To successfully deliver personalized learning, an eLearningdeveloper needs a clear understanding of what the term means. And that can be aproblem, since so many different definitions for personalized learning arefloating around. Let’s start with The eLearning Guild’s recent definition of adaptive learning: a teaching approach where the delivery ofcontent and assessment are tailored to each learner’s abilities and needs. Thatsounds like a good approach to eLearning, but it raises questions for eLearningdesigners and developers.
In a January 2016 “Best of” Webinar, “The Future of Learning: Where Should We Focus This Year?” Guild Master NickFloro acknowledged that the trend toward wanting “everything customized to myneeds—when I need it, where I need it, how I need it—and I want it to apply towhat I am doing” presents a challenge to developers, who are generally creatingcourses aimed at large, diverse audiences. To meet this challenge, developersneed to focus on key aspects of the learning. But, which ones?
Dr. Yong Zhao, a scholar, educator, and expert oneducational design, wrote a detailed description of personalization ineducation: “Outcome vs. Process: Different Incarnations of Personalization.” He dividespersonalization into two broad categories: personalization of process, whichallows learners to make choices about how they learn; and personalization of outcome,which permits learners to define the end results of their learning.
“Corporate training is similar to education in that it has apredefined curriculum, but there is a need that is driving it, whethersomething is changing in the business, software, whatever, leadershipdevelopment—there is usually some driving force that says, ‘I need to providethis to my people,’” said Guild Master Jean Marrapodi. This means that, incorporate eLearning settings, the outcome or learning goal is usually definedby someone other than the learner. In other words, only process personalizationis likely to be feasible, not outcome personalization.
Slicing, dicing, and reframing the learning process
A traditional learning path has all learners work though afixed set of modules, in order, before completing an assessment. To personalizethe learning process, it’s necessary to leave that narrow one-way path. Zhaodefines several elements of the learning process that you can personalize. Theones most relevant to the corporate eLearning environment are: pace, content,and assessment. Each of these raises development challenges.
Pace might be the most natural element to personalize usingeLearning. In fact, B.F. Skinner advocated using technology to facilitate self-paced learning in1954! In a well-designed asynchronous eLearning module, learners can proceed attheir own pace and get immediate feedback. This personalization of the pace isbaked into the design and the development.
When content is served up in standardized portions, learnerswaste time and, more significantly, become bored and disengaged, as they arerequired to cover material they already know. Adding a diagnostic assessment atthe beginning of training can provide an individualized picture of what eachemployee already knows. The eLearning module could then present each learnerwith (or allow the learner to choose) only the modules he or she needs,allowing learners to skip material they already know. To ensure that alllearners complete the training with the needed skill set or knowledge, alllearners might take the same final assessment, whether that is in the form of atest, a skills test, or some other means of evaluating their progress andperformance. Providing a customized path to that assessment is a first step inpersonalizing content.
A second step along that path would entail varying the typesof content or the medium of presentation, allowing learners to choose theirpreferred format. Some might choose to read an article, while others watch avideo or engage in a simulation. Creating a range of content modules to covereach topic presents its own challenges, of course: budget, time to develop, andtechnology required to create and present the various types of content.
Assessment might be the element that lends itself least topersonalization. If the goal of an eLearning module is for each employee to beable to complete a procedure, then the assessment will be an evaluation of theemployee’s performance on that procedure. However, even within the constraintof assessing all learners on the same skill set, some variability is possible.Assessment can, and often is, done using a standard multiple-choice exam. Butthis is far from the only option. You can test skills using games, simulations,or collaborative projects. The possibilities are limited by the type of knowledgeor skill you are testing, the tools and technology available—and the designers’and developers’ creativity.
Personalizing content is where developers can shine
Much existing eLearning content consists of in-depth coursemodules of an hour or more. Today’s learners rebel against such time-intensiveand inflexible training. In his webinar, Floro used the metaphor of a loaf ofbread; to personalize eLearning content, developers must slice the loaf.
The first step is inserting tags and titles and indexingexisting content so that learners can find and access smaller slices of it.This lets learners take control over their learning by choosing which sectionsto access and when.
Once the developers have repackaged long eLearning coursesinto short, efficient modules, and they’ve indexed and tagged the modules sothat each learner can find the relevant ones quickly, is their job done?
Nope. It’s not enough to tag each module as a discretelearning unit. While that increases the learners’ control, it also makes iteasy for them to miss important content.
Building connections among the new, short eLearning modulescan reinforce skills and encourage learners to build their knowledge whileprogressing on a path that, ultimately, leads them to that common assessment.
Developers can build a nonlinear structure that connectsmodules in logical ways. If skill B requires mastery of skill A, a learner whojumps to skill B can be offered articles or training to refresh skill A. At thecompletion of a module, suggestions can urge learners along the path to modulesthat reinforce newly learned skills, provide practice applying those skills, orintroduce a new challenge or skill that requires mastery of the newly learnedskill. Depending on the content, it might be appropriate to build in feedbackor suggestions for additional learning or practice.
In a diverse pool of learners, some will pickand choose discrete modules according to their immediate learning needs andskills gaps. Others will progress through the modules following a more linearpath. Some might jump to the end, heading straight to the final assessment. Buildingin this flexibility increases the likelihood that learners will engage in andcomplete the training they need—with enhanced performance as the result.
