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  • Tech and Individualized Learning?

    By Joshua Kim February 22, 2010 8:50 pm EST

    The comments to my 2/11 blog post on "learning styles and tuition dollars" were really great. Commentators really took me to task on the theory of learning styles. Cedar, an Asst. Prof of Psychology at liberal arts school provided a number of great links and arguments to support his argument that "[learning styles are] a classic myth that gives many people justified pause in adopting educational technology just for the sake of a shiny new toy which doesn't actually foster learning".

    In reading the comments I kept wondering if I had mis-used the term "learning styles", therefore obscuring my main point that education should (where possible) be personalized and individualized. Even if we grant the idea that there is no "one" learning style (and that we all learn in different and multiple ways), it is still true that not everybody learns in the same way.

    The main job of a learning technologist, as I see it, is to partner with faculty and other learning professionals (such as librarians and media specialists), to make big classes feel like small classes. Part of the advantage of small classes is that the professor can be more flexible in adjusting the content and assignments to the individual learners. Small classes are not always feasible, and that is where technology can offer a bridge to this flexibility.

    Some specific examples:

    1) Consuming: The other day I got a note from a professor wondering if an audio (iPod) version of her lectures could be available for her students. She thought one of her students would absorb the material better if he was "moving" while listening. I love this request, as it shows that the professor is really thinking about how this student learns. We were able to provide an mp3 version of the lecture, using Techsmith's Camtasia Relay product, and the student and the professor were very happy.

    Lecture capture is great example of how a technology can facilitate individualized learning. Some students will learn much better if they listen a number of times to a lecture or presentation. Some students will need to jump around, re-watching specific concepts. What is important is that the students absorb the materials, not that they do so in a uniform fashion.

    2) Producing: Student media projects are a great example of offering our student's multiple ways to create learning. Some students will excel at writing a 20 page end-of-term paper. For other students this is torture. Offering the option to create a final media project, or a final term paper, allows the student to create (and learn) using a method best suited to her passions and strengths. Yes, everyone needs to learn how to write. But writing can be done in the context of other work (for example, in writing scripts or voice-overs). Allowing a student the flexibility to create in a way that gets her excited may make the learning both more relevant and permanent.

    3) Practice: Formative assessment is a wonderful way for students to work with and master complicated materials. The quizzing engine in every CMS allows for frequent, low-stakes, computer generated quizzing around discrete chunks of curriculum. Some students will greatly benefit for frequent formative assessments. Some will not. But here the technology offers the opportunity for the learner to work the material in the manner that best re-enforces the materials for his or her individual brain.

    My main hope for my kids is that they will find a college or university that supports them in finding their passions and in mastering the information, material and concepts necessary to gain expertise. Achieving mastery is incredibly difficult. People who find their passions don't have an easier path towards expertise. Rather, they will be motivated and equipped to spend the 10,000 or so hours necessary to reach their goals.

    I see learning technology as a significant differentiator in creating personalized learning environments within higher education. What do you think?

Go to comments (5) »
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Comments on Tech and Individualized Learning?

  • Still Making Assumptions
  • Posted by Richard N. Landers , Assistant Professor, Psychology at Old Dominion University on February 22, 2010 at 10:00pm EST

  • I think you did use learning styles correctly, but you continue to make assumptions that are perhaps not warranted. For example:

    "it is still true that not everybody learns in the same way."

    This is merely an assertion, and is not scientifically supported (see my researchblogging post for more info: http://neoacademic.com/2009/12/18/learning-styles-are-meaningless/ ). There is very little evidence supporting that different learning interventions will benefit people differentially. Neurologically, this makes sense - we all have brains, and all those brains proceduralize information in roughly the same manner.

    That's not to say that people don't prefer learning in different fashions. I think that's where learning technology can really make a difference, and perhaps that's the point you're trying to make. Some students think they learn better from watching a video in their dorm multiple times, and some want to see a live lecture. If it's easy and cheap to give them the option, then why not? Encouraging an enjoyment of education is certainly a noble goal itself.

  • Re: Producing
  • Posted by Dr. Pepper , Academic-in-training on February 23, 2010 at 9:30am EST

  • I think I've commented on this before, but let me comment on it again.

    There shouldn't be an either-or situation with deliverables. Academic writing, the kind you find in a 20 page paper, is not the same as writing scripts. I know because I've done both kinds! When you go to college, you are expected to come out of it with the ability to do critical analysis and critical/expository writing. When you go get a job, your boss will probably want you to write up a report with an executive summary - not have your produce a film of it. If you want to apply to grad school, you will have to write an essay, not produce a short film (maybe the exception to this is film or broadcasting school).

    I do agree that there should be areas in courses where students can work on many different projects, however going to school isn't just about strengthening areas that you are already comfortable with. It's about strengthening areas that you are weak in while maintaining the level of proficiency that you have in other areas.

  • Learning Styles: Concepts and Evidence
  • Posted by tekbek on February 23, 2010 at 10:00am EST

  • Free full text and PDFs are available for the 2 articles from Psychological Science in the Public Interest that were mentioned by commenter Cedar:

    Harold Pashler, Mark McDaniel, Doug Rohrer, and Robert Bjork (2008)
    Learning Styles: Concepts and Evidence
    Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 9(3), pp. 106-119, December 2008
    http://psi.sagepub.com/content/9/3/105.abstract

    Richard E. Mayer (2008)
    Advances in Applying the Science of Learning and Instruction to Education
    Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 9(3), pp. i-ii, December 2008
    http://psi.sagepub.com/content/9/3/i.full

  • Personalized Learning, a Grand Challenge
  • Posted by Al Lind , VP at CPE on February 23, 2010 at 8:00pm EST

  • The National Academy for Engineering sees Personalized Learning as one of the Grand Challenges of the 21st Century along with Energy from Cold fusion and Reverse Engineering the Brain.

    http://www.engineeringchallenges.org/cms/8996/9127.aspx

  • Thanks for the shout out
  • Posted by Cedar , Assistant Professor of Psychology at Randolph-Macon College on February 24, 2010 at 5:15am EST

  • Thanks for the shout out, and this is an interesting post. I'd have to agree with Richard above, though that there are still assumptions that haven't found as much scientific support as you might think, given their level of acceptance in both education and the popular imagination.

    For me (and I use a lot of different educational technology, show movie clips, CMS, and clickers, but sparingly in terms of class time) I think the big point is not to use technology to give everyone the perfectly tailored individualized learning experience that is just suited for them. It is rather to understand what sorts of content is best suited for what kind of presentation. What are the relevant dimensions of the learners, and what are the relevant dimensions of the content? In most cases, the relevant dimensions of the learners are background knowledge, aptitude, and interest, and in a given classroom it is rare to have such huge variations in these that it merits differentiated instruction at the college level.

    When we decide to use or not use a given technology, we should ask ourselves first about whether it is suitable for the content. For example, a podcast would not be helpful in my sensation and perception class, which has many figures, graphs, visual demonstrations and the like, even if a student preferred that mode of experiencing it.

    We all have individual brains, but they are a lot more similar than different in the manner in which they learn. If you want to identify a good teacher (Ken Bain's What Do Good College Teachers Do? has an excellent description of a few ways of doing this) one of the first things to look for is teachers that make their content engaging and have high standards for all their students. While some of the things that they do are specific to the set of students that they have, the expertise that these teachers have is far more dictated by the content than by the students.

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