The uncomfortable truth about personalized learning

[Commentary] There doesn’t need to be a fight between teaching and technology in the classroom. The right combination of the two can deliver personalized learning to improve kids’ understanding and enable success.

When McGraw-Hill first started publishing textbooks in the late 1800s, some who were concerned that these books would render instructors obsolete because they contained all of the information students would need to master. Obviously, these concerns sound absurd now, and I can’t help but wonder if in 10 years, the concerns about personalized education technology will sound equally trivial. The reality is that professors have been personalizing education for centuries, using different teaching strategies to reach different students as individuals. Fortunately, advancements in education technology – specifically, some of the recent developments in adaptive learning – are helping instructors provide personalized instruction more efficiently and effectively than ever before and in ways that increase student engagement and improve outcomes. Unlike fears fueled by dark futuristic conspiracy theories of robots replacing instructors, teachers will stay, but will need to be competent in real-time data analysis for better feedback, giving personalized instruction and, being freed from paperwork and mundane tasks, more individualized attention in classroom management. But to do this, we need to acknowledge and validate educators’ concerns while managing the change, have a real conversation about technology’s promise and define terms, and provide the support instructors need.

[Stephen Laster is chief digital officer of McGraw-Hill Education in charge of e-learning and educational technology strategy.]