Personalized Instruction Via Technology

In a review of various studies by Noel Enyedy, an associate professor of education and information studies at the University of California-Los Angeles, it concludes that education technology deployed in the name of personalized instruction yields modest improvements in educational outcomes, at best, in some cases, and none at all in others. 

Based on his findings, Enyedy advises district officials to take several steps when weighing the merits of personalized instruction: 

·       Invest incrementally in technology. 

·       Conduct more research on the effects of personalized learning in K-12.

·       Set clearer definitions about the features of technology, and expectations for personalized instruction in the classroom. 

·       Test and validate software and hardware tools. 

·       Make professional development part of the implementation.

Enyedy, N. (2014). Personalized instruction: New interest, old rhetoric, limited results, and the need for a new direction for computer-mediated learning. Boulder, CO: National Education Policy Center. http://nepc.colorado.edu/publication/personalized-instruction