Personalized learning is a pedagogy that focuses on to individualized learning for each student based on the learner’s specific strengths and needs, their interests, goals, capabilities, and experiences. As with many of the other affordances facilitated by an eLearning approach, MOOCS and the digital ecology aren’t fully necessary for this, but I feel that personalized learning is a necessity to creating engaged learners and ensuring that material is thoroughly digested and deeply comprehended.

A good example of a personalized learning is a quality LMS. By definition, I feel that learning management systems are built on the foundation of catering to a personalized learning approach. LMS’s are defined as software that provides capabilities for administration, documentation, tracking, reporting and delivery of learning material or training programs. With so much data available on how their learners are progressing, educators can be empowered to have a far more comprehensive understanding of where their learners are excelling, as well as how the educators themselves can improve their approach.

It’s been mentioned regularly in the course that the traditional classroom has a weakness in the area of not being able to focus on or highlight the learner’s personal strengths or accommodating for experiences that they have not yet encountered. By using all of the affordances offered by e-Learning with a strong LMS system, there are countless opportunities for learners to have a more personalized approach to learning: they can watch (and rewind) video materials, read (and with a click in a search box or a keystroke of CTRL-F, easily search) through text information, engage with others in a discussion forum to help clarify misconceptions of their own and help others overcome challenges, and message educators directly for additional help and feedback – all of which are not restricted by the confines of time or space.

Some people learn best by discussion or writing papers. Video can leverage text, audio, and moving pictures. Also, there’s no replacement for real-world experience – which can be given as a lesson or provided in a simulation inside of an LMS, or through creating an artifact.All of these methods can be compatible and supported by a quality LMS.

It’s my feeling that, as mentioned in this week’s videos, this approach is absolutely necessary to creating learners who are capable of being good planners and strategists in the 21st century. By not “teaching to the middle” of the class, and taking into account the experiences that learners either already have or do not yet have on an individual level, we can use differentiated learning and a personalized approach to not only ensure that the material is learned, but becomes a transformative experience in their lives.