For hundreds of years, learners have each had their own unique

approaches to education; however, it is not until recent changes in

technology that teachers have been able to appropriately address
different education styles among individual learners. A new buzz
phrase, which surfaced as a result of the rise in current technology use
in the classroom, is personalized learning. Usually associated with
personalized learning are the terms differentiation and
individualization. The article A Step-by-Step Guide to Personalized
Learning gives specific details about the meanings of personalized
learning, differentiation and individualization, as well as offering a sixstep guide to how to facilitate personalized learning.
The definition of personalization incorporates the ideas of
differentiation and individualization and states that, instruction is
paced to learning needs, tailored to learning preferences, and tailored
to the specific interests of different learners. Differentiation focuses
on the preferences of groups of students; while, individualization
focuses on the needs of individual learners. Personalization encourages
students to maneuver their own learning by connecting with their
passions through learning and developing skills to use appropriate
technologies and resources to facilitate their learning. However, the
teacher still plays an important role in learning by adjusting to the
learning needs of groups and individuals and providing instruction to
groups and individuals alike. Teachers are also given the responsibility
of selecting suitable technologies to aid learning, monitoring students
both in groups and as individuals, and assessing groups and individual
learners for feedback and levels of progress.
In order to accommodate how each learner learns best, the
learning environment needs to be flexible. The three core options for
different learning environments include: teacher-centered with learner
voice and choice, learner-centered with teacher and learners as codesigners, and learner-driven with teacher as partner in learning. It is
important to figure out which strategy works best for students to allow
them to grow on their own and figure out for themselves how they
learn best.
The first step of personalized learning, understanding who your
leaners are and how they learn best, relates to the aforementioned
concept of helping students learn while they figure out for themselves
what type of learning they like best. Step two involves setting up the
learning environment. I think step three is crucial for teachers to grasp
because it is a somewhat new idea. Developing a universally designed
lesson is important to allow students to figure their own method of
coming to a unanimous answer or idea. Step four, facilitating driving
and supporting questions, makes students think for themselves and
decide, individually or with a group, what is important and what can be
a learning goal of a specific topic. The main goal of personalized
learning is educating students in a way that incorporates their

individual learning styles, and step five, choosing tools, resources,

and strategies for learning and teaching, assures that teachers
maintain personalized learning as best as possible. The last step
requires teachers to teach students to use assessment as a process of
developing and supporting metacognition for learners. If all six-steps
are handled appropriately, students should be able to engage in class
and learn material in their own preferred method.