Week 8 – Given its potential, why would anyone argue we have to be careful about personalised learning?
Personalized learning is a very strong selling point of AI in education,in which students are attended to individually and allowed to learn at their own pace using technologically powered learning platforms, truly I agree that personalized learning has the ability to transform education and improve education outcomes, but there is a great need to be careful about personalized learning .
Some of my reasons are:
1.Equity concerns: This has to do with students and the availability of learning gadgets , fingers have never been equal, likewise human being, not all students in the same country, state even a particular school have assess to the gadgets that might be needed to achieve this personalized learning,I’m so sure not even in the kind of my school, so personalized learning may exacerbate achievement gaps if we are not careful with it, According to a report by the National Education Policy Center (NEPC), there are concerns that personalized learning could increase existing achievement gaps by favoring students with greater access to technological resources.
2. Data privacy and security : This have to do with the collection and use of student data in personalized learning, this calls for a privacy and security concerns.This can lead to misuse of people’s data which can pose a serious security problem, take for instance in my school we normally fill a nominal roll every month and it contains vital information about teachers, it was reported that it mistakenly got to the hand of a particular student who was trying to use it to defraud the school staff until somehow he was exposed, if a student can do that, let’s imagine what could happen to those information online if not properly guided.
3.Over-reliance on technology : over-reliance on technology in personalized learning would diminish the role of human interaction in education. Research published in the Journal of Educational Technology & Society suggests that excessive use of technology in personalized learning may hinder the development of social and emotional skills that are best cultivated through face-to-face interactions.
Personalized learning will also deprive the child of learning to live together and doing things with other people ,how will such a child make positive impact in the world, even in his or her immediate community, such a child would not know how to treat people, there is a common saying in my area that one can pass through school but school may not pass through the person, which means the person only collected the school certificate but did not get all the values of schooling, this is exactly what personalized learning through AI will do for it’s recipients.
4. Standardization of learning : Personalized learning can lead to standardization of education, thereby limiting students’ exposure to diverse learning methods thereby promoting a one-size-fits-all approach that overlooks the individual needs and preferences of students, “one size fits all is neither an empirical reality nor a professional ideal” (Pelletier 2024). we should not forget that not all students can learn with personalized method, some prefer play way method, some prefer project method, for instance when I started teaching basic technology in my school,I noticed that students don’t really like the subject probably because of their teacher before me so I introduced play way method in my teaching , I inculcate action songs, we sing and dramatize many of the concept in my content, this made my students to be so interested in my subjects to the extent that it became the best subject for many, the need for teachers to vary teaching methods while teaching can never be over emphasized, it is the best way to capture the learners attention.
Conclusion
Looking at these challenges related with personalized learning, educators and policymakers can see that there is a need to be careful with personalized learning, although it has benefits but we need to wise up and realize it is not as fantastic as it is been broadcasted to be at least I can count like twenty five students in my class if not even more who cannot benefit totally from personalized learning because of their nature, there is a need to understand our students and teach them according to the teaching methods they need and not the one size fit all method of teaching, I stand solidly with varying teaching methods, teaching should be tailored to fit the nature of learners.
Reference
Pelletier, C. Against Personalised Learning. Int J Artif Intell Educ 34, 111–115 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s40593-023-00348-z
Selwyn, N. (2021). Education and technology: Key issues and debates (3rd Edition.). Bloomsbury.
National Education Policy Center (NEPC) report: https://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/personalized-learning
Journal of Educational Technology & Society research: https://www.j-ets.net/ETS/journals/28_3/17.pdf
Olubukola, good progress in each of these posts and I am definitely a stronger, more confident, critical voice so that is what we are looking for.
A few points in response:
The equity issues around personalisation (indeed all edtech) are troubling to be sure. I think this reveals something that applies across education: if not designed and implemented in a way that deliberately looks to remover inequalities and provide equity, all technology will merely augment what is already there. If inequality exists in society, then that same inequality will be rendered digitally and amplified. If there is a hidden curriculum that is telling students who does and doesn’t belong in education, then technology will reinforce that curriculum.
Does prioritarianism offer a response to that? Prioritarianism (as opposed to utilitarianism) suggests that a deliberate attempt to lessen inequality by designing directly for those most marginalised is best. (See here Henry, J. V. (2023). Theorizing ‘The Gap’twenty years later: Global development, design, and speculative ethics in edtech research. Postdigital Science and Education, 1-28.).
Along with prioritarianism is the diversity in teaching practice that you point as being threatened with overtly personalised approaches:
‘We should not forget that not all students can learn with personalized method, some prefer play way method, some prefer project method, for instance when I started teaching basic technology in my school,I noticed that students don’t really like the subject probably because of their teacher before me so I introduced play way method in my teaching , I inculcate action songs, we sing and dramatize many of the concept in my content, this made my students to be so interested in my subjects to the extent that it became the best subject for many, the need for teachers to vary teaching methods while teaching can never be over emphasized, it is the best way to capture the learners attention.’
Excellent example Olubukola and this diversity of teaching approaches is critical in pushing back against standardisation of learning overall. I wonder what edtech would look like if designed by and for teachers? Does it take a different shape when it is deliberately open to adaptation and scrutiny?
I am thinking of this community here (https://openedtech.global/) or how at Edinburgh, we have worked with other universities to develop this: https://www.ed.ac.uk/maths/stack which essentially personalises maths teaching, allowing the student to practice maths on their own to develop a baseline competency. However, what is important to note here is that this personalisation application is designed to support classroom instruction: the application allows for that baseline competency to be expanded upon in the classroom itself. It doesn’t try to replace the classroom instruction itself. So you see a slight difference here between edtech created for teachers by teachers vs. what the commercial models entail.
Good work again Olubukola. Keep it up as we near the end of the semester!
Thank you so much for your comments Michael,it’s highly educative, inspiring and challenging,I’m learning a lot and I will surely improve