Many of today’s teachers were taught how to educate their students in a particular way. Let’s be clear—there is nothing wrong with this. Actually, to be more accurate, there WAS nothing wrong with this. Now, however, there is so much specialization going on in the classroom and in the world that personalized learning has almost become a necessity. We understand that it is tremendously difficult for teachers to create custom lessons for each individual student, but we also fear that some students will be left behind if they’re not being taught in a way that works for them. Personalized learning is attainable—so long as educators take some certain steps and go about it in the right way.
Simple Things to Help you Get Personalized Learning Right
When teachers are standing in front of a classroom full of students, they’re at home. This is because they’ve been there so many times before. Even brand new teachers have envisioned themselves in this position a ton of times. Why is it that they feel so comfortable at the front of the classroom? Because this is how it’s always been—a teacher standing in front of the board, maybe behind their desk, teaching one thing to every student in the same way. It doesn’t have to be like this, however, as personalized learning approaches have taught us. Students can co-exist in the same classroom, completing the same tasks, but be going about them in very different ways. They can even be completing unique tasks if that’s what works for them. That’s the essence of personalized learning. It’s essentially custom tailored to meet the needs, abilities, and preferences of each individual student in the classroom.
To make learning personal for each individual student, teachers must prepare it in certain ways. First, personalized learning is created when students are able to clearly articulate their goals. Each student should think about and set their own attainable goals, which will all be different. When kids are honest with themselves about their hopes and abilities, their teachers can get a better grip on what they should expect from them and plan out assignments and lessons accordingly. Next, teachers committed to personalized learning should strive to create an environment that values growth. Every student will learn and grow at their own pace and this is completely fine. So long as this pace is always moving forward (toward those goals we just talked about), then that’s really all that can be asked. Kids tend to enjoy getting personal treatment and very much value the opportunity to work at their preferred pace.
That pace should always remain variable based on each individual student and the progress that they make. Anybody can learn anything, but not everybody is able to master a concept and move on to the next one in the same amount of time. In a personalized learning classroom, the infrastructure that educators build is crucial to attaining this desired outcome. As long as students buy in to this principle, they should all stand to benefit from themselves and all of their classmates moving at their own pace. Finally, there is a lot of passion and pride involved in personalized learning. Teachers might be wise to allow students the chance to weave some of the things they are passionate about into their daily learning to further encourage constant progress. Plus, when kids are in control of the way they are learning, they are going to want to do well and impress their teachers (the whole pride aspect). Combining the two and heeding the earlier advice should help teachers start their personalization journey off on the right foot.
The Best Personalized Learning Starts Before High School
Personalized learning doesn’t have to be something that’s nearly impossible to attain. It isn’t even all that complicated to implement, so this is not an approach that’s limited to older students. In fact, personalized learning can be just as effective for kids in the early grades as it is for high school pupils. Think about it; the whole idea of personalized learning is to allow students to capitalize on their strengths and learn in a way that best helps them achieve their goals. Even if first, second, and third graders are not yet sure about what their strengths as a student really are, there’s a decent chance that teachers could pick out a few. Just like it would in high school, EarlyEd personalization is designed to allow students to (on their own or with help from their teachers) find a path to focus on and run with it, ultimately leading to greater chances for success.
In high school settings, personalized learning is probably a bit easier to attain because they have faculty that are able to teach students a broader range of skills. Many schools, for example, now have CTE programs, theater programs, or even culinary classes, which allow students to start focusing on what they actually want to do. You won’t find options this wide in scope in an elementary school, so teachers simply have to continue teaching the traditional topics, adding in personalization for students who need it whenever possible. Students in the early grades can still be exposed to career-relevant skills, however, like problem solving, coding, creativity, and collaboration. Maybe there are a few students in a class who share similar abilities and learning styles. Educators can have them team up to complete personalized projects that allow them to show what they know in their own way.
Eventually, students will find their niche and be able to control their success on whatever path they choose. In elementary school, however, they need help building a foundation that they can continue developing as they grow. Personalized learning in elementary school can be as simple as small-group instruction that allows kids to progress to different tiers as they master certain competencies. This allows every student in the classroom to receive the instruction they need and practice concepts for as long as they would like. As long as teachers are asking students quality questions and receiving assurance that they are, in fact, learning, this approach could prove to be very valuable. For early educators, personalized learning can even be a bit easier to start because it does not need to be as specialized as it does for high school students. A few different teaching approaches should suffice as opposed to the almost one-to-one amount commonly used in high school.
How Schools Can Find Success with Personalized Learning
The first thing we think of when considering personalized learning is creating a plan for each individual student. Yes, that is the essence of personalization, but it is not, however, the only component. The best personalized learning allows students to, among other things, engage in active learning. Even as things get more hands-on, they can still get more personal. Every student or group of students will go about conducting an experiment or solving a problem in the way that works best for them and their collective strengths. Take a science lab, for example. It’s almost impossible for teachers to set up 10 or 12 different experiments with the amount of resources they have available to them. What they can do to make the same experiment more personalized for each kid, however, is differentiating a number of elements.
This starts with classroom design. Whenever possible, class sizes should be kept to the lowest number they can be. This allows for more active participation by each student and also ensures that they each get the chance to use the technology tools need for various experiments. Those tools could be set up in the middle of the room, allowing teams of students to gather around them and creating more collaborative opportunities. Teachers may also, as you have probably gathered by now, spend some time creating their own versions of lessons, altering them to align with the resources they have. In personalized learning, students should always be preparing for the next step of their education. For those who go on to college, having the opportunity to work in this kind of environment will benefit them in a number of ways, not the least of which is replicating the environment of college classroom.
Another way to create successful personalized learning is to put students in control from the get-go. All kids have something they are passionate about or, at the very least, interested in. Rather than teachers trying to create a personal plan for every student or every group, an alternative could be letting students create projects themselves. In science, for example, there are so many ways to explore each discipline, including Biology, Chemistry, and Physics. Why should every student have to learn about the same concepts and conduct the same experiments, trying to get the same (and desired) results? Personalized learning allows for more open endedness and encourages students to fail a number of times before they arrive where they hoped to be. Without so much focus on grades and test scores, personalized learning is a viable alternative for students who learn differently and want to learn different things.
How to Start on the Path to Personalization
For teachers or school leaders looking for a way to start personalized learning or a window to weave it into the curriculum, there could certainly be some important questions to address. Those in this position are certainly not alone and, since one of the ways to make personalized learning happen is by using technology, this is certainly one place to start. Okay, so once that’s decided, that’s a step in the right direction. Unfortunately, the slightly larger problem is that many educators do not know where exactly to go from there. Should they go for the cheapest technologies? Should they try a 1:1 approach? Should they even want to bring devices into their classrooms or try to do something more hands-on and STEM-related. Unfortunately, there is no right answer to these questions, but the good thing is that there certainly is no wrong answer.
Personalization can occur with just about any kind of technology. When we think of incorporating tech into learning, there are generally two kinds of EdTech we are referring to: either computing tools or STEM tools. Both of these can help facilitate learning that’s both more personal and impactful on a deeper level. Either of these will help educators do away with the traditional one-size-fits-all teaching model, which many students will obviously benefit from. Both research and a simple eye test allows teachers to see the positive effects that personalized learning has on students and the likelihood that they reach their full potential. Some school leaders who have tried personalized learning before strongly advocate for a grassroots approach—starting from the bottom up and building a homegrown plan for reaching each student in each classroom.
The great thing about personalized learning is that every school can take its own approach. There is no tried and tested model for success; it depends solely on the students involved, the classroom environments they will be learning in, and the resources that educators have at their disposal. Just about every school, however, shares the same goals and has the same desired outcomes for personalized learning. Some of these goals? Teachers, from the onset, should focus on meeting students where they are, making sure to never overwhelm them or to hold them back. In theory, this sounds simple, but it takes some care and preparation to get it right. Aside from that, teachers should work to ensure their students are always progressing and be sure to teach them how to own their learning in order to push them toward their full potential.
The Promise of Personalized Learning
You can tell just due to the popularity of the term and the frequency with which it’s brought up that many people very strongly believe in personalized learning. It’s grown increasingly popular in recent years, namely over the last five or six. Much of its popularity is a result of various research and studies that indicate improved student performance and faster mastery of relevant skills when exposed to personalization. To be fair, there is some indication that some teachers still fear trying something new like personalized learning, but, thankfully, many are willing to innovate. In a perfect world, personalized learning can be implemented in any grade and across all subjects, helping bring students closer to learning that works for them.
Personalized learning allows schools to break away from age-based classrooms in which all students learn the same exact thing every day. The alternative to this is, of course, providing an individualized learning experience for each student. This has been known to be particularly effective in math and reading classes, especially for students who need to catch up to the ability levels of their peers. It’s important to remember, as well, that school leaders should start to see more success with student achievement as time passes. For example, there may not be anything substantial to report in the first few months or even the first full year. Two or three years down the road, however, should yield some noticeable results and, if not, it may be time to revisit what’s being done in the classroom.
We clearly think that, in the right environment, personalized learning is worth exploring. This is based on two beliefs of ours. First, it offers students more ways to engage with classroom material. And, second, most of the results over time have shown signs that it is a legitimately effective way for many of them to learn. Perhaps most importantly, learning at a personalized pace gives students the very beneficial opportunity to master concepts before moving on. They don’t move on when the teacher says it’s time to do. They move on when they are ready—whether that’s earlier than expected or later. When it comes down to it, personalized learning is something that is likely here to stay—probably not in every single classroom, but in a lot of places where it is needed. And, you know what? If it helps students learn in the way they are most comfortable, then it absolutely has a place in 21st century education.
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