Approaches to Technology-enabled Personalized and Adaptive Learning: A Brief Overview

Evidence indicates that differentiation is more effective than the traditional one-size-fits-all. Teachers, however, may not always have the time, resources, or skills to assess student performance, and provide effective feedback iteratively. Digital approaches to personalized and adaptive learning (PAL) can deliver effective individualized instruction quickly and at scale while maintaining an age-based cohort structure. However, there are divergent views among experts on what PAL is as both a paradigm and as a technology, as well as the effectiveness of the different adaptation approaches. This overview briefs regarding PAL definitions, its architecture, as well as the adaptation and algorithmic approaches.