Co-Designing Instruction With Students

Learner choice is a defining feature of personalized learning (Patrick, Kennedy, & Powell, 2013), setting it apart from the related concepts of individualized and differentiated learning. Although these related concepts imply some change in instruction based on learner skills, knowledge, or performance, only personalization implies that the learner is an active agent in the decision-making process.

In its National Education Technology Plan, the U.S. Department of Education (USDOE, 2010) defines personalized learning as “instruction that is paced to learning needs, tailored to learning preferences, and tailored to the specific interests of different learners. In an environment that is fully personalized, the learning objectives and content as well as the method and pace may all vary” (p. 12). In this definition, personalization encompasses both differentiation and individualization but adds learner interests as a specific element of personalization.