As technology, innovation, and education continues to change rapidly, personalized eLearning should become part of the mainstream
We’ve seen or heard about it all over the internet. Blogs and forums discussing the future of education. Learning gurus all over the world making predictions about social engagement, massive open online courses (MOOCs), informal learning, cloud-based technology, and much more.
The “personalization” approach is another eLearning trend that appears to be one of the most significant concepts in education today. What is behind this approach and why do education institutions strive to adapt it in the eLearning practice?
Personalized learning is a method of customizing the right type of learning for the right type of audience. A student is given a chance to engage in the eLearning process on his own, deciding what, when, and how to absorb information.
The push towards personalization is a natural phenomenon and is based on people’s individuality and desire to be the masters of their own lives. Personalized learning allows students to enjoy the educational process at their own pace, which is beneficial because people have different abilities, goals, needs, and approaches towards education.
The personalization concept is still new and there are many debates concerning its implementation. Despite advancements in technology and internet technology, the traditional education system prefers a “one-size-fits-all” model.
(Next page: Four traits of personalized eLearning)
Tailoring a personalized course requires time and attention, which is preferable for small and medium-sized institutions that have greater flexibility to implement new learning methods.
Personalized eLearning consists of 4 blocks:
• Students’ individuality
• Course content
• eLearning paths
• Feedback
Students’ individuality and course content are interconnected. eLearning becomes more effective by adjusting eCourse content to visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning styles:
• An eLearning course tailored for visual learners should be full of graphs, charts, written directions, and illustrations to help learners to memorize the data.
• Auditory learners will succeed with eCourses, where the information is presented via recorded lectures, audio-books, and videos. A good point is presenting a brief course summary in the beginning of each course.
• Kinesthetic learners will appreciate engaging exercises, discussions, and researches. Today many Learning Management Systems [1] offer social platforms integration that can help including JoomlaLMS [2], JomSocial [3] for Joomla!, CMS or WordPress equivalent LearnDash [4], and BuddyPress [5].
Every teacher needs to carefully research which personalized learning model to adopt before implementing a personalization concept. As technology, innovation, and education continues to change rapidly, personalized eLearning should become part of the mainstream.
Ilona Hetsevich is from Belarus and is a Marketing Specialist at Belitsoft [6].