User:Vincentooi808/Personalized learning

Definition
Personalized learning, individualized instruction, personal learning environment and direct instruction all refer to efforts to tailor education to meet the different needs of students.

History
The use of the term "personalized learning" dates back to at least the early 1960s, but there is no widespread agreement on the definition and components of a personal learning environment. Even enthusiasts for the concept admit that personal learning is an evolving term and doesn't have any widely accepted definition.

In 2005, Dan Buckley defined two ends of the personalized learning spectrum: "personalization for the learner", in which the teacher tailors the learning, and "personalization by the learner", in which the learner develops skills to tailor his own learning. This spectrum was adopted by the (2006) Microsoft's Practical Guide to Envisioning and Transforming Education.

Instructional design
Proponents of personalized learning say that many elements of curriculum, assessment and instructional design must be present in classrooms for students to succeed and often use software systems to manage and facilitate student-led instruction. Proponents argue that classroom learning activities must build upon students' prior knowledge and teachers need to allocate time for practice. Advocates argue that teachers must continuously assess student learning against clearly defined standards and goals and student input into the assessment process is integral.

Debate
Andy Hargreaves and Dennis Shirley write that while there are advantages in students being able to access information instantly on-line, one should not mistake such processes for "something deeper, more challenging, and more connected to compelling issues in their world and their lives".

Alfie Kohn wrote that while personalized learning may sound like a useful strategy for education, in practice it's mostly just about selling technology products. Personalized learning promises a strategy to specifically adjust education to the unique needs and skills of individual children, he argued, but really it means merely "adjusting the difficulty level of prefabricated skills-based exercises based on students' test scores... [and] requires the purchase of software from one of those companies that can afford full-page ads in Education Week". While "certain forms of technology can be used to support progressive education", Kohn wrote, "...meaningful (and truly personal) learning never requires technology. Therefore, if an idea like personalization is presented from the start as entailing software or a screen, we ought to be extremely skeptical about who really benefits."

The Future of Personalized Learning
Dr. Ces'Ari Garcia-Delmuro advocates in her research on personalized learning for other researchers to continue including teacher voice in their studies of personalized learning programs as a way to improve these programs for teachers and students. Additionally, more studies should be conducted that focus on other low SES schools implementing personalized learning. Furthermore, donors that are giving to the advancement of personalized learning need to consult new research to ensure that they are donating to programs that benefit all students including those who belong to vulnerable populations (students in special education, bilingual emergent students, and students of low socioeconomic status), not just those students who are able to self-direct. In future research, it is important to continue to study these schools who are piloting personalized learning to see how their needs change over time. Because these programs are still relatively new, it would be helpful to understand the perceptions of teachers who are using these programs for five years or longer to continue assisting teacher and school sites as they mature in their personalized learning use. Additionally, research which compares teacher perception of personalized learning compared to student academic outcomes will be helpful once schools new to personalized learning overcome their fifth year of implementation.