By customizing the what, when, where and how of learning, personalized learning can engage students in a way that traditional one-size-fits-all methods often fail to do.
Research has shown that personalized learning can have significant benefits. For example, studies have found that students in personalized learning environments tend to learn a standard deviation faster than those in traditional settings. AI-powered personalized learning plans have the potential to ensure that no student is left behind, making education more equitable and effective.
However, the success of personalized learning depends on several factors. It requires a digital learning environment that can adapt to individual knowledge, experience and interests and be effective and efficient in supporting and promoting desired learning outcomes. It also requires a focus on the obstacles of lack of interest to motivate educators and researchers to voice their concerns and work towards a robust personalized learning model that satisfies both instructor and learner expectations.
Examples of Personalized Learning in Practice
What does personalized learning look like in the classroom? Here are a few examples:
1. Flexible Learning Environments
In personalized classrooms, the learning environment is designed for flexibility and student choice. Instead of rows of desks facing the teacher, there may be different learning zones set up around the classroom for students to choose from. Some students might be working independently at their own pace, while others collaborate on projects. There may be comfortable seating options like couches or beanbags for reading. Students have a choice in where and how they learn.
2. Adaptive Learning Software
Many personalized learning classrooms use adaptive learning software to customize instruction to each student’s level. As students answer questions, the software adapts to provide review material or more challenging questions where needed. Teachers can access real-time data on student progress to inform one-on-one or small-group instruction. Examples of adaptive learning software include Khan Academy, DreamBox and Lexia Learning.
3. Individual Learning Plans
Personalized learning often involves creating an individualized learning plan for each student. Plans are based on the student’s unique strengths, needs and goals and are developed collaboratively with the teacher, student and parents. Lay out the student’s learning goals and the resources, supports and assessments that will be used to help them meet those goals. Plans are living documents that are continually updated based on the student’s progress.
4. Competency-Based Progression
In a personalized learning model, students often progress based on demonstrating mastery of key skills and knowledge, rather than seat time. Students can move through the material at their own pace, taking more time if needed to master a concept or accelerating if they grasp the material quickly. Competency-based progression ensures students have mastered prerequisites before moving on and provides flexibility for students to learn at their speed.
5. Student Voice and Choice
Personalized learning classrooms often give students a voice and choice in their learning. Students may have a choice in the topics they study, the learning activities they engage in, or how they demonstrate their knowledge. Giving students ownership over their learning can boost motivation and engagement. Some personalized classrooms involve students in shaping curriculum and instruction through ongoing collaboration and feedback between teachers and students.
Human Reviews of Personalized Learning
“As a parent, I was skeptical about personalized learning at first. But after seeing my daughter’s excitement about her ‘unicorn math’ lessons, I’m a believer! It’s like watching her learn with a magic wand in hand. Just hoping she doesn’t turn her teacher into a frog!” – Linda, mom of a 3rd grader
“Personalized learning has been a game-changer for my son. He used to dread going to school, but now he can’t wait to dive into his custom-made learning quests. It’s like he’s the hero of his own educational video game! I just wish I had this kind of learning when I was a kid!” – David, dad of a 6th grader
“I’m a teacher who has seen firsthand the power of personalized learning. It’s like having a magic toolkit that lets me tailor lessons to each student’s needs and interests. Sure, it takes some extra planning, but seeing my students light up with newfound confidence and enthusiasm makes it all worth it. Plus, I get to feel like a superhero teacher every day! ” – Ms. Johnson, 5th-grade teacher
“As a student with a learning disability, personalized learning has been a lifesaver. It’s like having a secret decoder ring that helps me crack the code of my learning style. With the right accommodations and support, I feel like I can conquer any academic challenge. And who knows? Maybe I’ll even discover my hidden superpower along the way!” – Alex, 9th grader
“I was worried that personalized learning would be just another educational fad, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised. It’s like watching a garden bloom with different flowers, each one unique and beautiful in its way. As a school administrator, I’m excited to see how personalized learning can help us cultivate a love for learning in every student. Just hoping we don’t have to deal with any giant beanstalks growing in the classrooms! ” – Mr. Thompson, assistant principal
Conclusion
Though developing personalized learning requires more time and effort, every input invested toward achieving it is worth the results you will get. Personalized learning is progressively becoming a lifestyle. Parents, learners and entire consumers expect it.
Apart from the importance of promoting students’ agency and creating life-long learners, personalized learning also boosts learners’ engagement and achievement. Coupled together, these features save learning time, improve student results and promote teacher-student relations.
