Before the pandemic, the trend for more personalized, learner-centric experiences in education already existed—the resulting lockdowns merely accelerated digital transformation, which continues to gain momentum across industries.

Dubbed the “Fourth Industrial Revolution,” our entire world is rapidly digitizing, which means jobs—and the knowledge and skills they require—are changing faster than ever. As a result, the half-life of the newest technology is shrinking rapidly, and the skills gap is widening with potentially detrimental effects.

Today’s workers must continuously learn and evolve throughout their careers, making the need for upskilling and reskilling more vital. While technology continues to advance, a single degree or credential will not sustain the average worker, as today’s younger generations switch jobs and industries far more than their parents and grandparents did.

Edtech companies can position themselves to successfully provide breakthrough education solutions as people of all ages and skill levels take charge of their own lifelong learning. The market is ready for a leader who can capitalize on this opportunity.

Seeking demand and becoming more adaptable and flexible

Today’s learners are overwhelmed as they navigate apps, videos, IoT devices, and real-time online lessons–many of which they have never used before. To become a market leader, edtech companies must bridge disconnected learning experiences and reimagine how to serve learners for life at every age and skill level. Edtech companies must become more adaptable and flexible, understanding needs and meeting people where they want to learn. Transforming into a more agile business also means being willing to pivot to find where demand is naturally. Two exemplar enterprises that encapsulate this mindset are Amazon and Google. They have stretched and expanded themselves into the ecosystems of services and brands that consumers want—from healthcare and cloud services to entertainment and electronics.  

An ecosystem that provides opportunities for every age level of the learner journey

To create a business model that is highly customizable and capable of finding and pursuing demand, edtech companies must build a data-driven ecosystem that can accompany learners through every stage of their lives—from preschool through high school and throughout their professional lives, leisure time and retirement.

Related:
4 tips for using data to differentiate instruction
This school year, align teaching strategies with student learning styles

This ecosystem wouldn’t be focused on schools or teachers. Instead, it would center around the learner and be highly personalized, serving as a progress tracker that provides supplemental material and insights into the learner’s skills and challenges through machine learning. At the earliest stages of the student’s development, the ecosystem, which would encompass apps, devices, and hands-on learning experiences, could help the student learn the alphabet and distinguish between numbers and colors. Through middle school and high school, it would anticipate the user’s future needs while also tracking how the student best learns so that content is engaging. Likewise, the ecosystem must ensure smooth transitions between learning at home and learning at school–offering online tutoring for difficult classes when the student is struggling, for example. Then, in preparation for graduation, the ecosystem would suggest summer internships and post-secondary education opportunities to the learner, based on the information and data it collects. Even in college, the ecosystem would deliver content and track progress as it learns and anticipates what the user needs for success.  

Reimagining how to serve learners for life

Not only should this ecosystem follow the learner through their education journey, but it should also help them successfully transition into their first job and beyond. When it comes time to match the learner with employers, the ecosystem can rely on the years of data and insights gathered for the best fit possible. But it won’t stop there – designed to be flexible and versatile, it could connect with the employee’s portal or account to assist with further professional development. From home, the user could continue to take courses in subjects they are interested in, honing their skills. Whether practicing recreational hobbies or taking management courses, the ecosystem would always supply content directly to the user’s devices. By continuously learning, the ecosystem would also become more personalized as the user ages, offering wellness content, physical education and even volunteer opportunities. Eventually, the user would view this ecosystem as a trusted partner that grows and evolves alongside them throughout their educational and career journey.

Finding a forward-thinking partner 

The market opportunity for lifelong learning is enormous, as our society is far more accustomed to and dependent on devices for learning needs. Edtech companies that create solutions capable of growing with the consumer, leveraging data for smart customization, will have unparalleled success. Crafting, building, and delivering such digital solutions is a monumental task requiring the help of a trusted partner who specializes in strategy, data analytics, experience design and learning platforms. Additionally, this partner would need to possess a range of forward-thinking expertise to facilitate the lifelong learner experience described above. Regardless of how this solution comes into being, it will require a reimagined approach to education to fit within the post-pandemic paradigm.  

Finding ways to help all students grow academically – regardless of where they are starting from – can be challenging. From my experiences teaching special education, general education, and English Learners, I can tell you there is no one-size-fits-all approach that works.

In order to meet the unique and individual learning needs of each student, teachers have to find ways to differentiate instruction, and data is critical to doing so.

Teachers often have a lot of assessment data at their fingertips, but they have to know how to use it in order to be successful. An administrator once said in a meeting, “Data by itself is useless. Data is only useful if you apply it.”

To help guide your own informed data-driven differentiated instruction, here are some things to keep in mind.

Data should be collected consistently over time. It should not just be a one-and-done approach. You must be able to collect data pre- and post-lesson, as well as after any intervention.

Data should be organized by standards. As a math teacher, I appreciate being able to get a detailed look at data that is specifically organized by standards. This helps me better understand what areas students are mastering and what areas they may need more help in.

In Florida, our standards are linked through the grade levels, so the data also allows me to see if students are below grade level and why. For instance, perhaps a student missed a benchmark in a previous year and that is preventing them from moving forward. It’s like building blocks –each grade level prepares you for the next step.

Related:
3 considerations for differentiation in the classroom
Here’s why differentiation isn’t difficult

The COVID-19 pandemic created an educational environment that had never been seen before. Many students –– and instructors –– were abruptly forced to transition from traditional classroom learning to adopt a new remote format. It accelerated the emergence of a new dynamic learning environment, where students learn in innovative ways far different from how education systems were originally designed. With advancements in technology and the rise of remote learning, classrooms are being remodeled and redefined to fit the evolving needs of modern digital learners.

But if there’s one thing that educators have learned over the last two years, it’s that a one-size-fits-all approach to instruction doesn’t work when you want to empower everyone to succeed in the classroom. Many educators were forced to rethink how to keep students engaged, and pandemic-era learning has only further highlighted the importance of differentiated instruction.

The forced disruption was also the catalyst for students and teachers to quickly acquire digital skills that are ripe to be amplified, taking them from consuming skills to creating skills. As teachers integrate technology into their lesson plans, they’re discovering various classroom tools effective in reaching and enriching the minds of all types of students—from visual and auditory to kinesthetic learners.

Five Principles of Learning

Before exploring how technology can alleviate pressure from teachers to deliver the right teaching and learning environment that accommodates various learning styles, it’s important to home in on Merrill’s Principles of Instruction. David Merrill studied various instructional design theories and models to identify a number of principles common to each. In his research, Merrill established five instructional principles that can be applied when designing a program or practice to achieve effective and efficient instruction across the various learning styles. In short, Merrill’s principles highlight that learning is promoted when:

• Learners are engaged in solving real-world problems;
• Existing knowledge is activated as a foundation for new knowledge;
• New knowledge is demonstrated to the learner;
• New knowledge is applied by the learner;
• New knowledge is integrated into the learner’s world.

These five principles outline the power of hands-on learning in each form, where each individual student makes real meaning of the process. It’s never been more important for educators to incorporate these principles into classroom practice and curriculum design, which employs STEM-thinking over siloed content understanding, to prepare students for an increasingly digital future.

Visual Learners

Visual learners are at their best when they first see what they’re expected to know. These students are partial to seeing and observing vivid displays and can be engaged through the use of images, presentations and videos. Also known as “spatial” learners, these students might draw, make lists or take notes in order to interact and process information. Thinking back to Merrill’s Principles of Instruction, visual learners will absorb information more effectively when they see a prime example, typically through demonstration. For example, a visual demonstration of the task that outlines each step, and explores associated behaviors and skills.

Teachers can use technology to produce these visual aids to help students understand lessons. For instance, interactive displays allow teachers to apply the demonstration principle by showcasing educational videos, online tutorials, or even rich infographics that showcase main ideas. Closed captioning with videos can also enhance student engagement in the classroom. Using visual and auditory learning aids in tandem can help increase student’s retention of new information, with studies suggesting that captions can help improve students’ comprehension of topics and consequently, test scores.

In a new survey of thousands of U.S. educators, teachers validate concerns over student engagement due to the COVID-19 pandemic, but believe that technology and student-centered approaches to teaching can help to reinvigorate students in the fall.

Seven in 10 teachers believe that their students are more engaged when lessons involve play, and 68 percent of teachers said that their students are more likely to remember what they learn during learning activities they choose themselves. The survey of 8,000 was conducted by Kahoot!. 

“Even with most schools back to fully in-person learning, educators are reporting that their students continue to struggle. So much was out of students’ control for so long, and it’s no surprise that we’re seeing teachers pick up on the importance of student choice in their own learning,” said Louisa Rosenheck, Director of Pedagogy for the Kahoot! Group.

“And teachers are right. The learning science is clear that when students demonstrate agency and choice over their learning, they’re more engaged, and more likely to retain knowledge. As we go into the new school year, we should be listening to teachers and giving them the agency, tools, and flexibility to prioritize student engagement and joy.” 

The data is clear that the stresses of the global pandemic have had an outsized impact on students’ academic, emotional, and social wellbeing.

Personalized learning offers myriad possibilities for teachers and students. And in the wake of the pandemic, as educators try to manage learning gaps, individualized learning is more critical than ever.

New edtech developments have helped these learning techniques become more efficient, scalable, and achievable for educators over the last decade. While many strategies were forced to take a back seat to more pressing challenges during the pandemic, and now it’s time to turn our attention to a more individual form of learning once again.

Join eSchool News and a panel of experts to explore what personalized learning looks like now and what’s to come. You’ll hear these experts share best practices, and you’ll learn why assessment and accountability are more important than ever in today’s K-12 landscape.

Personalized learning is more critical than ever–it can help students recover lost learning and boost social-emotional growth. What’s more, it helps educators in dire need of learning solutions.

New edtech developments have helped these learning techniques become more efficient, scalable, and achievable for educators over the last decade. But many strategies were forced to take a back seat to more pressing challenges during the pandemic, and now it’s time to turn our attention to a more individual form of learning once again.

Join eSchool News and a panel of experts to explore what personalized learning looks like now and what’s to come. You’ll hear these experts share best practices, and you’ll learn why assessment and accountability are more important than ever in today’s K-12 landscape.

There’s a good chance you arched an eyebrow upon reading the headline of this article. After all, differentiation can be one of the most stressful and time-consuming parts of a teacher’s life. Tailoring our instruction to meet the specific needs of students can feel like a massive undertaking. Do we consider the learning environment? The content? How do we meet the multiple, diverging needs of numerous students all at once?

These can be intimidating questions, but differentiation doesn’t have to be something educators dread doing. No matter what we teach or how we teach it, students make sense of it in their own unique ways. Once we understand this truth, we can implement simple strategies that allow students to shape the content to their way of thinking.

Here are just a few teacher hacks to help you get started in your own classroom.

Three simple strategies for differentiation

Hack #1 – PEWC: PEWC is an acronym for Project-Based Learning, Engineering, Writing, and Creation.These four areas are perfect for giving students challenges that exercise their curiosity, creativity, and critical thinking.

Differentiated classroom instruction has always been part of U.S. public education, but today’s focus on tailoring each lesson for each student can overwhelm teachers. There are, however, best-practice approaches to differentiating instruction that enable educators to provide customized learning experiences for students without creating an unmanageable burden for teachers. Here are the top three considerations for doing differentiation in the classroom right.

1. Redefine ‘differentiation’

Too often, educators are encouraged to implement a personalized approach for each individual student instead of recognizing the benefits that groups of students can enjoy from similar modifications to the curriculum. Teachers can adopt a manageable approach to differentiation in the classroom by identifying clusters of student needs and then classifying the most beneficial ways to differentiate instruction for these groups. The goal is to understand what will work for most students, while creating more than one entry point or path for individual student learning.

In designing these points of entry, teachers can cluster students by the types of needs they may have.

A new report from the Clayton Christensen Institute offers unique insights and recommendations for education as schools strive to move toward student-centered learning practices.

In the report, author Thomas Arnett highlights findings from survey data and discussed trends in instructional practices that could help redirect education and reshape its future.

Taking conventional classrooms online

This first survey reveals that many remote and hybrid instructional models are replicating the traditional classroom experience, only now, that classroom is online.

Almost half of teachers surveyed said they teach via live synchronous instruction for the equivalent of a regular school day. What’s more, the materials teachers use to teach online are typically intended for synchronous instruction–just 22 percent of teachers use commercial materials specifically designed for remote instruction.

When we facilitate professional development events, there’s often a common theme: teachers understand the importance of active STEM teaching and learning, but don’t always know how to implement it in a way that supports the diverse needs of their students. In our work with TGR EDU: Explore, a partnership between TGR Foundation and Discovery Education, we provide guidance to educators on how to prepare students for success through active, engaging instruction.

Differentiated instruction is a critical part of providing an equitable, effective STEM education. When instruction is differentiated, students are able to actively explore careers in STEM, hone their individual skillsets and build confidence.

Related content: 10 trends and predictions for STEM education

Here’s how to employ a differentiated mindset when teaching STEM.

Mindset shift required

A shift in mindset is key to implementing differentiation in a STEM classroom. One of the best ways to help students achieve higher level learning is to employ active learning strategies during instruction. Active learning involves students creating and discovering during class, and connecting findings to their personal knowledge and experiences.

When personalized learning came on the scene, some found it challenging to get a grip on what it meant for instruction. A beloved retired master teacher colleague mused, “Personalized learning – isn’t that a little redundant? Isn’t all learning personal?”

Shouldn’t personalization be the first thing we think about when designing instruction? C.S. Lewis advises, “Put first things first and we get second things thrown in: put second things first & we lose both first and second things.”

I’ve struggled with personalization in other contexts as well, having been repeatedly admonished by, well, almost everyone: “Don’t take things so personally!” It seems like an impossible charge.

Related content: 3 ways to find time for personalized learning

In the movie “You’ve Got Mail,” protagonist Kathleen Kelly (Meg Ryan) articulates this paradox after Tom Hanks’ Joe Fox informs her that putting her independent bookstore out of business wasn’t personal: “All that means is that it wasn’t personal to you. But it was personal to me. It’s personal to a lot of people. And what’s so wrong with being personal anyway? Whatever else anything is, it ought to begin by being personal.”

Yes, exactly. Everything ought to begin by being personal, especially teaching and learning. Learning is personal. Our students bring vastly different experiences to the table. Research by the National Center for Education Statistics shows that from 2000 to 2015, our nation’s population became increasingly diverse, with the share of Caucasian students decreasing from 61 to 49 percent.

Any teacher who has spent more than a few years in the profession will be exposed to a variety of educational trends. Innovative interventions, burgeoning buzzwords, and ambiguous acronyms are often touted as the next best thing, only to be replaced a short time later with a new trend.

For this reason, it’s easy to become disillusioned about implementing a change in pedagogy; why work to make room for something new when it’s likely to disappear in a short time?

Related content: 3 ways to find time for personalized learning

At first glance, personalized learning is one of these trends. It’s become a focus of professional development in districts across the country, and keynote speakers at conferences are touting its worth. But did you know that personalized learning has actually been around since the 1960s, when Fred Keller developed the Personalized System of Instruction?

In his plan, Keller asserted that effective instruction should incorporate five principles. These principles, including self-paced instruction and working toward mastery, have been echoed in the years since by educational literature and foundations, including the Aurora Institute (formerly iNACOL) and ISTE.

As a former kindergarten and first grade teacher, who later taught struggling readers in grades three to five, I was acutely aware of the reading instruction gaps that we weren’t filling. I saw those gaps firsthand when my first-grade students became third graders and were clearly missing some very important reading skills.

Adopting the Simple View of Reading model, and understanding all of the components of it and teaching reading according to science, was one critical piece that I had missed with my early readers.

I entered the educational workforce during the time when adults all over the country were still focused on battling the whole language vs. phonics war. It became about the adults winning and the only thing that happened was that our kids lost. They lost in a big way too. An educator’s job is to provide whatever a child needs whenever they need it.

Related content: How we turned around our district’s literacy scores

My teacher training was not rooted in using effective diagnostic tools to identify specific weaknesses. If it had been, I don’t think I would have had as many struggling readers. This resonated with me in a real way because I could literally see the students who were impacted by those gaps. I could see that I wasn’t explicit enough, I wasn’t systematic enough, and I didn’t hone in specifically on those students’ weaknesses and deficits.

To address these gaps, school districts in Ohio are partnering with Educational Service Centers (ESCs) like ours to implement personalized learning that supports third grade reading mandates. As part of my role at the Trumbull County ESC, my first step was to design a consortium literacy plan involving six districts and apply for the Striving Readers Comprehensive Literacy Grant through the state.

When schools think about incorporating personalized learning, it may seem intuitive to consider resources like specific technologies or professional development plans. But there’s another critical resource that too often gets discounted but is hiding in plain sight: time.

Although schools may manage to add more time on the margins with a “just do more” mindset, personalizing learning at scale will require a massive rethinking of how schools use time, alongside pursuing new strategies that can save time.

Related: Taking personalized learning to scale

Put simply, traditional systems aiming to adopt new approaches to teaching and learning but not willing to do away with legacy structures (e.g. traditional staffing arrangements, instructional delivery, and scheduling) could have all the best intentions in the world, but will inevitably run up against real time crunches.