Personalised Learning and Individual Approaches

Welcome to exam season for our post-primary teachers! You are nearly at the finishing line! In today’s post I want to look at the topic of personalised learning. With the advance of technology through online learning and also the popular use of AI, this area of personalised learning has rapidly evolved in the educational landscape. Personalised learning has emerged as a powerful approach that recognises and responds to the unique needs, interests, and abilities of each student. This innovative educational methodology represents a significant shift from the traditional one-size-fits-all model to a more flexible, student-centered approach.

At its core, personalised learning acknowledges that every student has different learning styles, preferences, and paces. This approach leverages technology, data-driven insights, and flexible instructional strategies to create tailored learning experiences. Teachers become facilitators of learning, guiding students through customised pathways while maintaining high academic standards.

The implementation of personalised learning begins with understanding each student’s individual needs through comprehensive assessments. These assessments go beyond traditional academic measures to include learning preferences, interests, strengths, and areas for growth. This information forms the foundation for creating personalised learning plans that align with educational standards while accommodating individual differences.

Technology plays a crucial role in enabling personalised learning at scale. Advanced learning management systems, adaptive software, and digital tools provide real-time feedback and adjust content difficulty based on student performance. These technologies allow teachers to track progress, identify learning gaps, and make data-informed decisions about instructional strategies. This can benefit the pupil as they receive more focused and personalised instruction and the teacher is freed to complete other duties as time can be re-allocated elsewhere.

The flexibility of personalised learning extends to the learning environment itself. Students may work independently, collaborate in small groups, or engage in whole-class activities depending on their needs and learning objectives. This variety in learning settings helps maintain engagement while developing essential social and collaborative skills. This flexibility can also benefit pupils at both ends of the ‘ability spectrum’. More able students can work at a quicker pace and remain challenged within their learning, while less able students can receive more focused assistance by learning at their pace and ensuring for understanding before moving on to the next topic.

Assessment in personalised learning moves beyond traditional testing to include multiple forms of demonstration of mastery. Students can showcase their understanding through projects, presentations, portfolios, and other authentic assessments that align with their learning styles and interests rather than straightforward question & answer style exams. This approach can provide a more comprehensive view of student achievement and growth through the application and construction of knowledge. Where these can fit into the rubric of an exam class, it can be used to promote confidence in, and mastery of the subject by raising student ability to perform better in an exam setting.

Professional development is essential for educators implementing personalised learning. Teachers need ongoing support to develop skills in data analysis, differentiated instruction, and the use of educational technology. Collaboration among educators becomes particularly valuable as they share strategies and resources for meeting diverse student needs. This is an area that schools need to invest more focused attention in for three major reasons:

1. Technology continues to move forward and as a profession teachers need to keep their skills up to date – particularly in the area of educational technology.
2. Pupils are using new technologies as they emerge and teachers need to be familiar with how these technologies can be used in the classroom or to enhance pupil learning.
3. The single most effective way to improve pupil grades is to improve the skillset and capability of teachers.

The benefits of personalised learning extend far beyond simple academic achievement. Students develop a greater agency and ownership of their learning, which can lead to increased motivation and engagement. They also build important life skills such as self-direction, time management, and metacognition – understanding how they learn best. These important life skills are transferable and will contribute repeatedly to positive career opportunities as more and more, employers are raising the important of soft skills as well as necessary qualifications.

Successful implementation requires careful planning and a supportive school culture. Leaders must create structures that allow for flexible scheduling, provide necessary resources, and foster an environment where innovation and experimentation are encouraged. Parent and community engagement will also play vital roles in supporting personalised learning initiatives. We often think of these as ‘top-down’ or ‘bottom-up’ initiatives, but in reality, they need to be both – teachers in the classroom need to be pushing these developments as much as school leaders. Only by meeting together and working in tandem can this work at a whole school level. Otherwise there will be a ‘spotty’ implementation were some teachers but not all are trying to build this type of learning experience and then the whole system fails because of the irregularity and lack of consistency, which ultimately negatively affects the learner.

While technology is important, the human element remains central to personalised learning. Teachers build strong relationships with students, understanding their individual contexts and providing the emotional support necessary for learning. These connections help create a safe and supportive learning environment where students feel comfortable taking risks and making mistakes. If utilising an AI platform to create a personalised learning platform, it would be my advice to follow the 8/20 rule. This is where AI is carrying 80% of the workload and the teacher carrying the remaining 20%. This will keep the teacher connection, but the major part of the programme will be AI-led,

Data privacy and security considerations must be carefully addressed in personalised learning environments. Schools need robust policies and procedures for protecting student information while still allowing for the effective use of data to inform instruction.

Privacy and security is a current topic that is now making headlines as AI continues to expand its reach. You may have read recently how Meta are using books without proper authorisation to train its AI platforms. This is not exactly how I want to discuss this topic, but it does lend itself very well as a cautionary tale. In my own use of AI when researching topics, I have seen my own content being quoted to me through CoPilot. It is an issue that needs addressed collectively but in this developmental stage, there are steps to take to protect your own privacy in any AI platform.

Equity is a fundamental consideration in personalised learning. This approach can help address achievement gaps by ensuring all students receive the support and resources they need to succeed. However, careful attention must be paid to ensure equal access to technology and other learning resources for all students. While schools do make as best an effort they can to ensure equity of access with their limited budgets being limited as they are, I know that there is no consideration to the quality of resources that schools use – specifically the quality of IT hardware in schools. Most school leaders will think “sure they have computers…” not thinking that those computers were purchased and installed before COVID, meaning they’re now at least 6 years old, which means they’re closer to being at least 12 years old in IT terms.

But, returning to the point, the issue is equity. We are not just looking at equity of access, but also of digital inclusion, addressing the digital divide and assessing the implications of not doing addressing these issues.

With digital inclusion, we should stress that this applies to anyone and everyone having access to digital technologies and services – including how we can leverage AI to provide personalised learning services. Access to this type of digital service will allow all pupils to gain the same access to opportunity.

The future of personalised learning continues to evolve with advances in artificial intelligence, learning analytics, and educational research. These developments promise even more sophisticated ways to understand and respond to individual student needs while maintaining high academic standards. There are also obstacles to navigate. Laws that cover copyright, designs, patents and intellectual property do need to be respected, and many tech companies will operate under the motto: “Ask for forgiveness, rather than permission” and this is an area they need to be held to account. With respect to the content AI has used from this site, it might be able to replicate good content, but it won’t understand the understanding of when and how to apply good use of technology in the classroom. Technology cannot replace experience. To put it another way, and drop in a Star Wars quote (which contains 2 golden nuggets connected to this post):

Implementation challenges include resource allocation, technical infrastructure, training and the need for systemic change. However, the potential benefits – improved student engagement, achievement, and preparation for future success – far outweigh the challenges, which can make personalised learning an important direction for educational innovation in schools. There are steps we can take to protect ourselves as always online and there are specific implementation challenges I will be exploring and addressing, so there may be more to say on this topic in later posts.

Education will continue to evolve and should always be evolving. AI will increasingly become part of how teachers complete their daily tasks and personalised learning is one area that represents a promising approach for meeting the diverse needs of today’s students while preparing them for tomorrow’s challenges. When we think about how we teach – the classroom based model has not changed since the Victorian era, but in comparison, think about how much the world has changed since the Victorian era! So, by combining technology, data-driven decision-making, and responsive teaching practices, schools can make movements to create learning environments that truly serve each student’s unique needs and potential. There is a lot to do here – a lot to work out and a lot to achieve, but when we keep the needs of the pupil at the centre, and how we can best help them, AI will provide a lot of support and help us in ways we maybe haven’t thought of just yet – which is promising and exciting in equal measure, no?