Personalized learning in education: AI tools for edtech

Few things are more frustrating than receiving content that has nothing to do with your interests. Marketing stats tell us that 74% of people feel this way. Learning and development professionals know this, too. So, it’s no surprise that 77% of them concluded that personalized learning in education boosts engagement.

Therefore, many education developers are focusing on personalized learning paths, targeted exercises, and self-paced virtual training.

Do you want to personalize your educational offerings and improve engagement? Then read on. We’ll talk about the benefits of personalization, how you can use AI-powered tools to expedite the process, and what the future of personalized learning models may look like.

Benefits of personalized learning

To better understand the benefits, let’s first define what is personalized learning in education. 

Personalized learning is a student-centered educational approach. It matches students’ needs and learning preferences. Rather than focusing primarily on removing deficiencies, it capitalizes on interests, backgrounds, and experiences. It empowers students to use their strengths and passions to dive deep into topics that interest them. In other words, personalized learning experiences give individual learners ownership of their learning paths. These experiences are continually shaped by flexible, targeted instruction based on ongoing assessments.

From this definition, we can explore the benefits.

Benefits for educators and teachers

For teachers and educators, boosting engagement is vital. When learners are not interested in interacting with the content, little is done. However, everything changes when educators have the right tools to get learners’ attention.

Here are the educator benefits of personalized learning:

• Better focus and creativity. When educators have to teach the same things to students continuously, it hinders their creativity. It can also dampen their focus, as they’re parroting the same lessons in the same order every time. So, they are on auto-pilot and disengaged. However, when they focus on students’ needs and learning styles, teaching becomes more collaborative and interactive. They explore different ways and various media to transfer knowledge, keeping them on their game.

• Opportunities for growth and learning. When the learning environment is more collaborative, teachers learn along with their students. They look at things from different angles and explore new pathways. They also get to experiment with new technologies and use them in the learning process.

• Better time management. Using artificial intelligence and individualized learning management systems benefits teachers. Automating and expediting tedious tasks such as lesson planning, enrichment, and grading frees up a lot of time. Teachers can then focus on students and expedite their progress with targeted instruction.

• Timely gap identification and intervention. Personalized learning is more of a student-centered approach powered by data, so educators can get real-time progress reports and intervene. If a student is falling behind or struggling with a concept, there are ways to shed light on the issue. Teachers have a new toolset to ensure no student is left behind.

• Inclusion. Many talented students in traditional classrooms fall behind due to dyslexia or other issues. Personalized learning strategies have the power to end this. Playing to the strengths of each single student is at the core of the personalized learning approach. By doing this, educators can include everyone in the learning process. From special education to advanced programs, everyone can benefit from personalization.

Creating a personalized learning environment should be a goal for every educator. And with modern tools, their role can become more fulfilling, focused, and transformative.

Subscribe to our news

Subscribe

X

Thank you for Subscription!

Benefits for students

The benefits individual students can gain from a customized learning environment are multi-layered. They include short-term and long-term effects.

Personalized learning paths put students on a positive trajectory. A study in K-12 schools shows that personalization improves achievement in reading and math. Even the lowest-performing students gained on their peers who didn’t receive personalized instruction, which sets the stage for higher education and academia. On that level, catering to learning styles and preferences promotes deeper learning and ownership over the student’s education.

Exploring the EdTech tools that personalize learning

So, you want to personalize learning but aren’t sure how? Let’s explore some of the digital technologies that can help.

We’re lucky to witness incredible advances in artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, and there’s no sign of slowing down. So, educators have recognized this and found many ways to use technology in the learning industry. The personalization of learning seems to hold the biggest potential. So, we have the widespread adoption of educational technologies such as:

• lesson planning and delivery platforms,

• communication and collaboration platforms,

• assessment tools,

• progress tracking and analytics tools,

• chatbots,

• multimedia and gaming components.

Tools and platforms offer more flexibility, adaptability, and personalization to the learning environment.

Still not sure what we’re talking about? Let’s look at some compelling examples.

Adaptive learning platforms in personalized learning

Adaptive learning platforms are prime examples of catering to students’ needs. These platforms deliver data-based instruction, including student engagement, performance, and progress. They use these relevant factors to adjust and customize learning experiences for students. A shining example is the Khan Academy and its AI-powered tutor, KhanmigoAI. It offers various personalized learning offerings, starting with pre-K education through college, and supplements it with essential life skills development.

Intelligent tutoring systems powered by AI

Intelligent tutoring systems employ AI to provide individualized instruction and real-time feedback. Essentially, these programs mimic human tutors to create a personalized experience. One example is Carnegie Learning, which aims to raise student achievement with science and AI.

Learning management systems with personalization features

Learning management systems (LMSs) are not news in education and training. But, enriching these virtual learning environments with AI-based personalization features makes them more robust. With these features, they are a prime tool for delivering training materials, tracking progress, and easing reporting and administrative tasks. You’ve probably heard of Moodle. It’s the open-source LMS used in over 237 countries, with over 47 million uploaded courses.

Gamified learning platforms

Gamified learning platforms bring the fun back to learning. They introduce various gamification methods, such as leaderboards, badge systems, points, coins, and advancing through levels. For example, Classcraft helps teachers with lesson plans, student engagement, and progress tracking.

Personalized learning platforms

Personalized learning platforms offer virtual instruction tailored to each learner. They also enable educators to create, customize, and distribute interactive content. MagicBox is a solution for educational publishing for K-12 and higher education. Its strength is in advanced analytics, which craft a personalized learning path for each individual.

Many other examples of companies, schools, and individuals use educational technology to improve engagement and promote student success. If you want to join them but aren’t sure how, our dedicated professionals at Geniusee can help.

A practical guide to implementing personalized learning

Personalizing instructional content for each student is a complex task. Whether you’re a high school classroom teacher or an executive in charge of organizational training, we have a step-by-step guide for you.

Without further ado, here are the eight practical steps you can use to implement personalized learning in education:

1. Understand your learners. The personalized learning approach has one key feature. It is student-centric. So, start by outlining your learners’ strengths, challenges, interests, talents, and goals.
Also, make sure to note how they want to:

• access information,

• engage with it, and

• express what they’ve learned.

2. Set SMART goals to stay on track. Even though you’re working with students’ interests, it’s your job to ensure they are on track to master the materials and move forward. So, draft your personalized learning plans to be specific, measurable, achievable, relevant, and time-bound (SMART). When you set these SMART goals, it will help your educational strategies and students’ academic outcomes.

3. Create universal lesson designs. What does this mean? It doesn’t mean reverting to the old-school one-size-fits-all approach. It means being flexible and adapting your instructional approach, which is vital because you need to ensure your instructional goals, methods, materials, and assessments work for everyone. For example, you may need to convert the same materials into a few different formats.

4. Account for the differences in learning styles. The four main learning styles traditionally include visual, auditory, kinesthetic, and reading/writing. Also, some students prefer project-based learning where their work has real-world impacts. The personalized learning approach you choose to implement should depend on what you know about your learners. So, get ready to pivot between a variety of media.

5. Assemble your toolkit. Choose technologies, tools, and resources you will employ for learning and teaching.
To do this, think about:

• your individual learners,

• their learning goals,

• what you’re trying to teach, and

• how they will take this information in.

Then, you should consider your available resources. For inspiration, you can look to colleagues and industry professionals or ask learners if there are any tools they prefer. For example, you can opt for Google Slides to share a presentation, put it on a screen in the classroom, or upload it to a learning management system. Your technology integration options are vast, so put them to good use.

6. Design a personalized learning environment and integrate technology. You will again need to consider the diverse sets of learners so you can create the best learning experience for everyone. For example, you can divide your classroom into different learning stations, each with its own technology integration. If you’re working with a virtual environment, ensure that student choice dictates where they go next.

7. Deliver instruction in a way that fosters engagement. Whatever medium you choose in your teaching, ensure students stay engaged. You’ll want to introduce breaks and gamification elements. Consider creating personalized learning playlists. In this scenario, student actions translate into data. Then, this student data informs the next steps in student learning. Combine digital elements with in-person collaboration, writing, and games to ensure high motivation. Everyone will progress at their own pace as they move through different phases.

8. Use assessments and feedback as teaching and learning tools. Many students get stressed out about the assessment process. To avoid this, create assessments that are true measures of progress for the instructor and the student. Whatever form or format you’re using, each assessment should be a learning opportunity. And, make sure to provide feedback that students can learn from. Assessment tools can be very handy in offering instant feedback and explanations. These can also give educators a progress summary for individuals and groups to assess the need to adapt the materials.

More from our blog

Why an AI-powered knowledge management system can be a game-changer for enterprise?

Learn how AI boosts efficiency, fosters innovation, and delivers precise solutions.

Read now

The future of personalized learning

Personalized learning is on the rise, and for good reason. It creates engaging educational experiences that improve short-term and long-term outcomes.

So, what does the future hold for learners and educators? Here’s what we expect to see:

• more sophisticated and intuitive personalization features,

• more immersive and interactive learning thanks to virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR),

• better real-time collaboration to complete tasks and solve problems,

• the evolving role of teachers as facilitators and partners in learning,

• less misinformation and data bias,

• higher accessibility and privacy when using digital technologies.

Personalized learning is a work in progress, and it will continue to evolve. There will be more breakthroughs and challenges along the way.

Conclusion

Personalized learning in education is a need, a demand, and a privilege for those who experience it. It informs new learning strategies and methods, from special education to advanced programs.

Empowering the personalization of learning with AI and modern technologies can save time, effort, and funds. It brings joy and excitement back to learning, promotes curiosity and engagement, and, ultimately, improves lives.

So, get out there and be a part of this EdTech revolution!