Common Myths About Personalized Learning
To keep students engaged, using personalized learning is the key. More and more institutes are coming up with personalized learning concepts. It comes with innumerable benefits for the students as well as institutes. But, many of us still have misconceptions about personalized learning.
What Is Personalized Learning?
Kids learn in different ways and that is what personalized learning consists of. With it, students can learn any topic at their own pace and place. Students can learn by playing various educational games, integrating Augmented Reality, or visualizing concepts on projectors. All these keep students engaged and enhance their learning experience.
There are so many educational apps available that keep students engaged in learning. These apps are helpful to students, teachers, and parents as well. As I said, students can keep learning about different concepts while teachers and parents can keep track of a student's performance through it. Despite the many advantages of personalized learning, many still have misconceptions about it. Here are 4 myths that people believe about personalized learning:
1. Time Consuming
Teachers look at personalized learning like they need to design a whole plan for each individual student, which is a time-consuming process. But, that is not the case. Teachers just need to guide the students, all the details will be managed by the students; students will plan their learning needs as per their requirements.
For the classrooms, transferring from a traditional to a personalized learning environment can consume some time, but it is a one-time process. Once you’re done with it, things are less time-consuming in comparison to traditional classroom learning. With the help of Augmented Reality, you can give the students a more in-depth understanding of the volume of a cube/square or a heart mechanism. So, I can say that personalized learning is never a time-consuming process.
2. Involves Only Individual Work
Many believe that personalized learning keeps students away from group activities or interactions. Yes, it allows students to learn in the best way that suits them, but it doesn’t mean that all students in the classroom are on a different page. If that were the case, then students would never be working on the same project or be involved in group activities.
It is just about having some personal learning plans. One thing teachers can do here is to add some activities or topics to the learning guides so that they can ensure students are on the same page. This will allow the students to learn the same topic with a medium that best suits them; so, it will never be individual work.
3. Requires Advanced Technology
It is a common misconception that personalized learning always requires technology. You may accomplish more flexibility with technology but it is not required. It is not an absolute requirement for personalized learning. To make it more clear, for instance, when students are learning about rocks they don’t require technology as a medium to understand it. In this example, students need to experiment outdoors with various rock materials in order to understand it better.
Therefore, equating personalized learning just with computer-based instruction would be incorrect. There is no need for such advanced technology, a computer can only do so much for personalized education. Personalized learning involves everything that is best for a student's overall growth.
4. Ignores Students' Academic Process
Some think that personalized learning will completely ignore the academic process, but this is totally the opposite case. Students can plan a better academic process with the help of personalized education. People think like this just because students are their own planner for personalized learning. It is not like they can learn whatever they wish, their learning still revolves around academics. Any educational app or any medium that students follow for personalized learning revolves around their academics. In fact, if a few students want to spend more time on math, they can plan their learning accordingly. Henceforth, it is never like personalized learning will spoil or ignore the academic process.
Personalized Learning Is The Future Of The Education Industry
After going through all the above-mentioned misconceptions, you should have a better understanding of personalized education. Many institutes are now moving toward educational app development as it can take student learning to a whole new level and even enhance their learning experience. Especially for parents and teachers, it is the best way to keep the students engaged in learning. I would recommend that educational institutions choose personalized learning for their students.
