Meeting students where they are. This is a phrase familiar to educators that often guides them in teaching and presenting content in a way they hope will connect and resonate with their students. The objective is to ensure that their students experience that “Oh, I get it now!” moment because this is when true learning takes place. But this goal cannot be achieved using a “one-size-fits-all" approach to teaching in the classroom. Every student learns differently. Instruction needs to be customized or adapted to the individual learner—a process known as personalized learning.
Instructional designers describe personalized learning as an approach that begins with identifying the learning outcomes desired for the student. What is it that the teacher (or the student) wishes to learn? Once the learning outcomes are clearly defined, an instructional plan is developed to achieve those outcomes. The approach is adapted or tailored to align with the student’s individual learning style, interests, strengths, and existing knowledge base (including any gaps that need to be filled). Douglas Wilson, assistant professor and Academic Program Coordinator of the Learning Design and Technology Program at George Mason University, shared his thoughts on personalized learning and how technology and other factors can facilitate this instructional framework.
The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Personalized Learning
Artificial intelligence (AI) can play a vital role in supporting personalized learning due to the ability of these tools to provide students with feedback or information that will help them build content knowledge. For example, a teacher might pose a question on a topic or issue related to the course curriculum and ask the student to develop a response based on readings assigned in class. After developing their answer, the student could then pose the same question to an AI chatbot to see what information is generated. An exercise like this requires the student to carefully evaluate the response produced by the AI chatbot and to draw their own conclusions, based on what they have already learned, on whether the information generated is useful and relevant to their learning goals and applicable to curriculum standards. Experts in instructional design say this process can enhance the student's capacity to differentiate information that is meaningful, and that this in turn will help them develop a deeper understanding of content.
The assessment of a student’s baseline of knowledge provides the educator with a starting point for teaching content.
When an educator structures a personalized learning program for a student, it is important that they understand the baseline of the student’s prior knowledge. This can be done by administering a “knowledge check” which is a basic test or quiz, often presented in multiple-choice format, where the questions are designed to align with the standards established for the course and the learning goals of the individual student. Based on the student’s response to the questions, the instructor can make a preliminary assessment of their existing knowledge which can provide a starting point or foundation for teaching content and building new knowledge. This allows the student to focus on content that may not be familiar to them and gives the educator an opportunity to direct their instruction and resources more effectively on areas where the student needs the most support. Rather than teaching concepts that the student already knows, the teacher can dedicate their time to ensuring the student achieves proficiency in content they have not yet been exposed to and that they develop the knowledge necessary to meet related curriculum standards.
The written entries of a student can be a data point from which their progress in learning can be measured.
One way a student's progress in their learning can be gauged is through the evaluation of a written entry they might post in an online discussion forum that responds to a prompt or question posed by the instructor. Written entries of this type can serve as data points that provide insight into the student’s thinking and show how well they grasp the content being taught. Similarly, the written feedback provided to the student by the teacher and class peers can serve as data points that can add to or in some cases, clarify the knowledge being shared. This process creates a positive experience where students learn from one another through a written exchange of ideas that progressively build upon one another.
Getting to know students from a holistic perspective is an essential part of designing a personalized learning plan.
A key factor impacting the level of success of a personalized learning plan is the teacher’s ability to “get to know” the student as a whole person. This means becoming familiar with the student’s learning styles, interests, strengths, needs, and other factors that affect their ability to learn. Instructional design specialists recommend viewing the student from a holistic perspective, one that involves doing more than just assessing what the student may or may not have previously learned coming into a course.
To find out more about degree offerings in the Learning Design and Technology Program at George Mason University, please visit the program website.