Personalised Learning: Introducing Success in the Modern Classroom

Personalised learning is an educational approach aiming to customise learning for students. Picture a classroom that approaches students according to their needs, skills and interest strengthening their learnings based on what they know and how they learn best. 

To build a successful system of personalised learning it is important to acknowledge that every student has their own personalised set of skills that works best for their interest.  

It is an approach that tailored educational experiences for every student to meet their unique needs and preferences. Gone are the days that one size with all kinds of education personalised learning is a journey that respects students’ pace, strength , areas of growth and their abilities.

But what is personalised learning ? 

In simple words it is a flexible adaptive approach to empower students by providing them a customised educational experience.

Kids nowadays want their educational experience to be creative.in this teaching model every student is provided with their own set of  “learning plan” based on the premises acknowledged based on their skills and interests. 

How Effective is Personalized Learning?

Personalised learning is not a new concept, It has been evidenced through history how over the years that the concept of differentiated instruction boasts an impressive percentage in improving students’ attentiveness, desire and understanding.

Around 60% of students tend to lose connection from their classroom studies in traditional set-up.  

In implementing a system that caters personal learning styles, abilities, preferred rate of learning, the student gets a better grasp of the course and acquires a higher level of self- confidence.

 It is statistically proven that, students who are under the self-paced learning environment will have higher academic performance as they are able to assume the most important responsibility of learning. 

Also, this approach locomotes students to be creative thinkers and problem solvers when learning content meaningfully in a way that they deem relevant as individual beings.

So Why Personalized Learning?

“We cannot teach students well if we do not know them well. At its heart, personalised learning requires profound shifts in our thinking about education and schooling.”

Personalised learning is prone to improve learning outcomes and provide better engagement to students boosting their knowledge retention power. As technology advances,  it is the need of an hour to personalise content.  

We have personalised feed everywhere ,from social media to our movie recommendation to playlist, in order to stay relevant the knowledge for our children is supposed to be consistent and aligned with their growth strategies and skill sets.  

This will not only help them in being self aware but will also save the time to engage with new topics making it more interactive and increasing motivation for them as a learner.

So, what do they actually help us with, the major three things that personalised learning does includes:

1. Providing Students with Personalised Support

Personalization is not only content adaptation; it is the key to provide the students with the required tool to succeed. 

A student could easily feel left out or neglected, especially in a normal class setting if they are unable to make head or tail when it comes to certain lessons. 

This shifts with personal learning as teachers can provide student support through one on one session, online session, and learning maps.

The present study states that students who experienced caring support from the teacher were more likely to take more responsibilities while learning and embrace the growth mindset. 

This approach helps the students to know that intelligence is not a terminal thing but something one has to work at to gain. This also creates self-confidence and increases the students’ ability for self-learning, thus creating lifelong learners.

2. The Role of Personalized Learning in Modern Education

When it comes to the present day education, we understand that Personalization of learning needs to address swiftly changing world. 

Due to the rising trends in technology adoption and calls for more skill development the traditional education system in which education delivery is patterned with reduced variations where the curriculum and time table strictly regulates the course delivery is inadequate to prepare the learners for the outside world.

Personalised learning prepares students with the skills and understanding to thrive according to the modern world economy.

This way improves critical thinking skills, creativity, problem-solving, and collaboration – all final attributes needed in today’s world, given that the course primarily involves self-identification of strengths and weaknesses.

3. Positive Impact on Motivation and Long-Term Effects

Another big positive impact of this form of learning is that it helps to motivate students. Students find learning easier, and therefore they do not get as frustrated as they would when learning under normal classes. 

Whenever there is motivation, success in the class follows, another advantage of personalised learning is that students will always be motivated and looking forward to embracing another exciting phase in class.

Also, the overall outcomes of the use of personalised learning are beyond classroom learning, especially in the long-term. It assists learners in developing prosocial behaviours such as; time management, self control, goal setting among others – known as social emotional learning.  

Academic skills are important in adulthood whether the individual is continuing education or taking up a job. Students who undergo personalised learning are likely to start with confidence that they can handle it in different situations. 

How Should Personalized Learning be Used in the Classroom?

At class level, there are various ways in which the concept of personalised learning can be addressed.Depending on the learning profile of the learners and their performance, the teachers might be in a position to develop personal learning processes for each learner. 

Among the tools to use to support personalization are: adaptive learning technologies, small group instruction, project-based learning and feedback.

Teachers must have a clear understanding and regular check on the steps made and possible modification to make the lessons interesting and not to overwhelming the student. 

The personalised learning approach will ensure that all teachers provide differentiated learning, and incorporate collaborative activities to ensure that low achievers have a reason to excel.

At 21K, we ensure that every student gets their own part of the learning, making sure that we provide them with clear instructions and opportunities, where they can explore their merits and excel. 

Benefits of Personalised Learning Experiences

One of the most compelling reasons for personalised learning is gaining attention from students and giving them the confidence required to question and explore the world around them.  This will help them in interacting more and will contribute to their educational achievements. 

So, what are the benefits of personalised Learning Experiences. I’m sure there are many but here’s a quick 5 that can help you understand better how it affects a child’s future and determines success. 

1. Increases engagement: When content is personalised, learning is more engaging and learner is more attentive. 
2. Saves time: Personalised learning cuts down on the time.
3. Improves knowledge retention: Personalised learners have the ability to retain their information, based on their past experiences. 
4. Increased motivation: Relevant information motivates students to keep the learning process actionable.
5. Improves learning results: Personalised learning approach is meant to yield better learning results for students. 

By  making changes in the information and the pattern of teaching for students – from visual to auditory to kinesthetic, students are more likely to gain and absorb information.

Identifying the major areas where a student can be helped and supported can boost confidence resulting in major advancement for one academically. There are so many more benefits of personalised learning.

Additionally, personalised learning fosters a deeper understanding of subjects and real life values, as students can learn at their own pace and can take advantage of their individuality. 

The pressure to keep up with the entire batch comes to an end, creating an environment best suited for a profound learning experience that values mastery over speed. 

What are the Common Barriers to Personalized Learning?

While personalised learning has many advantages for childrens and their overall academic success, there are also challenges that students have to face while transforming their journey from tradition to personalised or even starting fresh as a personalised learner. Common barriers include:

• Limited availability of Resources: Schools often lack the technological tools, curriculum flexibility, or funding to support individualised learning, in a way that contributes to their journey effectively.
• Teacher Training: Educators may need specialised training to manage personalised learning plans and leverage adaptive technologies, lack of resources can be a major reason for the training to not be that well equipped.
• Time Consuming: Preparing a unique learning  plan and  providing one-on-one support can be time-intensive.
• Standardised Testing: The emphasis on standardised tests can make it difficult for teachers to stray from traditional curriculum frameworks, though striking the balance between both and accommodating transitional frameworks can be of great help. .

Addressing these barriers involves investing in resources, training, and equitable practices to ensure personalised learning is accessible and impactful for every student, 

How It Addresses Diverse Learner Needs ?

When we talk about learning experience it mainly highlights our strengths and weaknesses, and every student comes with their own set of experiences.

The traditional teaching method often fails to meet the needs of diverse groups, strangling them in their own records of marks,  achievements and results without reflecting well on their skills, leaving them disengaged and bored of the learning process. 

Personalised learning provides students with the opportunity to excel in their desirable field at their own pace adapting the tools that will ultimately help them in growing. 

Students can leverage the power of technology in their academic journey by using assistive tools and customised resources.

Similarly, gifted students can take help from the resources designed for them to keep themselves engaged and challenged at all times to learn and grow more, ensuring that all learners, regardless of their academic background, receive a learning experience that suits them.

Implementing Personalized Learning: Strategies for Teachers and Parents

1. How can teachers Put it into action and maximise its potential

Teachers play a very important role in implementing personalised learning, and shaping the curriculum for students based on their preferences and needs. 

To start with, teachers can Use Data-Driven Insights to analyse the students database and track performance. The teacher will have to see where the students are excelling and what are the areas where he/she can help them. 

It is important to allow students to have their own opinion in their learning path with proper guidance and strategy. 

Personalised learning thrives on feedback, both formal and informal. And, thus it is important to track performance and constantly keep identifying the areas of improvement for them. 

Tools such as learning management systems and other online platforms should be leveraged to have a clear communication between parents and students.

These tools can act as an interface for everyone involved to have clear and transparent communication, for various purposes: attendance tracking, assessments, feedbacks and even suggestions. They can even introduce various learning methods for better results.

2. How can parents be assured of this new personalised system 

Parents are a very important part of students’ academic journey and they can support their kids with personalised learning at home. 

Students well reflect on their own accomplishments and progress when encouraged. It is very important to teach them how to own their learnings and stay motivated. It is easy to transform their journey with virtual learning platforms.

Parents can start these small steps of dedicating a quiet corner for them and provide them with all necessary support required and brief them with tips to successful learnings. 

They can be active users on the educational platforms provided to them from the institution, regular communication can result in stability and accountability for academic progress. 

For any such more help and guidance parents can refer to blogs written dedicatedly on how parents can help their children in succeeding online classes

The Role of Technology in Personalized Education

In regard to the use of technology in the delivery of learning models, we need to focus on three areas; customization, access, and flexibility as key aspects of personalised learning.

Facilities, including LMS,many-levelled adaptive learning platforms, and data analytics, give the teacher ways to observe student progress, change lessons, and respond instantly, providing them with a platform to interact and track. 

Another perspective of learning engagement is also supported by VR and incorporating game-based learning, modern day gamification plays a very important role in attention grabbing and quick learning promoting retention and excitement for students, in the era of virtual education.

Thus, technology applied to personalization of education can become a driving force for change in the process of classroom enhancing students ‘ productivity to achieve higher results. 

But technology should always be complemented by interpersonal contact since a teacher’s guidance is always important to a learner. At 21k students are introduced to the world of technology to benefit their  overall academic advancement. 

Conclusion 

I think that the concept of personalised learning is highly effective and can bring about change and improve the lives of learners to achieve what is best for them.

In offering differentiation in delivery, cultivating student motivation, and nurturing essential life competencies, personalised learning prepares the way for better student engagement, self-efficacy, and employability.

Success of personalised learning is a process for teachers and parents, focused on collaboration, adaptability, and learning from the process.

Education is possible if technology, more data, and creativity are adopted to foster learning that is good for every learner, and they are good learners too when they get to college and further studies.

Education