Personalized Learning

Video Transcription

Hi. My name is Ashley, and this lesson is titled "Personalized Learning." in this lesson, we'll talk about, what is personalized learning? We'll look at the five essential elements of personalized learning and why it should be implemented in the classroom. Lastly, we will take a look at the difference between personalized learning and differentiation.

What is personalized learning? According to the US Department of Education, personalized learning is an alternative to the one size fits all model of teaching and learning. Personalization refers to instruction that is paced to learning needs. It's individualized and tailored to learning preferences and tailored to the specific interests of different learners. In an environment that is fully personalized, the learning objectives and content as well as the method and pace may all vary. In short, personalized learning is customizing content and learning activities for individual students.

What are the five essential elements of personalized learning? Personalized learning offers flexible learning, where learning can happen anytime and anywhere. It redefines and expands the role of the teacher. So the teacher that we traditionally know has a much different role and acts more of a guide and like a coach.

Personalized learning offers project-based authentic learning, allowing students to problem solve and create the end product using real world objectives. Students are able to drive the learning path in that they have more choices and options. Lastly, personalized learning is competency-based. Students are able to progress based on mastering competencies and move at their own pace.

Why should personalized learning be implemented? Personalized learning increases engagement. Because the learning is tailored to their specific interests, it's more engaging. It provides learning that is authentic and involves the use of problem solving. Students like to be able to investigate and find clues to get to a solution. It motivates students to own their own learning and causes them to have a responsibility to their education.

And here's what I like about personalized learning. It allows students to master content at their own pace. Students have deeper knowledge because of this. The use of technology broadens the educational opportunities with personalized learning. The technology allows students to go beyond classroom walls and venture other places. This also helps to build 21st century learning skills with technology and communication.

What is the difference between personalized learning and differentiation? It's important to know that they are different. Personalized learning involves the changing of pace. Content is altered to meet individual needs of students. Like what was stated before, students are able to master content at their own pace and progress after mastery has been accomplished.

On the other hand, differentiation allows students to have free range of the learning approaches or the strategies that help them the best. However, the content is usually still the same. It compares them to the other students, and the time limits are not changed.

In today's lesson, we looked at the definition of personalized learning. Personalized learning is an alternative to the one size fits all model of teaching and learning. Simply, it is the customization of learning for the needs of individual students. We looked at the five main elements of personalized learning. It's flexible, it redefines the role of the teacher, it offers project-based authentic learning, students drive the learning path, and it's progression that's based on mastery, therefore allowing students to work at their own pace.

Personalized learning should be implemented because it increases engagement, and it motivates students to own and be responsible for their own learning. It helps build 21st century skills as well. It's important to know that personalized learning and differentiation are different. The main difference is that content is altered with personalized learning and not so much with differentiation.

As we bring the lesson to a close, consider the following. What kind of learning approach are you currently implementing? Consider the benefits of personalized learning for your students. For more information on how to apply what you learned in this video, please view the Additional Resources section that accompanies this video presentation. The Additional Resources section includes hyperlinks useful for applications of the course material, including a brief description of each resource.