As we live in a rapidly evolving, expanding and changing world of technological advancements, we have to consider the diverse learning needs of students to ensure that they are not merely consumers of knowledge but increasingly take ownership of their own learning and are able to interact with knowledge by linking it to real life experiences. These diverse learning needs don’t only encompass learning abilities but also include students’ learning experiences, strengths, interests, aptitudes, skills and learning styles. Therefore it is important that each individual student is provided with learning opportunities according to their personal learning needs.

U.S. department Education’s 2016 National Educational Technology Plan (NEPT) came up with the following definition of personalized learning:

‘Personalized learning refers to instruction in which the pace of learning and the instructional approach are optimized for the needs of each learner. Learning objectives, instructional approaches, and instructional content (and its sequencing) may all vary based on learner needs. In addition, learning activities are made available that are meaningful and relevant to learners, driven by their interests and often self-initiated.’ http://www.dreambox.com/personalized-learning

For providing personalized learning we need to consider the following:

Learner profile
Flexible learning environment
Competency based progression
Personal learning paths
Blended learning
Learner autonomy
Formative assessment on the go
A variety of resources including digital technologies

It is important to go through each students’ learner profile to identify their learning needs and provide a variety of differentiated instructions accordingly. Technology mediated environments allow a variety of content and instruction at different levels of challenge to be shared with students which is readily available to them and can be accessed by them when and where they like. They can interact with it and progress from one level to the next at their own pace. Personalized instruction doesn’t necessarily mean individualization; students should be provided with opportunities to work collaboratively to interact and communicate with each other to share their learning through digital spaces such as class blogs and cloud sharing. They should be allowed to work on an assignment at their own pace by providing them with opportunities for blended learning and flipped classrooms. Students should be given a choice of working on the artifact/ product they find interesting and be provided with opportunities for peer assessment at different stages during the process of learning so that they can review their artifact/ product to improve it in the light of that feedback. Students can use a variety of online sources of information according to their learning style. For example if students are studying habitats, they can search information in written form, listen to a pod cast or watch a video. They can go through graphical data or images related to a particular habitat and represent the information in a variety of ways according to their preference and skill sets. Personalized learning is the most realistic way of addressing the learning needs of 21st century learners who have ‘extraordinary access to knowledge through transmittable communication.’ (Kalantzis, Mary and Bill Cope. 2015.)

Links:

https://www.edglossary.org/personalized-learning/

https://www.iste.org/explore/articleDetail?articleid=416

www.understood.org/en/school-learning/partnering-with-childs-school/instructional-strategies/personalized-learning-what-you-need-to-know

https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2014/10/22/09pl-overview.h34.html