Personalized Learning

You don't have to be in the field of education for very long to become familiar with the term "differentiation." In every school, district and state teachers are asked to differentiate for their students, making teaching and learning meaningful and inclusive for all students. Unfortunately, while the term is shared with many educators, often ideas for how to make differentiation a regular part of your classroom routine are much harder to come by.

In his article, "Personalized Learning' Eludes Easy Definitions" in the October edition of Education Week, Sean Cavanagh shares real ways that teachers can begin to tackle the most difficult challenge of personalizing learning for student and differentiating for the unique individuals that our students are.

Cavanaugh argues that personalized learning can be seen as differentiation, with the added element of students unique interests and providing them with agency, “giving students more power through either digital tools or other means, accounting for how they learn best, what motivates them, and their academic goals.” While no piece of software can replace the teacher, he argues that there are many ways to motivate students using software and increase academic engagement. Suggested are four main ways in which teachers can think about how to personalize instruction for their students:
learner profiles (records of students strengths, needs, interests etc.), personal learning paths (students are held to high standards, but each student has their own unique goals customized to their own personal progress), flexible learning environments (the ways in which classroom space and school structure(s) are used support students' meeting of their goals), and competency based progression (students are assessed regularly based on their path and move on when they reach mastery).

A lot of what Cavanaugh argued can also be achieved through non-digital learning--for example, using a leveled classroom library for independent reading and allowing the readers' choice in what they select is one excellent way of meeting some of the criteria for personalized learning. Still, many digital tools could enhance this approach in teachers classrooms. I'm interested to see how teachers continue to differentiate and personalize instruction for students, as technology advances and as education continues to evolve.


Works Cited:

“‘Personalized Learning’ Eludes Easy Definitions” by Sean Cavanagh in Education Week, October 22, 2014 (Vol. 34, #9, p. S2-S4), www.edweek.org