personal learning journey

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How to Create a Personal Learning Syllabus: 5 Steps

• 17 May 2018

A learning plan—also called a learning syllabus—is often associated with college students and undergraduate education, but it can also provide immense value to professionals looking to develop the skills needed to advance their careers.

Having a learning plan can help you conceptualize, work toward, and achieve a goal, whether it’s a new skill, expertise in a subject matter, or the ability to complete an unfamiliar task.

For example, think of a skill you’d like to develop that would have an impact on your effectiveness at work or your long term career.

Now, think of all the ways you can learn that skill. Perhaps you can gain the skill by reading books or taking classes in person or online. Consider the variety of programs, certificates, degrees, websites, and videos have been created that could teach you the skill or supplement your education. How do you sift through the available options and choose the best for your lifestyle, resources, and goals? That’s where a personal learning plan comes into play.

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What Is a Personal Learning Plan?

A personal learning plan —also called a personal learning syllabus—is a self-directed planning tool to help an individual achieve specific learning objectives.

It communicates what you need to do to gain the skills you want to develop, when each action needs to occur, and how to measure success.

One fundamental principle of instructional planning is backward design , which requires you to begin with an objective and work backward to plan the steps to achieve it. With that principle in mind, consider setting aside some time to craft a personal learning syllabus of your own.

Follow these five steps to develop your own personal learning plan and work to achieve your professional goals.

5 Steps to Creating a Personal Learning Plan

1. identify a learning objective.

Before creating a personal learning plan, you need to identify your objective.

Your learning objective could take a number of forms, such as completing a challenging project or task, developing a new proficiency or skill, getting a new job, or becoming eligible for a promotion.

Your goal should be attainable, yet challenging enough to engage you. It should also be important enough that you’ll prioritize it over the other demands on your time. You also need to determine how to measure your success. For example, how would you define proficiency in a new skill? Be sure to have a clear finish line in mind for your goals.

2. Break Your Objective into Smaller Goals

To more easily reach your overall learning objective, break it down into smaller goals. Think of these smaller goals as the steps you need to take to achieve your final objective. Lay them out sequentially as the modules of your syllabus.

For example, if your goal is to become proficient in data science, your smaller goals may be to learn the individual data science skills that lead to proficiency. These smaller goals might be focused on learning skills like data literacy , data wrangling , and data ethics .

By breaking your objective into smaller goals, it’ll be clear what you need to learn and how to get there.

3. Develop Your Plan

After identifying your overall objective and smaller goals, it’s time to use this information to develop a comprehensive plan.

Rather than simply writing a lengthy document, it may be more helpful to utilize a visual chart or spreadsheet for your personal learning plan. That way, you can easily visualize the steps in your learning journey.

Organize your plan in chronological order, listing each of your learning goals, the action you need to take to reach them, and the date by which you would like to complete each action. It’s important to craft your plan in a way that communicates whether you’ve been successful in meeting each smaller goal and how close you are to meeting your larger objective.

4. Take Advantage of Available Resources

After developing your personal learning plan, it’s time to take action. Take advantage of the many learning resources that are available to you to gain the skills you’ve outlined in your learning plan.

Consider researching learning activities such as:

• Online certificate programs such as HBS Online
• Books (physical, digital, or audio)
• Websites (for instance, reference sites, professional organizations, and video sharing sites)
• Educational blogs and articles
• Degree programs (online or in-person)
• Professional conferences or networking events

After adding these resources to your plan to complete your learning path, you’re ready to dive in. By following the personal learning plan you’ve created, you can master a skill, get a promotion, or expand your knowledge.

Related : 5 Time Management Tips for Online Learners

5. Hold Yourself Accountable

After you’ve successfully created a personal learning plan, your work has only just begun. It’s crucial that you hold yourself accountable and follow through on the learning activities you’ve outlined.

It can be difficult balancing a career, personal responsibilities, and education. Learning new skills can be time consuming, but you have to put in the necessary time to meet your professional goals. Try to set aside time each week dedicated solely to your learning.

Stay aware of the deadlines you assigned to each goal so you can put in the work and monitor your progress to gauge whether you’re on track to meet your overall objective.

Taking Your Career to the Next Level

Lifelong learning is key for career growth. By developing a personal learning plan and making a commitment to gain new knowledge and skills, you can create new professional opportunities for yourself and take your career to the next level.

Do you want to advance your career? Explore our online course catalog to discover how you can develop vital business skills. Download our business essentials flowchart to find the right course to begin your learning journey.

This post was updated on August 20, 2021. It was originally published on May 17, 2018.

About the Author

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The Mignone Center for Career Success will offer all services virtually on Thursday, May 23 & Friday, May 24. We will be closed in observance of Memorial Day on Monday, May 27.

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What Is Lifelong Learning? (And How to Do it Yourself)

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What Is Lifelong Learning? (And How to Do it Yourself) was originally published on Forage .

We often equate school with learning — so once we’ve graduated, we’re done, right? While we may not return to lectures and discussion groups, learning is far from over the second we leave high school or college. Embracing lifelong learning, or the concept of ongoing learning, can help you grab the attention of employers, get hired, and succeed in your entire career.

So, what exactly is lifelong learning, and why do employers care so much about it? Here’s what you need to know, how to get started, and how to show it off in an application.

Lifelong Learning Definition

Lifelong learning is the constant, ongoing pursuit of knowledge. This practice “ensures that individuals continually enhance their skills and knowledge, regardless of occupation, age, or educational level, enabling them to stay ahead of the game,” says Emily Maguire, managing director and career consultant at Reflections Career Coaching.

Typically, lifelong learning is self-motivated, meaning the desire to learn comes from a desire for personal and professional growth.

Professional Skills Development

Develop critical professional skills like project planning, setting goals, and relationship management in a real-world work environment.

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Lifelong Learning Examples

So, what does lifelong learning look like? While you can take courses or pursue formalized education as part of lifelong learning, this kind of learning doesn’t have a specific structure. Examples of lifelong learning include:

• Taking online courses
• Learning a new language
• Joining a book club
• Listening to podcasts
• Watching TED Talks or educational YouTube videos
• Attending a workshop or seminar
• Earning a professional certification
• Completing a coding bootcamp
• Learning a musical instrument
• Taking an art or cooking class
• Doing a DIY home improvement project
• Picking up a new hobby, like knitting or photography
• Conducting independent research
• Trying a new fitness class or physical activity

Lifelong learning doesn’t always have to be an intense academic research project or something applicable to the professional skills you want to develop. The main point of lifelong learning is that you’re building a new skill or knowledge even if that doesn’t obviously translate to your dream job — flexing that learning muscle is a valuable skill you can transfer to any career path.

Why Do Employers Care About Lifelong Learning?

Employers care about lifelong learning because they seek employees who are willing to upskill, adapt, and navigate change. 

It Shows the Ability to Upskill

“Doors will open for you if you keep a learner’s mindset as you leave school and are constantly willing to get out of your comfort zone,” says Arissan Nicole, career and resume coach and workplace expert. “Employers want people that are open and committed to growth. Innovation and creativity take trying new things, taking risks, and being open to failing. Those committed to lifelong learning know that failing is a step in the learning process and have the resilience to keep moving forward. Employers want people who are unwilling to give up and motivated to do whatever it takes to solve a problem or find a solution.”

As an early career professional, lifelong learning is essential because you don’t have many job skills yet — you’ll learn them on the job! Employers know and expect this, so they’re primarily looking to hire entry-level candidates who’ve shown they’re committed to learning new skills quickly. 

“From our recruitment data, most fresh employees have a greater success rate when they stress on lifelong learning in their CVs and interviews,” says Philip McParlane, founder of 4dayweek.io, the world’s largest four day workweek recruitment platform. “This is because lifelong learners embody a growth mindset that proves instrumental in navigating the swift transformations within industries. Companies recognize this quality as a strategic asset, understanding that employees committed to continuous learning contribute to innovation and demonstrate resilience in the face of change.”

Helps Employees Adapt to a Changing Work Landscape

Lifelong learning is also vital to employers throughout your career as the working world changes. For example, an employer might expect you to use a new technology or software to do your job. Or, there may be a shift in your organization’s structure, and your boss may expect you to take on different projects or leadership responsibilities. Employees who can embrace change by learning new skills are highly valuable to employers. 

“Regardless of one’s chosen profession, the inclination and ability to learn and adapt are central to success on the job, any job,” says Bill Catlette, partner at Contented Cow, a leadership development company. “There are very few roles in the modern workspace where the knowledge required to excel is static.”

How to Practice Lifelong Learning

If lifelong learning is the key to getting hired and success at work, how can you start?

Take a Forage Job Simulation

Forage job simulations are free, self-paced programs that show you what it’s like to work in a specific role at a top employer. In these simulations, you’ll build real-world work skills by replicating tasks that someone on a team at the company would actually do — whether that’s coding a new feature for an app, planning a marketing campaign , or writing a hypothetical email to a client explaining legal considerations in their current case. 

Once you complete a Forage job simulation, you’ll get a certificate you can put on your LinkedIn profile and examples of how to share what skills you learned on your resume and in an interview. Employers are also more likely to hire students who’ve completed Forage job simulations — a sign of lifelong learning! 

Unsure where to get started? Take our quiz to find the best job simulation for you . 

Pursue Independent Projects

Pursuing a project on a topic you’re interested in can show employers that you’re self-motivated and willing to learn. There are tons of options depending on your career interest:

• An aspiring writer working on articles and publishing them on a personal blog
• An aspiring software engineer contributing to an open-source project
• An aspiring data analyst analyzing a public dataset 
• An aspiring UX designer redesigning the experience of a famous brand’s website 
• An aspiring social media manager developing a strategy for a personal brand or business’s social media

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Work With Others

While lifelong learning often comes from personal motivation, collaborating with others can help you build soft skills and help keep you disciplined. 

For example, you could join a book club with fellow aspiring marketing professionals and all read books about marketing strategy. Or, if you’re an aspiring web developer, you and some friends could decide to participate in a daily coding challenge. Finding people who also want to learn can help inspire you and even help you discover new ways to achieve your goals.

Set SMART Goals

Figuring out when and how to fit lifelong learning into your life can be complicated and overwhelming, especially when first trying to enter the workforce! Setting SMART goals can help you break down the process into smaller, achievable, and actionable steps.

SMART goals are:

• Specific: What exactly do you want to learn?
• Measurable: How are you measuring success? What defines a “finished” result?
• Actionable: When do you have time to accomplish this? What extra resources do you need?
• Relevant: How will this help you in your prospective career?
• Time-bound: What is your deadline?

How to Show Lifelong Learning in a Job Application

You’re doing the work of developing your knowledge and skills — now, how do you show employers that?

List It On Your Resume

It’s almost as simple as it sounds: put your lifelong learning activities on your resume ! 

“You can list relevant courses you have taken, certifications you have earned, workshops and trainings you may have attended, and more,” says Mary Krull, SHRM-SCP, PRC, and lead talent attraction partner at Southern New Hampshire University. “The key here will be ensuring that what you list is relevant to the role. No need to list everything you have done — keep it relevant!”

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Skills you’ll build: Professional summary, illustrating your impact in teams, showcasing outcomes of your contributions

“Get strategic about relevant coursework in your education section,” says Tramelle D. Jones, strategic success and workplace wellness coach with TDJ Consulting. “For example, when applying to a position that lists tasks where you’ll utilize data analytics , list classes such as ‘Advanced Data Analytics Techniques.’ Remember to include any cross-disciplinary coursework and offer an explanation that solidifies the connection. For example, ‘Innovations in Sustainable Business Practice’ – Discussed how data analytics can be applied to consumer behavior to understand preferences.”

You can also list any trainings, workshops, certifications, or conferences in a dedicated “professional development” or “education and certification” section. 

Create an Online Portfolio

If you’ve worked on independent projects, compiling your work into an online portfolio is a great way to tangibly show your skills to hiring managers . Projects make the skills and experience you articulate in your resume, cover letter, and interview visible. Online portfolios don’t need to be extravagant; a free, simple website that shows your projects is all you need.

Share Specific Examples

When preparing your application, whether writing a cover letter or practicing common job interview questions and answers , have a few lifelong learning examples you’re comfortable elaborating on. The key is to ensure they’re relevant to the role you’re applying for and demonstrate your willingness and ability to learn.

“In your cover letter, you can bring up your commitment to continuous learning and how it ties to the specific qualifications for the job,” Krull says. “Explain how your commitment to professional development will benefit the organization and align with its values. If they invite you to interview for a role, you may have an opportunity to discuss your professional development experience. Have a couple of learning experiences in mind that had a positive impact on your development. As long as those examples help you answer an interview question, this can be a great way to weave in your experience as a lifelong learner.”

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Learn how to develop your professional story and practice sharing it in an interview context. 

Avg. Time: 2-3 hours

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Don’t be afraid to get specific, either. Naming particular processes, tools, and technologies you used to learn something new can help illustrate your lifelong learning to the hiring manager.

Lifelong Learning: The Bottom Line

Practicing lifelong learning is about continuously gaining new skills and knowledge. While this is often a personal journey, it can help you get hired and succeed throughout your career.

To start the lifelong learning process, try independent learning, working with others, and setting SMART goals to get the job done. Once you’ve gained new skills, call them out on your resume, cover letter, and in interviews.

“In a nutshell, the educational paradigm is transitioning towards a lifelong journey,” McParlane says. “Employers grasp the value of hiring individuals who perceive learning as an ongoing, dynamic process. As a prospective employee, your ability to articulate not just what you’ve learned, but how that knowledge contributes to adaptability and problem-solving , becomes a pivotal differentiator in a fiercely competitive job market.”

Start your lifelong learning journey with a free Forage job simulation . 

Image credit: Canva

The post What Is Lifelong Learning? (And How to Do it Yourself) appeared first on Forage .

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What it means to make learning personal (and what it takes)

When I was at school - particularly during my teenage years - there was an internal narrative that repeatedly entered my psyche which I imagine many people might relate to. It went something along the lines of, ‘I cannot wait to leave school so I don’t have to learn anymore.’

Thankfully with hindsight, I have managed to make peace with my rebellious self, but it took years to fully acknowledge the impact that traditional learning had on me. I can’t help but reflect on what my experiences might have been like had learning been more personal and meaningful to me - something that all individuals would likely find much more empowering and motivating than the existing system which continues to narrow learning opportunities to suit those who thrive in rote learning models or those with a propensity towards mundane, repetitive tasks. 

Conforming to traditional methods and the lack of personal learning

I recall at the beginning of my Primary 3 (age 6/7) noticing a difference in teaching style from the previous year; by this stage most of our learning occurred sitting behind a desk. Forget about play; that was for Kindergarten and Primary 1 and 2 learners, and we were big boys and girls now. Primary 3 was also the year in my culture where testing became part of the norm and I recall sensing the emerging hierarchy forming among my peers. Expectations - be they high or low - locked individuals into groups where they became labelled according to ability and behaviour. And we all knew our place in this perverse system. I would count up the number of years of tests I had left to sit before I was free - the many years ahead seemed bleak to a six year old! 

As those years rolled on, and the repetitive conveyor belt of learning ensued, burnout, disengagement, disinterest and detachment increased within me more and more. I was so bored! I would prefer to spend my time during most classes staring out the window and while I acknowledge the flaw in my own character for this seemingly low attention span, I will argue the point that research does show individuals disengage from listening after seven minutes of continuous talking. It is likely that politeness and a conformist culture played a huge part in the passive listen-to-learn model that pervasively embeds itself in many learning communities and cultures around the world, like crawling ivy choking the very bricks and mortar of learning itself. And of course there were those learners labelled ‘badly behaved’ because they could not conform to sitting and listening for long periods of time; but why should they? 

Emerging from school I wrestled with some existential questions; was there something wrong with me? Why did I not want to learn? Why was I so bored? Was I different? I inherited negative associations with learning long after I had left.

Shifting community mindsets and expectations towards personal learning

Fast-forward some years after leaving school and would you believe the great irony - you may have guessed - I became a teacher! I entered into the system as an elementary practitioner, acknowledging its flaws and determined to make a positive change. While I did my best to provide a learning environment that offered learners the opportunity to learn in a variety of ways and even empower them to design their own learning when possible, the stranglehold of standardised assessment forced my hand out of continuing to work in a job that I grew to love (the kids, the connections, the community) but ultimately felt disenfranchised by because I felt I was failing the kids - this time as an educator. 

During my years of professional practice, I came to empathise more - and still do - with the pressure teachers face in delivering the same content to learners of varied abilities and  interests through mandated curricula. It is this very pressure that calls into question whether schools do kill creativity and remove the fun from learning. And as we enter into what I sense is a new era and narrative for learning, I feel that the most important thing we can offer emerging generations of young learners is communities where they are placed at the centre of their own learning, and where educators can become facilitators in the truest sense of the word; free to coach and guide learners on their own uniquely designed personal learning paths free from the constraints of a standardised assessment model that is no longer fit for purpose . This is personal learning, which we at Learnlife advocate for and believe the world is ready for it. 

What does personal learning look like? 

Probably the most important change required to make learning personal is to move from a control mindset - where learning is passive and done to you, decided by a curriculum and educator - towards an empowerment mindset - where the learner is given agency over their own learning, equipped with the skills and competencies to design and guide themselves, supported by their peers and educators; something truly personal. The visual below depicts this transformational journey:

Shifting to personal learning requires moving learners from the principles of pedagogy  (essentially learning done to the learner), to andragogy (learning co-designed with the educator), and towards heutagogy (essentially learning designed by the learner). And while not all learners will be ready to embark on their own personal learning journey right away, self-determined learning (heutagogy) must become the aspirational north star for all learners so that when they do leave formal education, they have had sufficient opportunities to develop the skills and competencies to continue on their own lifelong learning trajectory. 

Static, content-heavy curricula are no longer relevant in a world of unprecedented changes where to thrive we must have the skills and competencies to cope with complexity . In a community committed to personal learning, the educator is no longer the purveyor of all knowledge, but part of a complex network which supports itself by first and foremost acknowledging we are all learners . Educators are available to coach, guide, mentor and facilitate learning when needed but learners also assume a similar role among their peers. In this learning complex, collaboration can generate high impact and community can really come alive through the use of agile, adaptive groups which form to provide learning support when needed. The greatest asset a learning community has is its collective intelligence and it must be utilised so that everyone can support and be supported too. In this sense, the community becomes the curriculum.

Personal learning does not abandon content, but places priority on the acquisition of skills and competencies. Content becomes the by-product of learning and ideally learners are able to choose whatever content they wish to engage in to support their learning. By doing so, intrinsic and extrinsic motivations to learn are much more easily garnered.

A recipe for personal learning

What - in summary - do learners need to support them on their personal learning journey? 

• Autonomy and decision-making over what they want to learn and how they want to learn it. 
• Autonomy and decision-making over how they provide learning outputs. 
• Opportunities to learn at their own pace, honouring Vygotsky’s ZPD concept .
• Engagement WITH content - not to simply memorise and regurgitate it.
• Exposure to a variety of learning styles (VAK) and learning methodologies to broaden their toolkit of skills and learning opportunities.  
• Development of metacognition skills (learning how to learn). 
• Development of emotional regulation.
• Development of the skills of self-reflection. 
• Competence in delivering and receiving useful feedback.  
• An inclusive, collaborative learning network of support.
• Support from their educators and peers. 
• Trust and guidance from their educators.

The 21st century is ready for a new learning narrative - one where the on-demand culture that our learners are growing up in is met with a learning culture that suits them; for Learnlife personal learning is the answer. Today lifelong learning is considered a prerequisite for success and leaving formal education disengaged is no longer an option if individuals are to keep up. 

The ultimate aim in personal learning is for each individual to leave formal education still motivated and awed sufficiently to want to learn and my hope is that when learners do leave their formal years, their internal narrative might be something along the lines of, ‘I cannot wait to leave school equipped with the competencies and skills to continue to learn and thrive throughout my life.’ 

It’s time to make learning personal! 

If you are interested in reading more about personal learning, please sign up to our Learnlife Alliance to access all 21 of our Elements of Learning Innovation . Our Element 8, Personal Learning & Adaptive Grouping provides further conceptual thinking related to this blog.

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The Best Way to Master a New Skill? Try This Creative Approach.

• Sarah Stein Greenberg

Use this tool to discover your strengths and identify challenge areas.

Becoming skilled at tackling anything means going on a journey of highs and lows. Both extremes provide important feedback that lets you know where you are in the learning process. Most of us know how to interpret the high of a big new idea, but fewer of us have the tools to make sense of the harder moments, when we’re struggling to understand a concept. We forget that discomfort is an essential part of discovery. In those moments, how do you get “unstuck” and navigate your way forward?

• The Learning Journey Map is one tool you can use to chart your learning experience over time and identify the moments when you soared effortlessly and when you ran into challenges.
• It helps you take something that’s usually internal and invisible — your own learning — and bring it outside yourself, where you can examine it more objectively, discover your strengths, and identify and work through your challenge areas.
• The next time you’re struggling with a learning opportunity, use the worksheet in this article to give it a try.

Where your work meets your life. See more from Ascend here .

You may have graduated college, but your days of being a student are far from over. Throughout your career (whether you earned a degree last year or last century) you will face many situations that call for learning — it’s just that, now, there’s no syllabus or exams.

• SG Sarah Stein Greenberg is the executive director of the Stanford d.school. She leads a community of designers, faculty, and other innovative thinkers who help people unlock their creative abilities and apply them to the world. Her new book is   Creative Acts for Curious People: How to Think, Create, and Lead in Unconventional Ways.

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The Path to Personal Growth

Growth is about overcoming our tendency to respond quickly or negatively..

Posted June 13, 2021 | Reviewed by Jessica Schrader

• Steps to personal growth include learning how to respond better to situations and finding those we can learn from on our journey.
• Reframing our mindset to be more solution-focused than reactive can ultimately help make our lives happier. 
• It is important to find a teacher whose teachings and philosophy resonate with you, and to apply their principles to your own life.

Many people are focused on achieving fleeting things like wealth, success, or fame. While they may bring about temporary happiness , the feeling is often fleeting. I believe that out of all of the things we can work towards, pursuing personal growth is the best choice to achieve lifelong happiness and contentment. Today, we’ll learn why.

We don’t have much control over things in the external world. For example, we didn’t choose the place we were born, our family, or our natural talents. The one thing we do have control over is how we respond to the world, more specifically to adversity. Personal growth is about overcoming our natural tendency to respond quickly or negatively to situations. When we’re able to control our reactions, or our internal selves, a world of possibilities opens up.

In today’s post, I want to discuss the two ways we can achieve personal growth and how we can better respond to the world around us. This will help us find inner peace no matter what’s happening in our external world. This may sound hard for some of us, and it is. But when we change how we see the world and how we respond to the world, there is an unlimited amount of potential for achieving happiness and peace.

The first aspect of personal growth is learning how to respond better to situations that we have historically struggled with. Let’s use self-confidence as an example. When we’re having a particularly low day, we may look in the mirror and think, “I don’t like the way I look.” To combat these thoughts, we can develop skills to accept our appearance and even begin to like the way we look. This acceptance stems from the realization that there are some things that are out of our control. Once we internalize this fact, we can begin to accept what is, and eventually love what is.

The second key ingredient to personal growth is finding a teacher or teachers that we can learn from on our journey. The reason this is a key ingredient is that it’s helpful to have an expert in the subject who can help us understand these principles more deeply.

Let’s dive deeper into both of these concepts.

The first aspect of personal growth is focused on re-framing our struggles. What I mean by this is, the next time we face a problem, the best way to overcome it is to see it differently. For example, the next time we wake up anxious , are upset at a friend, or have an interaction that causes us to stress , we can choose to see these as opportunities to make our lives better.

Something I have repeated throughout my podcast is that there is a solution to every single problem we face. One of life’s purposes is to find these solutions. We have the power to adjust our typical responses to situations that bring on intense emotions, whether that is shame , anger , depression , etc. We now can begin to say, “I’m struggling with this. There must be something that I’m doing that is causing me to struggle, because there are other people who have also faced this problem and they’re doing well. This means there must be a solution.” Instead of criticizing ourselves, or hating our lives, we can reframe our mindset to be more solution-focused than reactive. This will guide us towards finding a way to solve our problems and ultimately make our lives happier.

Let me use an example to explore this point. Studies have shown that about 80% of people are unhappy at work. For the purpose of this example, let’s say we’re in that 80%. In order to change our circumstances, or find a solution, we must ask ourselves what can we do to make our situation better? We can perhaps leave our job, but that would have consequences since we’re responsible for supporting our family. Maybe we can look into other career paths, but seeking out more education may take a long time. Or we can say, maybe I can reduce my living expenses so I don’t need to keep up with the lifestyle I’ve created for myself. With these reduced expenses, I can now work a little less or find a job that will be more fulfilling. Happiness is about enjoying our day all day long, so we want to make sure that our job makes us feel happy and fulfilled.

There are so many ways to tackle this problem. One solution that many of my clients have reached over the years is to work less. A lot of people have flexibility in their work already that they may not be taking advantage of. For example, one of my clients gets three weeks of vacation a year but is tempted to skip out on the vacation because they get paid out on those days at the end of the year. In response, I asked them, is it worth not taking your vacation to have a little more money? When they examined the option more closely they decided that no, it wasn’t worth giving up the opportunity to recharge and decompress. My goal is to help folks reframe what life is about. I believe that it’s about enjoying the journey and for most people who work regularly, taking a vacation is necessary to maintain our happiness.

Remember that this is just an example. Your story and your struggles may look completely different. The overarching point here is that we often have some control over situations that may seem out of our control. And when we take the opportunity to make some changes, we will find that happiness is within our reach. We can look at life’s challenges as an opportunity for personal growth, rather than an inconvenience or hassle. The best part is, when these challenges re-emerge later, we’ll know how to handle them.

The second aspect of personal growth is to find a teacher whose teachings and philosophy resonate with you. When you do find the right teacher, it’s important to apply their principles to your own life. This step may seem less important but it is just as important as step number one. Our parents or caretakers were the people who taught us how to respond to the world and if we want to change that, we need someone who is better aligned to our current belief system than the one we had when we were younger. We also don't necessarily have to access these teachings in person. We can listen to them on audiobooks, watch them on youtube, or read about their beliefs in a book. And if you reach a point where their teachings are no longer serving you, there are always other people out there who can guide you through your path to self-discovery

Working on ourselves is no easy task. It involves unlearning and practicing different responses to problems, over and over again. But we must remember that we are capable of real change, and these changes can help us live beautiful lives. When we look at problems in a different light and follow a teacher with whom we resonate, we’ll grow exponentially.

Robert Puff, Ph.D. , is host and producer of the Happiness Podcast, with over 16 million downloads.

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How to Create a Personal Learning Plan

Taking control of your career development.

By the Mind Tools Content Team

Gracey can barely believe that her probationary period is almost over, and she's really enjoying her management role at a small software development company. But she has a nagging worry.

She really valued the support and direction that she received from Myles, her line manager during her probation. He had set clear goals and targets, and had given her regular feedback. But now, nothing.

Myles has made it clear that, while his door is always open, he expects Gracey to make her own way now. However, she isn't prepared to sit back and wait for training opportunities to just appear, and she wants to take control of her own professional development.

In this article, we'll examine how you can take a proactive approach to your development by creating a personal learning plan.

How to Manage Your Professional Development

Let's walk through some practical steps that you can take to manage your own professional development.

1. Apply a "Growth" Mindset

In her 2007 book, Mindset: Changing the Way You Think to Fulfill Your Potential , psychologist Dr Carol Dweck argues that it's not just our innate abilities that bring us success – it's whether we approach work with a "fixed" or "growth" mindset . [1]

People with a fixed mindset tend to assume that they're born with a particular set of skills that they can't change. However, people with a growth mindset believe that intelligence and talent are just the starting point, and that success comes through attitude, effort and learning.

With a growth mindset, you'll respond to setbacks or challenges with hope and confidence. And you can prepare yourself by working to understand your development needs. This involves a process of self-reflection and self-auditing , a willingness to be open and curious about your strengths and weaknesses, and a commitment to improving your personal situation and working life.

For example, performing a personal SWOT analysis can be very helpful in assessing your strengths (for example, clear communication) and weaknesses (say, handling pressure poorly). It can also help you to identify any opportunities (such as networking events), and possible threats (technological changes) that might be on the horizon.

Cultivating a growth mindset is also about recognizing that you need to take ownership of your own career progression, whether or not your organization supports a learning culture.

You will need to assess:

• Your current skills. Are they adequate for your present role? Do they align adequately with your team or organization's priorities, mission and vision ? It may be useful to revisit your job description to clarify your key responsibilities. What are the targets that you've agreed with your manager? Ask yourself, honestly, what you could you be doing better.
• Your past skills. This may sound counterintuitive, but look back, too. Are there skills you have used in the past that could help you now? Are those skills a bit rusty, or are your working practices out of date?
• Your future skills. What skills or knowledge gaps do you need to bridge? It may be helpful to test yourself with some more Mind Tools self-assessment quizzes or to sound out someone you trust (perhaps a mentor ) for some honest feedback. Think about how you compare with your peers in terms of knowledge, skills, experience, attitude, and behavior. What does your team need that you would like to offer? Put yourself into the shoes of a customer, colleague or supplier. What would he or she want you to know, or to be able to do?

If you want a "bigger picture" approach, you can use a PEST Analysis to identify structural opportunities (such as new funding streams) and threats (for example, deregulation and more intense competition) in your business environment.

2. Design a Personal Learning Plan

Once you've carried out a thorough self-audit, and identified your goals for growth, it's time to work out how to reach them. This is where a personal learning plan (PLP) can really help.

A PLP is a tool commonly used in schools and colleges to help students to focus their learning, achieve targets (such as exam revision), and consider their wider learning objectives. But it can also be very effective in the workplace.

What you prioritize within your PLP will vary depending on your needs and aspirations. Ideally, a PLP should work to a SMART model (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound), to help you to develop the motivation you need to achieve them.

It's important to take a systematic approach to developing your skills, so they're ready when you need them. Your PLP could include:

• An "I want to learn x…" learning goal. For example, "to become confident in my public presentation and speaking skills," or "to write clearer and more concise emails."
• An "I will learn via…" strategy. This could mean watching Mind Tools videos, signing up for speaking skills training, or taking part in amateur dramatics, for instance.
• An "I will know that I've been successful when…" measurement. This could be achieving positive feedback on a presentation. Or it could be as simple as recognizing that you feel less stressed when you're speaking on the phone.
• A time-based target date, deadline or schedule. This could be your ultimate learning and development goal or mission statement , or it could be stages along the way. For example, "I will learn x new skill by August, and then focus on developing y by the end of the year." There needs to be a process of regular review, evaluation and, if necessary, a complete reset. While this is happening, you can continue to seek out the training resources you need to move your career along.

It's often helpful to break down your long-term objective into smaller steps. Following this and other golden rules of goal setting can help you to stay focused and increase your chances of success.

For example, if you want to be a senior manager within five years, ask yourself what steps you need to take, such as gaining formal management or team-leading qualifications.

When you evaluate the skills that you need to make progress in your career, remember to include important – but quite general – career skills, such as team management and communication , as well as others that are directly related to your company or profession.

For more information on establishing and maintaining your own work-based goals, see our articles on Personal Goal Setting , Motivating Yourself , creating and following a To-Do List , and Backward Goal-Setting .

3. Make Connections

Be proactive about taking up any relevant continuing professional development (CPD) opportunities. This could be online, modular training, evening classes, or even occasional weekend study, whether through your employer or via membership of a relevant professional body.

Stay hungry for knowledge – subscribe to relevant publications or web resources, join forums or networks, and get involved in an employee resource group , if your organization supports them. This will help you to gain new perspectives, and to interact with people outside of your immediate circle of contacts. Remember that networking is a two-way process: what you have to offer is just as important as what you want from other people.

Consider role models – internal and external – that you admire. What is it about them and their working identities that you like? Can you learn to behave like them, and would this be right for you and your values or working style?

4. Overcome Barriers

Developing new skills and knowledge can be an exciting and satisfying process. But, finding the time to make change a reality can be hard. So, you'll need to work with your manager to help you to prepare for any on-the-job or formal training . You'll also need to ensure that you meet your day-to-day responsibilities, and that you're not leaving it to co-workers to cover your work.

You might find self-reflection a challenge in itself. Be aware, for example, of the Dunning-Kruger Effect , which may lead you to think that you're more competent than you actually are; and of Impostor Syndrome , which can leave you feeling like a fraud who doesn't deserve success.

Look out for what's been called " miracle planning " in terms of what you can realistically achieve. And give yourself a better chance of sustaining change and growth by ensuring that your PLP is well paced, and that you nurture your resilience.

To discover more tools and techniques that can stimulate your personal development and growth, read our articles, Understanding Developmental Needs and 70:20:10 .

Effective personal development is about being proactive and engaged. So, take advantage of the learning culture that your organization offers – or, if there is none, create your own opportunities.

A SMART Personal Learning Plan (PLP), making full use of mentoring and networking opportunities, will help you to achieve your work-based goals.

You will need to develop a "growth mindset" in order to really benefit from a PLP.

Take yourself through a process of self-reflection and self-auditing, identify your aspirations, and gain buy-in from your manager – but ensure that you continue to meet your day-to-day responsibilities.

Finally, remember that your PLP can be as dynamic as you are, so adjust it as often as necessary to keep it current and relevant.

[1] Dweck, C. ' Mindset: Changing The Way You Think to Fulfil Your Potential ,' Robinson.

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The importance of personalized learning journeys

Have you ever sat through a training session where you already knew half the content? Or walked out the room wondering what you’ve learned. If so, you’re not alone.

One recent survey found that half of participants are dissatisfied with their employer’s learning and development (L&D) programs. Another , found that 70% of employees believe they don’t have mastery of the skills needed to do their jobs.

L&D programs are clearly falling far wide of the mark – and this should be keeping leaders up at night. Not only are employees feeling ill-equipped for their roles, but organizations are spending a significant amount of money on training that’s not fit for purpose. In 2020, enterprises spent over $357 billion on corporate training initiatives, so why are employees not getting the training they need?

The problem with traditional L&D techniques   

One of the big problems with most L&D programs is that they take a blanket approach. All participants are served the same content (virtually or in a classroom).

This approach has clear flaws. It assumes that everyone is starting with the same knowledge base and wants to learn the same thing, but this is hardly ever the case. Even if two individuals join an organization at exactly the same time in exactly the same role, their previous experience will have left them with very different skillsets, and therefore very different training needs. One course simply cannot work for all, but what’s the alternative?

Enter personalized learning

Personalized learning is entirely focused on individuals’ requirements meaning people are only taught material that meets their learning needs and objectives. When applied in a workplace setting, it has several, significant advantages over traditional, blanket learning techniques.

• It’s more engaging – Learners are more likely to close their email and engage in learning because content is obviously applicable to them.
• It’s more effective – Learners are more likely to remember relevant content and apply learnings in their day-to-day roles.
• It’s more efficient – Personalized learning maximizes learners’ time by getting to the heart of what they need to know. Organizations that adopt this approach clearly demonstrate their understanding of the pressures their people are under and show their respect for employees’ time.

The benefits of personalized learning are clear to see, so why isn’t every organization taking this approach? The answer typically lies in resources. Creating personalized learning journeys takes a lot of expertise and can be incredibly time-intensive for all teams involved, which is why organizations turn to us.

Skill Dynamics’ approach

We have developed a unique, scalable personalized learning approach, supported by innovative technology and cognitive science. We believe learning never stops and our training is designed to continually broaden our learners’ knowledge horizons.  

Most professionals that come through our virtual doors start their journey with an individual skills gap assessment. This assesses their current knowledge against a set of established competency benchmarks to understand the gap between their current and desired knowledge. For example, a supply chain planner might be an expert in supply planning but be less experience in demand planning skills and has a goal to improve in this competency. Our technology would identify this gap and automatically generate a personalized learning plan to fill it.

It’s an approach that we’ve honed over a decade, and through our work with over 500 global organizations to train over 300,000 of their supply chain and procurement people. This experience, combined with our flexible technology, enables us to assess learners and set them on a personalized learning journey that meets individual and organizational goals. And, crucially, actively encourages them to come back to keep learning.

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Personalized learning

Ivan Andreev

Demand Generation & Capture Strategist, Valamis

October 26, 2020 · updated April 3, 2024

22 minute read

This guide will give you an in-depth look at personalized learning, what it is, and how you can effectively implement it within your organization.

After reading this guide, you will be able to achieve better results in your employee training programs by taking advantage of personalized learning.

What is personalized learning?

How does personalized learning work, why is personalized learning important, benefits of personalized learning, examples of personalized learning, a new era of personalized learning with ai, how to get started with personalized learning in organizations.

• How can learning be made even more personalized and effective?
• How can modern technologies help with personalized learning?
• How do you make a personalized learning plan?

Personalized learning is the customization and adaptation of educational methods and techniques so that the learning process is better suited for each individual learner, with their own unique learning style, background, needs, and previous experiences.

Learning can happen in a myriad of different places, activities, methods, and time frames.

From the lecture hall populated with hundreds of learners listening to an instructor to a one-on-one mentorship program, from interactive online games to complex technical textbooks, there are so many formats that learning can take.

There are many different learning techniques, as well as many styles of teaching and learning, all of which combine to make every learning experience different and personalized. Each type of learning has pros and cons and will offer different things to different learners.

In a personalized learning approach, the learner’s personal experience, knowledge, and habits are connected with learning methods, so that they can learn faster, understand new concepts more easily, and improve their learning performance.

Personalized learning centers around the task of connecting a learner’s previous knowledge, experiences, and abilities with training materials that will link that understanding with new information.

The simplest example of personalized learning would be when an instructor provides learning material with proper content and context, and in the best way for the learner.

This is done by using the existing knowledge that the instructor has of the student. The instructor understands how best to connect the learner’s previous experiences and abilities to the new information, building links between existing knowledge and new information.

Proper learning material is content that is relevant to the learner’s previous experiences.

The best way, for each learner, is delivery of information in such a way that the learner is able to acquire the new information easily.

This could be the type of material (video, text, or interactive games, for example), the time spent, the amount of material covered in each session, and the order in which new information is explained. This will vary for each learner, as everyone has different learning styles.

This, of course, is not a scalable solution, but it is the simplest explanation of how personalized learning can be actioned. It is a process of connection, of delivering the right tools to assist the learning path.

Nowadays, to make this type of approach happen, and more importantly, be scalable, organizations need to be able to create a digital learning infrastructure that can automate this process and make it cost-effective.

To do so, organizations need to use a variety of digital solutions. These can include communication channels (e.g. Slack), AI technologies (e.g. machine learning and automation), data analysis, learning platforms, mobile technologies, and more.

Only by creating a system using the many available tools can an organization better understand the needs of each individual learner, and deliver the content that they need, when they need it, in a truly scalable and organized fashion.

Let’s take a look at how this would work in practice. Meet Jeff, your new employee.

You know the following information about Jeff:

• He has an engineering degree.
• His previous work experience was as a senior engineer at a construction company.
• He prefers to consume video content rather than read.
• He enjoys using technology, and quite often uses mobile devices in his work.

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Some learner profiles will have more variables, but let’s start with this.

So based on those parameters, a learning instructor would create a specific learning path for Jeff. The path that will be based on his education (comfortable with high-level educational content), experience (connecting information to what a senior engineer would know), and preferred content type (video) and will deliver it on the go, so Jeff can engage with content on mobile devices.

So this is how personalized learning looks like and works.

If an organization wants to improve learning outcomes, personalized learning is a proven way to do so.

By taking data related to a learner’s previous experience and linking that to new concepts, personalized learning results in a more complete understanding of new concepts, better engagement, and knowledge retention is improved. In short, personalized learning makes learning more effective.

By looking at the previous example, you can see how personalized learning can transform a common training program and make it more personalized for each unique user. Such changes make the learning process engaging, faster, and more effective.

Even making learning content slightly personalized will make a difference, for example, removing material that is unnecessary while highlighting the training that will help the learner most.

As technology advances, learners become more demanding, and they expect training programs to keep up. Nowadays, personalized content is everywhere. We have personalized feeds on social media, personal playlists, movie recommendations, and a lot of other things. We already expect that any new tool will have something similar. At work, we expect that the learning platform will offer us something new, relevant exactly for us.

Without updating the way that learning is delivered, organizations run the risk of disengaging employees in a vital area.

Not only that, consider what a new employee will think if they begin their onboarding process with a company that uses an outdated, non-personalized approach to training. Will they trust that this organization can help them upskill throughout their career? Will they take the organization seriously as a competitive and forward-thinking company to work for?

Employees consistently report that they look for jobs that will offer training and opportunities for growth, and will stay longer in roles that provide them. As employees learn, they are able to improve their performance, delivering better business results.

Good employee training programs can increase revenue, boost productivity, and breed innovation within an organization. As more organizations face the challenge of upskilling workers effectively and efficiently, personalized learning has come into the spotlight as a method that can deliver that in a scalable manner.

1. Saves time

Personalized learning cuts down on the time it takes a learner to engage with and understand a new subject.

It also serves to remove content that is no longer relevant or would be redundant due to the experience level of the learner, saving time that would otherwise be wasted on learning concepts that will not serve the learner.

2. Increases engagement

When content is both relevant and personalized, learning is more engaging.

A learner is more likely to interact with, and remember content that targets their current role, projects, or area of work.

3. Improves knowledge retention

When content is based on previous experience, the learner will retain that information for a much longer period of time.

When a personalized learning path connects each piece of the puzzle together, with each piece supporting each other to intertwine the information, the learner will be able to better recall information by linking it to existing knowledge.

4. Increased motivation

Learning that is connected to something relevant, be it the learner, their job, or their hobbies will increase motivation for the learner.

This is especially true if the content contains tips or helpful information that is immediately actionable.

5. Improves learning results

Studies have shown that a personalized learning approach yields better learning results. This approach elevates learning and provides content that is relevant, engaging, actionable, and memorable.

The end result is a learner who is pleased with their interaction with the material and is better at their job.

1. One-on-one Tutoring

In a situation where you have two individuals, a learner, and a teacher, you need the teacher to understand exactly what the learner already knows, and then tie that to new information.

Consider this example of a parent teaching a child about cars: Recently my son asked me “what is this and what do you need it for?” about the gearshift in my manual transmission car.

After thinking about it a moment, I explained it to him by talking about his bike’s shifter and gear mechanisms, which allow him to change the speed/effort ratio.

I then connected the concept of those mechanisms to the gearshift in my car. By knowing something from my son’s previous experience and linking new information to that, I made this new concept easy for him to learn.

What if the parent chose to explain this concept using diagrams of engines and gearboxes, talking in high-level mechanical engineering language?

The kid would have checked out immediately, as he would have been unable to connect this new information to what he already knew. No learning would happen, and the child likely wouldn’t ask any more questions like this to his parent, as he has learned that the answer will be incomprehensible.

This is how one-on-one personalized learning can be achieved by creatively using what is already known about the learner, and linking that to new information.

2. Mentoring

One of the well-known ways of personalized learning is mentoring. The more experienced employee is assigned as an adviser to the less experienced employee.

With all knowledge that the mentor gathered by experiencing something in the past, he could understand the issues and difficulties that the mentee is facing and guide the learning towards understanding.

This model works great, but its limitation is in its scalability.

3. Online course providers

You have definitely seen these type of courses, and very probably used one yourself.

Coursera, edX, Linkedin Learning, OpenSesame, and many, many others. In all of those services, you have a personal account that the system tracks and stores all of your learning data in order to offer you new relevant courses.

When you finish one course, the platform will offer you advanced courses or materials relevant to the subject.

4. Search engines

Search engines are the most popular way of personalized learning. Google answers your questions with personalized answers.

If you like to read, you might order books online, or visit some publication sites to find a new book, Google will remember that. So if you google “Harry Potter”, the system will offer you the best offers from online book shops. At the same time, if you like to watch movies, and do it quite often online, you will see movie-related answers.

Even the subject is the same, “Harry Potter”, Google knows that the subject contains a different type of information.

Knowledge Graph, the technology behind that, connects different aspects of the subjects together.

So, in the end, you can see the results that are most relevant to you. Harry Potter is a book, movie, character, and you even will see pictures and profiles of Daniel Radcliffe, the actor who played the character.

All of this happened because Google wants to provide the most relevant information to the users as possible, and uses personalized learning to do so.

5. Corporate training example

Air Methods , a Colorado-based helicopter medical transport company used personalized learning to boost their pilot training program.

Using a cloud-based learning system, they turned to artificial intelligence to pinpoint the topics in which pilots were struggling and present more information and differently worded questions to ensure that pilots truly knew the topic.

By using frequent, short quizzes and games, the pilots were engaged and the organization was easily able to pinpoint areas where more training was needed.

This use of personalized learning allowed the company to cut in-person, instructor-led training sessions in half, and also reduced the number of days needed for onboarding, from ten to five days.

As artificial intelligence technologies become more advanced, more able to distinguish individual needs, and more customizable, their use in personalized learning has increased.

The two biggest components of a successful personalized learning program are data and AI, specifically machine learning.

By using data, an organization can teach AI to recognize patterns, make connections between information and knowledge, and provide the correct information at the right time to the user.

The biggest hurdle in this is collecting and analyzing data about employees.

So, what should an organization do if they want to implement personalized learning?

How can a business help an employee to not only find out the information they need but to also ensure the answer is linked to their previous experience?

The answer is a combination of sophisticated search and personalization engines.

First, a search engine will narrow the possible sources of information, like documents, web pages, or training materials, and then a personalization engine will prioritize the content that is most relevant to the employee’s previous experience.

The search engine is something that we are accustomed to using every day, like Google.

In a corporate environment, it could be a separate engine for each information system or some sort of more advanced engine that is able to query many different backend systems and combine results.

But how can an organization make those results more personalized, e.g. related to the employee’s previous experience?

Or to be even more precise, how do we know what is the employee’s previous experience?

How can an employee’s experience be digitalized?

1) The first step in that direction is to list for each employee what skills they have learned previously and what is their level of knowledge.

It could be done, for example, by analyzing their CV using text analytics or by asking them to fill in a simple form with skills in rows and knowledge levels in columns ( skills matrix ).

This information already gives some clues, but not with much detail, though. In addition, this is a pretty much static view, which doesn’t take into account the learning and experiences happening after those skills had been listed.

2) In the second step, in addition to the Competence Matrix, collected in the previous step, HR needs to collect information about training attended, certifications achieved, and everything else related to formal learning.

For the employee, this could improve the relevance of the information found significantly, as the level of their knowledge is known to the system and is updated in accordance with formal learning attended. As a result, for example, expert-level information will not be shown to the novice and vice versa.

Still, that is not enough to make search results truly relevant and personal. The personalization engine needs much more granular information about what the employee knows, how they prefer to learn, what is easy, and what is difficult for them, what type of information suits them best, and so on.

3) The third, much more advanced, step is to combine the approaches already described with the collection of information about all learning activities happening in real-time.

We are talking about using the Experience API (xAPI) in combination with the Learning Record Store (LRS) . With xAPI it is possible to collect information about the employee’s learning happening in many places and with a great degree of detail.

• If the company intranet is xAPI enabled, it is possible to collect information about opened pages and downloaded documents.
• If the employee’s actions in a factory are tracked with some sensors, those could be collected as xAPI statements.
• If a company uses simulations or Virtual/Augmented Reality (VR/AR) for training, actions, and events inside the simulation could be tracked and stored as xAPI statements.
• If a company uses a Learning Experience Platform , like Valamis, for delivery of its training, all the user’s actions are automatically tracked with xAPI.

How to make learning even more personalized and effective?

When all that information about the employee is available to the personalization engine, it could make much more justified guesses about the relevance of some information for the employee.

By analyzing the learning history, it could become clear what learning format is most suitable for the person. For example, does reading an article contribute more to the learning than audio, do they prefer longer learning sessions with broad context presented or should it be short and directly to the subject, or do learning needs vary depending on the time of day or day of the week?

Even more relevant results could be produced when the employee’s knowledge and experience are compared to other employees’ experiences and similarities found in roles, skills, or learning activities. Then the relevance of the information provided to the employee could be improved based on that similarity.

This also works well for a new employee who has no previous history in a company. At first, similarities like role and department as well as an absence of previous learning history could bring them relevant onboarding materials, and then by analyzing the history of the previous newcomers, a recommendation engine will be feeding the learner with suggestions that are already proven to be relevant to those who came and went through onboarding materials before.

Needless to say, it is not the end of the story, it is only just the beginning. To bring it to the next level, the loop must be closed and learning should be applied to the personalization engine to produce better relevance over time. Analyzing learning activities, checking what employees were choosing themselves from results suggested, asking if they were satisfied with results provided, looking into refined searches – all that will make the recommendation engine improve and adapt all the time using machine learning.

How modern technologies can help with personalized learning?

There are many tools available, with more being developed every year, that are helping refine and redefine what personalized learning is.

Recommendations

Much like the ‘recommended for you’ section of Netflix is powered by an algorithm that looks at what you have enjoyed previously and delivers new content based on that information, recommendations can be used to seamlessly queue up learning content that is tailored to the individual learner’s needs and role, and helps identify and prevent skill gaps.

AI assistant

Using an AI assistant frees up instructors to serve the immediate learning needs of each individual by taking over the curation and recommendation of material.

An AI assistant knows the learner’s data, including what their skills are, the learning path that they are following, and delivers curated suggestions as to what the learner should engage with next.

Flexible learning paths

Each person learns differently and has a different level of base knowledge about a subject. If a company uses a strict learning path, there is a chance that information already known is repeated, the information needed is not delivered, and the learner will disengage.

By using a flexible learning path, the learner is offered information adapted specifically to them by technology.

Information already known is automatically excluded or touched on in a cursory manner as a revision, the relevant information is delivered in a fashion tailored to the learner, and advanced content is offered to high-level learners.

Natural Language Processing (NLP)

Natural language processing can be used to make searches for information better, faster, and more precise.

By accessing the power of NLP, learners can search for the exact information they need, whether in text or video and find exactly the answers they need to any question that they might have.

How to create a personalized learning plan?

To properly harness the power of this type of information delivery, a personalized learning plan should be implemented.

Personalized learning plan is a document that includes the short and long-term goals of the learner, covers their strengths, weaknesses, skills, and knowledge gaps, and sets out the learning plan that is best for that particular learner. It is the roadmap that the learner will follow to reach their educational or training goals.

A personalized learning plan always begins with an assessment. To know where you want to go, you must know where you are starting from!

Assessments can be made for specific roles or at a team or departmental level and can be used for several employees at the same time.

They should assess what information should be known, at what level, and should be able to identify specific knowledge gaps.

Once the learner has completed their assessment, this data can be input into the system, and the development of a learning plan can begin.

The same is true on a departmental and company-wide level. Data from teams can highlight the areas of weakness in a department, and show where their strengths are.

2. Determine the goals and skills needed for each specific role

Now that you know where you are starting from, you must next decide where you are heading.

It should be determined which skills or competencies are needed for each role or department.

By doing so, an organization is able to create or modify learning materials to develop or improve those skills.

Goals and skills should be created according to the SMART method, so that the learner’s, or the departments, progress in reaching them can be more easily tracked.

3. Create a generic learning plan

You have gathered data on the current level of employee’s knowledge and skills, and identified what they need to learn.

The next step is developing the path to get them there. A learning plan should be developed.

This doesn’t need to be hyper-specific – a generic series of steps that take the learner from point A to point B will suffice, and data will be gathered as more learners use this path to help personalize it for future learners.

4. Map learning modalities

Working to understand how the learner interacts with learning materials, and which materials will work best for this particular person is an important aspect of personalized learning.

Do they prefer video content? Perhaps they are more comfortable working with text and mini-quizzes.

Each person will have preferences for how they engage with the material, and this should be discovered at this step.

As it is discovered what works best for each person, this information should be mapped.

It is also good, at this stage, to create learner profiles. This profile not only can show the path of the individual learner and their accomplishments, but it can also serve as a blueprint for other learners in similar roles.

Understanding how each learner has been successful can be valuable data for a training program.

5. Modify learning plans for individuals according to their specific preferences

By customizing the learning plan, using data about the learner’s specific knowledge level, preference of content, and many other factors, an organization can ensure that learners are engaged, gaining skills, and not wasting their time on unnecessary content.

6. Utilize assessments to track learning

Recurring check-ins through assessments should be implemented to ensure that the learning path is successful.

These assessments, both one-on-one and self, should then deliver data to be analyzed that will help give a window into the learner’s journey.

One-on-one assessments are important here, as they allow for feedback, problem-solving, goal restructuring, and many other positive actions that can help learners be supported in reaching their goals.

A personalized learning plan is driven by this data, and the more data that there is, the more responsive it can be.

7. Review and scale

Throughout the program, the organization should review the process, continually work to improve the overall learner experience and make sure that the process itself is optimized.

This is also where an organization can update or scale a program.

Making learning personalized has a great impact on learning outcomes. When new concepts are linked to a person’s previous experience, it results in better understanding, and learning becomes more effective.

In an organizational environment, the creation of personalized learning requires technology solutions to make it cost-effective and scalable.

Technology, like a combination of Experience API (xAPI) and Learning Record Store (LRS), enables the collection of an employee’s experiences on a very granular level in digital form.

This information could be then leveraged in building a personalized learning experience in future learning activities using a combination of sophisticated search and personalized engines.

Of course, none of the technology solutions is perfect, but by closing the feedback loop from a learner’s activities back to the solution, the quality of answers given to a learner will be constantly improving.

Having that, instead of “figure out yourself” type of learning, employees could enjoy and experience truly personalized learning.

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The definitive guide to creating personal learning journeys and why they’re the future of L&D.

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As learning and development specialists we’re all looking for the magic bullet where our people will embed what they have learned and for it to make an impact on performance.

That’s easier said than done as most learning solutions are not tailored to the individual needs of our learners and what their preferences are.

The outcome of this is that the learning doesn’t stick and it doesn’t get implemented back in the workplace.

Creating personal learning journeys removes the sheep dip approach from the equation. It’s an approach with is unique to the each individual with a very high level of personalisation.

This FREE BOOK provides a personal learning journey roadmap template and covers how to create these journeys and why they are so important to the world of L&D .

This book will teach you how to:

• Create personal learning journeys no matter where you are starting from
• Understand how to create blended journeys with online and offline methods
• Offer staff development “in the flow of work” and in their moment of need
• Understand how artificial intelligence is and will become a game changer in L&D
• Appreciate why you need to move away from learning management systems and instead start to use learning experience platforms
• Understand how curated content, social content and third-party content can be used to help your people when they need it the most

“This fast-moving, state-of-the-art resource shows you exactly what you need to do to implement personal learning journeys faster than you ever thought possible. It can revolutionise your L&D department”

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What is the definition of a personalised learning journey?

What are the benefits of personal learning journeys.

• Personalised learning plans allow you to support the individual needs of each of your learners, rather than using a blanket approach that can leave some feeling isolated.
• By tailoring your training to suit individual needs, you will improve the retention and success rate of your training and therefore generate a stronger ROI.
• Your learners will feel valued and listened to when provided with a tailored training program, which in turn will improve the engagement rates throughout.

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How to Begin Your Self-Discovery Journey: 16 Best Questions

As part of this process, we must not only search to determine what constitutes our true selves, but let go of objects of identification we’ve long mistaken for ourselves, requiring a balance of introspection and new experiences.

So let’s set sail.

In this article, we’ll give you a range of powerful questions to help you along your journey of self-discovery and point you toward further reading and resources.

Before you continue, you might like to download our three Meaning and Valued Living Exercises for free . These creative, science-based exercises will help you learn more about your values, motivations, and goals and will give you the tools to inspire a sense of meaning in the lives of your clients, students, or employees.

This Article Contains:

What is self-discovery according to psychology, fostering self-discovery skills: 10 examples & tips, why is the process important, a look at self-discovery coaching, 3 exercises, games, and activities for adults, best worksheets and journal prompts, 16 questions to ask yourself or your clients, helpful books & apps for your journey, tools from positivepsychology.com, a take-home message.

Drawing often from the field of philosophy , psychologists point to the illumination of our daimon (or ‘true self’) as the ultimate goal of self-discovery.

Formally defined, this true self is

“the central inner force common to all human beings and yet unique to each, which is the deep source of growth… [that is] free, healthy development in accordance with the potentials of one’s generic and individual nature.”

Horney, 1950, p. 17

As part of the process of searching for our true selves, we are ultimately working to identify three things (Waterman, 2011):

• Personal potentials
• Our purposes for living
• Opportunities to act upon those potentials and purposes in living

The search for our true selves, therefore:

“refers to those processes, both intuitive and reasoned, by which those [personal, purpose-related] potentials are discovered and come to attain the status of personally concordant goals that are to be actualized.”

Waterman, 2011, p. 360

According to this view, a person’s true self essentially lies beneath the surface, and our task is to find, recognize, or understand that which already exists. Once you have, you can then make choices about your life and identity that are more consistent with this self-knowledge (Waterman, 2011).

Seek a supportive atmosphere

The more time we spend in the presence of supportive family, friends, lovers, and communities , the sooner we will be likely to discover our true nature. This is because warm and encouraging atmospheres facilitate feelings of inner security while providing the freedom to have our own feelings and thoughts (Horney, 1950).

To this end, here are some ideas to consider:

• Seek quiet spaces and time out to facilitate reflection or journaling .
• Join a social group whose interests and passions align with your own, such as a painting, writing, or poetry group.
• Find a coach or therapist for a safe space to pursue self-discovery.
• Set boundaries with people who discourage your individuality, negatively affect your emotions, or put you down.
• Seek the company of people who inspire you, make you feel positive, and challenge your perception of yourself.

Identify your drifts

Pay close attention to the things you naturally love doing, or drifts, particularly those that are personally expressive . By paying attention to the subconscious pull of these activities, you can allow them to guide you toward your true self, stemming from your genetic makeup, upbringing, and experiences (Pagedar, 2021).

• Our drifts tend to emerge when the mind is still, so try selecting a quiet day to do some meditation or practice some relaxation techniques.
• Try to notice activities that cause you to slip into the state of flow , as these often point us toward our drifts.
• Consider which activities you possess a natural aptitude or talent for, perhaps using a strengths-finding exercise .
• Think about which activities you find intrinsically motivating . These are the activities you would undertake in the absence of external rewards, such as money or the approval of others.
• Notice times when you feel a strong sense of personal responsibility to do something or have a unique vision about how something should be carried out.

Download 3 Meaning & Valued Living Exercises (PDF)

These detailed, science-based exercises will equip you or your clients with tools to find meaning in life help and pursue directions that are in alignment with values.

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To understand why self-discovery is so important, we must consider the consequences of failing to identify our true selves.

According to Horney (1950), when a person experiences a large discrepancy between their lived and real selves, they are likely to experience a sense of alienation from themselves. This remains true even if the person is successful in their activities and receives external rewards.

Such a person may often notice themselves wondering, “ Why am I doing this when it’s not who I really am? ” The consequence is a feeling of guilt or dissatisfaction if we fail to live up to an idealized version of ourselves that we cannot be.

Besides this negative emotional toll, the problem with pursuing such an ideal is that it will be rooted in externally derived standards of worth.

To illustrate, here are some examples:

• A student feels pressure from their parents to pursue a prestigious career in law, even though this line of work does not inspire them.
• A famous musician has mistaken their true self with their like of the status, prestige, and social validation they receive while performing.
• A woman’s family talks her into finding a husband and settling down when she’d rather travel the world with her friends.
• A son feels obligated to take over the family business when he’d prefer to start his own venture.

When we cannot live in alignment with our true selves, we must spend energy attempting to deny and distort our experiences to make sense of a pervasive lack of happiness and personal fulfillment. This ongoing effort can go so far as to produce psychological states and conditions such as depression (Waterman et al., 2010).

This is why self-discovery is so important.

Our goal in life should not be to pursue imagined or externally derived ideals, but rather to develop a more realistic understanding of our strengths and limitations. By doing so, we can avoid negative psychological states and self-actualize , feel contentment, and make better contributions to the world.

A growing trend in coaching, self-discovery coaching is about looking beyond specific goal pursuits (e.g., “I want to improve my self-esteem ”) to discover how we can live authentically and be truly happy .

Self-discovery coaching has many components, including (Elevate Life Project, n.d.):

• Exploring your values to live in congruence with what’s most important to you
• Discovering grounded confidence, centeredness, and strength
• Identifying your abilities for making easier decisions

The role of a self-discovery coach in this process is to act as co-pilot on a client’s journey toward authentic fulfillment by challenging them, imbuing them with courage, and showing compassion.

If you or your clients are looking to set off on a self-discovery journey, consider the following fun and insightful activities to get you started.

This exercise is a useful starting point for viewing yourself clearly in terms of values, beliefs, and more. The exercise guides users through a two-step process of considering themselves from the perspective of others, followed by a consideration of their self-perceptions at different times in their life.

Spontaneous collage

Collage is a fun and cathartic method of self-discovery that helps people bypass the socially protective aspects of the mind and reveal aspects of their authentic self. Best of all, no previous art experience is required.

For a great resource, check out Shelley Klammer’s 12-week online course and check out the #collageforselfdiscovery hashtag on Instagram to get inspired by others’ collages.

Kokology: The Game of Self-Discovery

Created by famous Japanese psychologists Tadahiko Nagao and Isamu Saito, kokology , the study of kokoro (“mind” or “spirit” in Japanese), is a fun and sometimes hilarious game for learning about yourself.

The game invites players to answer questions about seemingly innocent topics, such as the color of an imaginary bird that has flown in their window, to reveal profound insights in their answers.

Journaling and worksheets can both be hugely helpful for this purpose.

To help, look at some of the following free resources from our site:

• Self-Awareness Worksheet for Adults This worksheet poses a series of 15 questions to help you discover more about your true self. Specifically, the questions tap into topics such as your talents/strengths, values, and barriers to living more authentically.
• What Are My Qualities and Traits? This worksheet invites you to identify your top five and weakest two qualities from a list of 100 strengths. It then invites you to consider how you might shape, develop, and use your toolkit of identified strengths to better your life.
• Reflecting on Three Things This worksheet invites you to explore what defines who you are. These reflections can include statements, objects, roles in life, people you admire, and ambitions.

If you’re more into journaling, see if any of the following prompts might inspire some of your upcoming entries (Hollis, 2019):

• What things have you been doing lately that may be positively or negatively affecting your mental health ?
• What ways can you touch or move your body that makes you feel good?
• If you could spend the day doing anything, what would you do?
• How do you show love to other people?
• What are some things about you that you wish other people knew?

How to discover your authentic self – at any age – Bevy Smith

For more ways to get started on your journey of self-inquiry, consider the following questions, drawn from leading books designed to guide you toward self-discovery (see Helpful Books & Apps for Your Journey ):

Mindful self-discovery questions

• What’s going on inside your body at the moment (e.g., sensations, flows of energy)?
• Is there joy, ease, and lightness in what you are doing at the present moment?
• Do you really have any problems right now in this present moment ?
• Is there anything you can do to change, improve, or remove yourself from a present dissatisfactory situation? If not, how can you move toward accepting your present circumstances?

Exploring values

• What are your top five personal and professional values?
• How are you living outside your values?
• In what areas do you feel a personal sense of responsibility to better the world?
• How are you living outside of your integrity?

Questions about fear and courage

• What do you fear the most?
• What fears have actually come true in your life?
• What would happen if you treated the actions you fear as an experiment?
• For which pending decision could you use 10% more courage?

Considering worthwhile experiences

• What has made your childhood worthwhile?
• What lessons did you learn last week?
• What makes life worthwhile for you?
• What trip have you always wanted to take, and how could you make this trip happen?

More questions for self-discovery

For even more powerful coaching questions, be sure to check out some of the dedicated articles throughout our blog:

• 73 Powerful Coaching Questions to Ask Your Clients
• 100 Most Powerful Life Coaching Questions [+PDF]
• Self-Coaching Model Explained: 56 Questions & Techniques for Self-Mastery

Here are some of our favorite books and apps to support greater self-insight and discovery.

1. The Power of Now: A Guide to Spiritual Enlightenment – Eckhart Tolle

A critical first step toward greater self-insight involves ceasing to confuse your true self with the endless stream of thoughts flowing through your mind.

The bestselling book The Power of Now  takes readers on a journey to find their deepest self through the lens of mindfulness and spirituality.

The book guides the reader through steps to help recognize and free themselves from ego in the form of defense mechanisms, automatic negative habits, and over-identification with thought. From here, readers can then discover their true nature and lasting contentment, rooted in the present moment.

Find the book on Amazon .

2. Self-Discovery Questions: 155 Breakthrough Questions to Accelerate Massive Action – Barrie Davenport

Not all of us have the resources to employ a self-discovery coach, making it all the more important to know what questions to ask on your self-discovery journey.

Barrie Davenport’s book of 155 powerful questions is a perfect companion for self-reflection and journaling, helping readers become less reactive and take charge of their lives and destiny.

Once you become acquainted with your answers, you can strengthen self-awareness , break out of automatic patterns, and feel empowered to make positive new life changes.

3. The 365 Self-Discovery Journal: One Year of Reflection & Development – Created by 21 Exercises

Journaling remains one of the best ways to pursue self-discovery and greater self-insight (Charles, 2010).

This book provides journal lovers with a year’s worth of challenging and original questions to guide self-discovery.

By combining each prompt with thought-provoking poems and quotes, this book is an excellent tool to help steadily expand the reader’s comfort zone and curiosity across domains ranging from career and finances to love and relationships.

4. The Quenza app

Quenza was designed by our very own team as a one-stop resource for coaches and psychologists wishing to remotely support their clients’ self-inquiry between scheduled sessions.

The app links with an online dashboard and growing library of science-backed activities you can customize and send directly to your clients’ smart devices, including audio meditations, guided visualizations, and many thought-provoking reflections.

Try the app, platform, and entire library of pre-built activities for 30 days for just $1.

5. The Waking Up app

While Western takes on meditation tend to emphasize health and stress reduction, there is much more we can discover about ourselves through this powerful practice.

Waking Up , developed by philosopher and neuroscientist Sam Harris, features a rich array of audio-based meditations, exercises, and conversations with leading experts and teachers to help you make profound discoveries about the nature of your own mind.

This app is a top-rated resource for those seeking to dismantle illusions of the self and rediscover their true nature and purpose.

6. The Reflectly app

With the growing recognition of journaling as a tool for self-insight, new technologies are emerging to support this powerful practice.

Reflectly is a modern journaling app for self-care and greater happiness. Drawing on evidence-based approaches from positive psychology, mindfulness, and Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy, this app serves as an AI companion to help you manage negative thoughts and find greater happiness.

Among its personalized functions, the app includes daily quotes, a mood tracker , and personalized insights via its reporting features.

Throughout this post, we’ve discussed the importance of clarifying values to better understand what brings meaning throughout one’s journey of self-discovery. To this end, we invite you to check out our free Meaning & Valued Living Exercises Pack .

This pack features three of our top tools from the Positive Psychology Toolkit©, all of which center on the theme of values-based living:

• The Top 5 Values This exercise draws on key principles of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy to help clients begin brainstorming their values. Following this, clients will then prioritize these values in a list to identify those most central to who they are.
• Self-Eulogy This exercise invites clients to consider how they’d like to be remembered at their funeral as a means to identify and clarify values. Based on this, they can then consider how well they are living in alignment with these values.
• The Scoreboard Metaphor This exercise helps clients recognize how to enact their values through goal-setting. In particular, it draws on the metaphor of a basketball game to illustrate how living into one’s values is an ongoing process and that the paths by which we pursue our goals are opportunities to enact our values in daily life.

You can access all three exercises for free by downloading our Meaning & Valued Living Exercises Pack .

If you’re looking for more science-based ways to help others discover meaning, this collection contains 17 validated meaning tools for practitioners. Use them to help others choose directions for their lives in alignment with what is truly important to them.

17 Tools To Encourage Meaningful, Value-Aligned Living

This 17 Meaning & Valued Living Exercises [PDF] pack contains our best exercises for helping others discover their purpose and live more fulfilling, value-aligned lives.

Created by Experts. 100% Science-based.

Self-discovery is an ongoing process of stripping away that which is unimportant, reviewing our core values, and seeking to live in greater alignment with these inner truths.

Importantly, anyone can take steps toward greater self-knowledge . All that’s required is an attitude of curiosity and regular time out for meditation, reflection, or self-questioning.

We hope this article has left you feeling equipped for your journey of self-discovery, and if you decide to try out any of the tools or exercises we’ve explored, be sure to let us know in the comments.

We’d love to hear from you.

We hope you enjoyed reading this article. Don’t forget to download our three Meaning and Valued Living Exercises for free .

• 21 Exercises. (2018).  The 365 self-discovery journal: One year of reflection & development.  Author.
• Charles, J. P. (2010). Journaling: Creating space for “I”. Creative Nursing , 16 (4), 180–184.
• Davenport, B. (2015).  Self-discovery questions: 155 Breakthrough questions to accelerate massive action.  Bold Living Press.
• Elevate Life Project. (n.d.). Self discovery coaching . Retrieved October 11, 2021 from https://elevatelifeproject.com/self-discovery-coaching/
• Hollis, B. (2019, July 16). Who am I? Journaling prompts for self-discovery and self-reflection. Learning to Be Free . Retrieved October 11, 2021 from https://www.learningtobefree.com/2019/07/16/journaling-prompts-for-self-discovery/
• Horney, K. (1950). Neurosis and human growth: The struggle toward self-realization . Norton.
• Pagedar, A. (2021). Finding awareness: The journey of self-discovery . Author.
• Tolle, E. (2004).  The power of now: A guide to spiritual enlightenment.  New World Library.
• Waterman, A. S. (2011). Eudaimonic identity theory: Identity as self-discovery. In S. Schwartz, K. Luyckx, & V. Vignoles (Eds.), Handbook of identity theory and research (pp. 357–379). Springer.
• Waterman, A. S., Schwartz, S. J., Zamboanga, B. L., Ravert, R. D., Williams, M. K., Bede Agocha, V., … Brent Donnellan, M. (2010). The Questionnaire for Eudaimonic Well-Being: Psychometric properties, demographic comparisons, and evidence of validity. The Journal of Positive Psychology , 5 (1), 41–61.

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What our readers think.

This is a great article for self-discovery, I recommend it to all, it’s a must read for the young minds.

Thanks to a great counselor. I appreciate your encouragement and efforts that have served as an eyes opener to self discovery and other resources that is helpful.

You have some great resources listed here in this article. Thanks for the great read! -Ryan

Appreciated, Nicole, for insight well done to start kicking where need be. Keep up te good work!

Thanks Nicole. I will explore some of the resources which sounds great. I work with medical students, some of whom are at the very beginning of learning reflective approaches to enhance their self knowledge. The challenge is always to find a variety of ways to promote engagement. You have given me some helpful ideas.

Thank You Dr, Nicole.

I have left you a message on LinkedIn.

Thank you so much for this wonderful article. Very useful and helps in the journey of self awareness and so helpful to the therapist and counselors who are using these resources to support clients. Heartfelt thanks and gratitude for all the resources that benefit the clients and counselors who otherwise would not be able to access such great quality articles and resources. Thank you. As a counselor who is doing a lot of free counseling these resources and articles are so helpful, cause I cannot afford them otherwise. Thanks for supporting the counselors and therapist and clients who ultimately benefit.

Thanks, Nicole … you shared a very interesting set of perspective.

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DAISI EDUCATION

Data Analysis and Insight for School Improvement

Personal Learning Journey

The whole of education is underpinned by the relationship between the teacher and pupil.

As the quote above from Sidney Hook states, you don’t remember how you were taught but you do remember who taught you and what an inspiration they were. You remember the relationship that you formed with your teacher – the personal connection between you that remains with you to this day.

Every pupil has their own personal learning journey.

Teachers have the power to inspire and encourage. Every step of the way, the pupil learns something new – guided and instructed by their teacher and so learn what motivates them, what inspires them and what they want to become as they become older. Over time, they will grow in knowledge, confidence and learn so much about themselves and the world around them.

Remember these wonderful and true words from Ross Crockett..

“If there’s anyone who is in a position to bring positive change into the world every day, its a teacher. Don’t ever think that your efforts as a teacher are insignificant and make no difference. There is no telling what positive effect you will have on someone’s life, especially a students. Be Brave, Stay passionate about your kids and your work, and don’t give up – ever!” Ross Crockett, Global Digital Citizen Foundation

Assessment FOR LEARNING

Assessment seems to have got a bad name recently with the high stakes of performance tables and published results. We do seem to have created a world where any results mean judgement rather than a tool for improvement. In all phases of education, it seems the curriculum had been affected with all eyes focused on the national “assessment” at the end of the year.

However, all the best teaching uses assessment for learning purposes to enable staff to build up knowledge of what each pupil needs and requires moving forward.

• By looking at what your pupils know, you can see how to push them further onto higher levels.
• By seeing the gaps, you can work to close them with each individual in their own way.
• By gazing back at previous results, you can create a new and differentiated curriculum for the future – purchasing resources to make the marginal gains.

All research has shown that pupils learn at different rates and will respond differently to different tasks. Assessment enables teachers to be in a position of knowledge and able to focus in on the needs of each of their pupils regardless of the appearance (or not) of examinations later in the year. You can use old papers as a baseline without needing an examination to prepare for. The results and analysis within could really help teachers in the classroom now.

Let’s reclaim assessment for learning and create a personal learning journey for every pupil to help them realise their potential .

This is especially relevant this year. We have all been through a different time with school closures. lockdown rules and more imposed on us. Huge strides in online education were made in months that perhaps previously would have taken years. Teachers have created learning packs, online lessons and updated communication systems – rising to the challenge of how to educate their pupils without the the essential face-to-face contact and personal interaction.

As the IFS stated in their opinion piece..

Schools, teachers and charities – not to mention parents – have gone to huge efforts to do what they can, but  there is no substitute for time with a qualified teacher .  https://www.ifs.org.uk/publications/15291

All our pupils will have unknown issues from lockdown. Some will have been challenged, others empowered. Some will have thrived, others not. Depending on your school and catchment, some will be able to pick up learning, others will have stopped and will need to be re-integrated back into a school way of working with its rules and integral dynamics.

More than ever, we will need to learn about where our pupils are and create a personal learning journey for each of them.

We need to begin the journey where they are, understand and get to know them once more and enable them to pick up their learning at a point that is right for them… but then we will need to do assessments to place the teachers in a true  position of knowledge and the right place to work with each of their pupils.

It is our job as educators to strive for the very best for our pupils and to teach them the full curriculum to the best of our and their ability to enable them to succeed in later life. This is not a time to cut corners and miss parts out. This is the time to focus on each child more closely and enable them to continue to realise their true potential – regardless of school closures, covid-19 or any changes to the usual routine.

We must not allow ourselves to expect less of them in the long run because of the situation of Covid-19.

“Every child deserves a champion, an adult who will never give up on them, who understands the power of connection, and insists that they become the best that they can possibly be.” Rita Pearson

Create a Personal Learning Journey with QLA

The most powerful use of Question Level Analysis is the Individual Pupil Analysis .

Very simply and clearly, you can see each pupil’s strengths and challenges and be able to work with them to change this. By breaking down a test result into different areas, it enables the pupil to focus on these topics knowing the overall improvement will come.

This analysis is perfect for tutors and individual teaching assistants as they focus on the areas to aid catch-up or bespoke intervention. It can also work at the start of a school year with a baseline assessment or at the start of Secondary with a Transition document.

“Daisi Transition provides key topic evaluation to prioritise areas of focus in the catch up sessions enabling more targeted and focused intervention to take place.“  Deepings School, Peterborough

You can also look closer   at pupil groups, cohort groups, SEN needs and more. By looking in detail at your various cohorts  – gender, disadvantaged, SEN, EAL and prior attainment – you can see a more individual picture emerging. For example, maybe when you look at your girls, you will find that fractions are currently a problem, as evidenced by the results of certain questions compared with the National Average, and compared with your boys’ answers to the same question.

If this analysis is implemented before an examination and then imbedded as a clear part of school improvement planning, it can really make a difference.

“In regards to the QLA as we have such a large cohort – it is good to look for areas/types of questions where children have struggled and we need to focus on further in the future. The QLA for each individual child is useful when looking at specific children within groups SEN, FSM, PP looking particularly at their individual progress in each subject.” Headteacher, Fernwood Primary School, Nottingham

Let’s reclaim assessment for learning and create a personal learning journey for every pupil to help them realise their potential. You can do this with Question Level Analysis.

DAISI Education

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12 Comments

Assessment does seem to have become a dirty word. Useful read.

I know what you mean Tim and that is sadly due to the high stakes that the DfE put on the results. Hopefully, overtime, this will change…

Really useful read

Thank You James.

Interesting read.

Thanks for the feedback!

Thanks for your marvellous posting! I truly enjoyed reading it, you can be a great author. I will make sure to bookmark your blog and will come back later on. I want to encourage you to continue your great job, have a nice evening!

Many Thanks Daniel.

Really useful – couldn’t agree more

Thank you Elizabeth. Please do share

Really interesting read – very much needed for these times too

Thanks Jane – please do share

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Seven essential elements of a lifelong-learning mind-set

Organizations around the world are experiencing rapid, sweeping changes in what they do, how they do it, and even why they do it. Increasing globalization and new technologies demand new modes of working and talent with new and diverse skills. To flourish in this environment, individuals must keep learning new skills. In fact, studies show that workers who maintain their ability to learn outpace other professionals. 1 Barbara Mistick and Karie Willyerd, Stretch: How to Future-Proof Yourself for Tomorrow‘s Workplace, first edition, Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 2016. The people who will thrive in the 21st century will be those who embrace lifelong learning and continually increase their knowledge, skills, and competencies. 2 Hae-du Hwang and Daesung Seo, “Policy implication of lifelong learning program of EU for Korea,” Procedia—Social and Behavioral Sciences, 2012, Volume 46, pp. 4822–9, doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2012.06.342.

Stay current on your favorite topics

Building a workforce of such lifelong learners is critical for organizations to respond to a changing business environment. To ensure they have the required skills and talent, companies must create a learning-for-all culture in which people are encouraged and inspired to continue learning new skills.

But the burden does not fall exclusively on businesses; it’s also up to the individual to seize the opportunity to get ahead. Seven distinctive practices can help employees become lifelong learners and remain relevant in today’s business environment (Exhibit 1).

1. Focus on growth

Learning starts and ends with the individual. But is there a limit to how much a person can learn? Is intelligence fixed at birth or can it be developed? In 2008, researchers asked the ten best chess players in the world—people who had spent 10,000 to 50,000 hours mastering the game—to take an IQ test. 3 Nicholas Mackintosh, IQ and Human Intelligence, first edition, Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press, 1998. They discovered that three out of ten had a below-average IQ. Since playing chess at the top level in the world is associated with extreme intelligence, they wondered how this result was possible.

Many studies have confirmed that it is not intelligence that creates expertise but effort and practice—that is, hard work. 4 Geoffrey Colvin, “What it takes to be great,” Fortune, October 19, 2006, fortune.com. The most successful people devote the most hours to deliberate practice, tackling tasks beyond their current level of competence and comfort, observing the results, and making adjustments. 5 Edward T. Cokely, K. Anders Ericsson, and Michael J. Prietula, “The making of an expert,” Harvard Business Review, July–August 2007, hbr.org. Such studies show that intelligence can be developed and that there are no limitations on what we can learn throughout our lives. Indeed, the brain is like a muscle that gets stronger with use, and learning prompts neurons in the brain to make new connections. 6 Jesper Mogensen, “Cognitive recovery and rehabilitation after brain injury: Mechanisms, challenges and support,” Brain Injury: Functional Aspects, Rehabilitation and Prevention, Copenhagen, Denmark: IntechOpen, March 2, 2012, pp. 121–50, doi.org/10.5772/28242.

Over the past 30 years, Carol Dweck, a psychologist at Stanford University, has intensively studied learners. 7 Carol S. Dweck, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, first edition, New York, NY: Random House, 2006. She has determined that people generally fall into one of two categories when it comes to how they view their ability to learn: a fixed mind-set or a growth mind-set. And she has concluded that mind-set has a significant impact on the effort put forward, perception of criticism, willingness to accept failure, and, ultimately, how much will be learned.

People with a fixed mind-set believe that their learning potential is predetermined by their genes, their socioeconomic background, or the opportunities available to them. They might have thoughts like, “I’m not good at public speaking, so I should avoid it.”

Those with a growth mind-set, however, believe that their true potential is unknown because it is impossible to foresee what might happen as a result of passion, effort, and practice. They appreciate challenges because they see them as opportunities for personal growth. Ultimately, they may achieve more of their potential than someone with a fixed mind-set.

Organizations can encourage employees to tackle new challenges and learn new skills by assigning them new and different tasks. But individuals need to believe that they have unlimited capacity to learn and grow. People can take the following actions to develop a growth mind-set 8 Jim Thompson, Mindset: Powerful Insights from Carol Dweck, Stanford University Athletic Department, Positive Coaching Alliance, 2010, positivecoach.org. :

• Determine if you have a fixed mind-set and, if you do, establish why.
• Recognize that you have a choice in how you approach and interpret new tasks, ideas, or situations.
• Learn to hear and observe the fixed mind-set voice without judgment while continuing to embrace challenges.
• Refocus with a growth mind-set.

2. Become a serial master

Traditionally, workers developed deep expertise in one discipline early in their career and supplemented this knowledge over the years with on-the-job development of integrative competencies. This kind of knowledge can be represented by a T-shape or profile  (Exhibit 2).

Longevity has made this approach obsolete. Since 1840, life expectancy has increased three months for every year, meaning that people are staying, and will continue to stay, in the workforce longer. 9 Lynda Gratton and Andrew Scott, The 100-Year Life: Living and Working in an Age of Longevity, first edition, London, UK: Bloomsbury, 2016. Because of this trend, they need depth in different areas of expertise, supplemented with targeted on-the-job development, to stay relevant. Today, knowledge should resemble an M-shape or profile (Exhibit 3).

Imagine someone has her master’s degree in journalism and begins her career working at a publication. During her 30s, she finds herself specializing in financial journalism, so she decides to pursue a master’s degree in business economics. As she proceeds into their 40s and 50s, she might continue to grow by taking in-depth master classes on related topics, such as digitization.

Relevant skills have become currency in the workplace. Using the M-profile as a guide and achieving mastery in a few topics will set professionals apart. Organizations, for their part, can support workers in their development by offering stipends for coursework and suggesting master classes and professional development sessions.

Many researchers have suggested that learning takes place only when people stretch outside their comfort zone. 10 Andy Molinsky, “If you’re not outside your comfort zone, you won’t learn anything,” Harvard Business Review, July 29, 2016, hbr.org. When people work on tasks that aren’t entirely comfortable, they are said to be in their learning zone, where they acquire new knowledge and develop and practice new skills. 11 Andy Molinsky, “If you’re not outside your comfort zone, you won’t learn anything,”  Harvard Business Review,  July 29, 2016, hbr.org.

The learning zone exposes people to risk and stress, which can either be helpful or detrimental to their efforts. According to the Yerkes–Dodson Law, a curvilinear relationship exists between an increase of stress (which they term “arousal”) and the enhancement of performance (Exhibit 4). 12 John D. Dodson and Robert M. Yerkes, “The relation of strength of stimulus to rapidity of habit-formation,” Journal of Comparative Neurology, November 1908, Volume 18, Number 5, pp. 459–82, doi.org/10.1002/cne.920180503. When people first encounter a new task, they experience “good” stress, leading to a higher level of performance. However, too much stress can cause anxiety (“bad” stress) and have a negative impact on performance. So, while it’s important for people to stretch outside their comfort zone, it’s critical to choose the right tasks and the right pace.

The personal growth and stretching that individuals experience from continued exposure to the learning zone typically follows a standard progression represented as an S-curve. 13 Whitney Johnson, “Throw your life a curve,” Harvard Business Review, September 3, 2012, hbr.org. Developed in the 1960s, the S-curve shows how, why, and at what rate ideas and products spread throughout societies. 14 Whitney Johnson, “Throw your life a curve,”  Harvard Business Review,  September 3, 2012, hbr.org.

When people try something new, such as starting a new job, they are at the beginning of a new S-curve. They experience a steep learning curve in which their knowledge and skills increase rapidly. During this first stage of the S-curve, their progress and the business impact of their performance are limited. After a time, they reach an inflection point where their understanding, competence, and confidence suddenly accelerate very quickly, and they have an increasing impact on the business.

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Continuing in the role for a bit longer, they will reach the upper, flat part of the S-curve. At this stage, the excitement of the new role has worn off, personal learning and development have stalled, tasks and activities have become automatic, boredom has kicked in, and their impact on the business has slowed down significantly.

If people stay in their comfort zone—not seeking out new challenges or new roles—their performance may suffer, and they might even be replaced. Lifelong learners, however, can avoid this pitfall and find new ways to stretch by starting a new S-curve. And organizations can help keep employees on track by providing learning and stretching opportunities at timed intervals.

4. Build a personal brand

Everyone has a professional brand, whether it’s a carefully crafted expression of who they want to be or simply the impression they make on others. A brand communicates a person’s value and provides a focus for personal learning and development. A brand that defines a person’s best elements and differentiates him is essential in achieving career goals—and in demonstrating his accomplishments, both to potential employers and current colleagues. When colleagues understand who a person is and what unique capabilities they bring to the table, that person is more likely to receive interesting new assignments or be considered first for new positions.

Key elements of a personal brand include authenticity, a clear value proposition, a story, expertise, consistency, visibility, and connections. In Leadership Brand: Developing Customer-Focused Leaders to Drive Performance and Build Lasting Value, Dave Ulrich and Norm Smallwood suggest individuals can build a brand by setting clear goals for the year ahead, acknowledging what they want to be known for, being clear about their identity, and writing and testing a personal brand statement.

Once individuals craft their brand statement, they can use social media tools to help convey that brand and their skill set. For example, it’s possible to earn digital badges for a LinkedIn profile through online learning vendors such as Coursera, edX, Lynda.com, and Udemy. Such badges demonstrate not only a person’s skills but also their commitment to continued growth.

A personal brand is not static—it should evolve over the course of a career. Since most people develop new skills and play different professional roles, they will need to rebrand themselves multiple times. Lifelong learners use the process of building a brand to think through what skills they have and which ones they should develop to make themselves more marketable—both within the company and beyond. L&D professionals can counsel people in this process and provide a way for them to develop the necessary skills.

5. Own your development

Lifelong employment no longer exists, so people today expect to work for many organizations throughout their careers—and maybe even for themselves at times. To maintain forward motion in an environment that lacks continuity, people need to own their development and take charge of their learning through the following actions (Exhibit 5).

Create and execute learning goals. To become and stay successful, people need to ask themselves, “How can I ensure that I’m more valuable at the end of a year than I was at the beginning?” Individuals can create learning goals by assessing their current knowledge and expertise and identifying competency gaps. They should also plan to pursue the most important learning goals relentlessly, a trait that can become a competitive advantage.

Measure progress. People should periodically reflect and assess their progress. Learning journals or logs in which people can track what they learn have proved to be extremely valuable.

Work with mentors and seek feedback. Lifelong learners can forge a relationship with a mentor by letting different stakeholders know that they are open to feedback and by setting up formal check-ins to review their work and collect feedback. Feedback from supervisors, peers, direct reports, customers, and clients is a critical component of professional development.

Make personal investments. The level of learning required for individuals who want to retain a market-relevant skill set exceeds the amount of formal and informal learning hours that most organizations offer their employees. Therefore, people need to make more personal time and financial investments in their growth and development.

The following questions can help guide people as they endeavor to own their development 15 Robert Kegan and Lisa Lahey, Immunity to change: How to overcome it and unlock the potential in yourself and your organization, first edition, Boston, MA: Harvard Business Press, 2009. :

• What is one thing you are working on that will require that you grow to accomplish it?
• How are you working on it?
• Who else knows and cares about it?
• Why does this matter to you?

6. Do what you love

Most people are in the workforce for 40 to 50 years, and they spend a lot of their waking hours at work. As such, work has a huge impact on a person’s health and well-being, so it’s imperative that people do what they love.

Elevating Learning & Development: Insights and Practical Guidance from the Field

A sense of purpose is essential for a well-lived life. In Japan, the term ikigai means “reason for being,” and it encompasses all elements of life—including career, hobbies, relationships, and spirituality. The discovery of one’s ikigai brings satisfaction and imbues life with meaning. 16 Gordon Mathews, What Makes Life Worth Living?: How Japanese and Americans Make Sense of Their Worlds, first edition, Berkeley and Los Angeles, CA: University of California Press, 1996. A study of more than 43,000 Japanese adults showed that the risk of mortality was significantly higher among subjects who did not find a sense of ikigai than among those who did. 17 Toshimasa Sone et al., “Sense of life worth living (ikigai) and mortality in Japan: Ohsaki study,” Psychosomatic Medicine, August 2008, Volume 70, Number 6, pp. 709–15, doi.org/10.1097/PSY.0b013e31817e7e64.

To find ikigai, start by answering four questions (Exhibit 6) 18 Alyjuma, “Ikigai: The reason you get up in the morning,” blog entry by Aly Juma, alyjuma.com. :

• What do you love?
• What does the world need?
• What can you be paid for?
• What are you good at?

Ikigai lives at the intersection of these questions. Of course, everyone’s journey of discovery will be different. What’s more, the meaning of work depends on how we view our work—our motivation as well as the objective of the work. There are there common different ways to look at the meaning of work (Exhibit 7).

Although organizations have a great responsibility to provide a context for meaning, individuals can do much to create a calling for themselves.

Exploring career purpose, meaning, and passion is not easy. It takes intentional reflection and planning. Individuals can also seek guidance from a career counselor or explore life design. Life design is a concept emerging from career choice and development theories as a method to help people explore and develop their identity and deliberately design a life that will give them meaning. 19 Mark L. Savickas et al., “Life designing: A paradigm for career construction in the 21st century,” Journal of Vocational Behavior, 2009, Volume 75, Number 3, pp. 239–50, doi. org.

Today, academic institutions are also helping set people up to craft a life they can love. For example, Bill Burnett and Dave Evans created a popular “Designing Your Life” program at Stanford University. Intended for juniors and seniors looking for career guidance, the course teaches learners to apply design principles to life and career planning. Participants learn about five mind-sets: be curious, try stuff, reframe the problem, know it’s a process, and ask for help. They learn about a range of different tools, from design thinking and a daily gratitude journal to decks of cards featuring problem-solving techniques and life-design interviews. Instead of taking a final exam, learners present three radically different five-year “odyssey” plans to their peers. Alumni of the program report that they repeatedly refer back to the tools and their odyssey plans as they evaluate and redesign their lives. Burnett and Evans have made their philosophy and tools available to everyone in their book, Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life. 20 Bill Burnett and Dave Evans, Designing Your Life: How to Build a Well-Lived, Joyful Life, first edition, New York, NY: Alfred A. Knopf, 2017.

7. Stay vital

The ability to stay vital can contribute significantly to a person’s development. This goal demands that individuals make health and well-being a priority—paying attention to exercise, nutrition, sleep, and relaxation (for example, mindfulness and yoga) and developing good, sustainable habits. The impact of such personal care and self-nurturing can be far-reaching: sufficient sleep has a huge impact on our ability to acquire, retain, and retrieve knowledge. Sleep also affects attention and concentration, creativity, development of insight, pattern recognition, decision-making, emotional reactivity, socioemotional processing, development of trusted relationships, and more. 21 Nick van Dam and Els van der Helm, “ The organizational cost of insufficient sleep ,” McKinsey Quarterly, February 2016.

Longevity in the workforce requires reinvention and growth. A reservoir of energy to support this hard work will help set individuals on the path to lifelong learning and provide the resilience needed to sustain these efforts.

While current circumstances demand that workers today be lifelong learners, many education systems and organizations are not set up to support this kind of learning. Individuals, then, must take responsibility for their continued development and growth. These seven elements can serve as a guide to those who wish to stay relevant and grow into new and different roles throughout their career.

For a free survey on lifelong learning, go to www.reachingyourpotential.org .

A version of this chapter was published in Nick van Dam, Learn or Lose , Breukelen, Netherlands: Nyenrode Publishing, November 2016. It is also included in Elevating Learning & Development: Insights and Practical Guidance from the Field , August 2018.

Jacqueline Brassey is director of Enduring Priorities Learning in McKinsey’s Amsterdam office, where Nick van Dam is an alumnus and senior adviser to the firm as well as professor and chief of the IE University (Madrid) Center for Learning Innovation;  Katie Coates is a senior learning manager in the Philadelphia office.

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• Open access
• Published: 23 October 2020

A systematic literature review of personalized learning terms

• Atikah Shemshack   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0003-4964-6171 1 &
• Jonathan Michael Spector 1  

Smart Learning Environments volume  7 , Article number:  33 ( 2020 ) Cite this article

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Learning is a natural human activity that is shaped by personal experiences, cognitive awareness, personal bias, opinions, cultural background, and environment. Learning has been defined as a stable and persistent change in what a person knows and can do. Learning is formed through an individual’s interactions, including the conveyance of knowledge and skills from others and experiences. So, learning is a personalized experience that allows one to expand their knowledge, perspective, skills, and understanding. Therefore, personalized learning models can help to meet individual needs and goals. Furthermore, to personalize the learning experience, technology integration can play a crucial role. This paper provides a review of the recent research literature on personalized learning as technology is changing how learning can be effectively personalized. The emphasis is on the terms used to characterize learning as those can suggest a framework for personalized and will eventually be used in meta-analyses of research on personalized learning, which is beyond the scope of this paper.

Introduction

Personalized learning has been a topic of research for a long time. However, around 2008, personalized learning started to draw more attention and take on a transformed meaning as seen in Fig.  1 . However, we believe the variety of terms that have been used for personalized learning seems to be an obstacle to the progress of personalized learning theories and research. Although there exists an abundance of the resources/studies on personalized learning, not having a readily agreed-upon term of personalized learning might be the obstacle in research progress on personalized learning. In response to this need, this paper is focused on analyzing the terms that have been used for personalized learning. A distinctly personalized learning approach can help the educational researchers to build up research on previous data, instead of trying to start new research from scratch each time. This paper will present a research-based framework for personalized learning and discuss future research directions, issues, and challenges through an in-depth analysis of the definitions and terms used for personalized learning.

The number of published papers on “personalized learning ”

Personalized learning has existed for hundreds of years in the form of apprenticeship and mentoring. As educational technologies began to mature in the last half of the previous century, personalized learning took the form of intelligent tutoring systems. In this century, big data and learning analytics are poised to transform personalized learning once again. Learning has been characterized as a stable and persistent change in what a person knows and can do (Spector, 2015 ). Personalized learning is a complex activity approach that is the product of self-organization (Chatti, 2010 ; Miliband, 2006 ) or learning and customized instruction that considers individual needs and goals. Personalized learning can be an efficient approach that can increase motivation, engagement and understanding (Pontual Falcão, e Peres, Sales de Morais and da Silva Oliveira, 2018 ), maximizing learner satisfaction, learning efficiency, and learning effectiveness (Gómez, Zervas, Sampson and Fabregat, 2014 ). However, while such personalized learning is now possible, it remains as one of the biggest challenges in modern educational systems. In this paper a review of progress in personalized learning using current technologies is provided. The emphasis is on the characteristics of personalized learning that need to be taken into consideration to have a well-developed concept of personalized learning.

We started with the definition of personalized learning suggested by Spector ( 2014 , 2018 ) and others that are discussed below, which requires a digital learning environment to be classified as a personalized learning environment to be adaptive to individual knowledge, experience and interests and to be effective and efficient in supporting and promoting desired learning outcomes. These characteristics are those which are typically discussed in the research community although we found it challenging to find a sufficient number of published cases that reported effect sizes and details of the sample in order to conduct a formal meta-analysis. Lacking those cases suggests that personalized learning in the digital era is still in its infancy. As a result, we conducted a more informal albeit systematic review of published research on personalized learning.

Furthermore, we, along with many educational technologists, believe an efficient personalized learning approach can increase learners’ motivation and engagement in learning activities so that improved learning results. While that outcome now seems achievable, it remains a largely unrealized opportunity according to this research review. Truong ( 2016 ) stated that providing the same content to students with different qualifications and personal traits and having different interests and needs is not considered adequate anymore when learning can now be personalized. Miliband ( 2006 , as cited in Lee, Huh, Lin and Reigeluth, 2018 ) promoted personalized learning to be the solution to tailoring the learning according to individuals’ needs and prior experience so as to allow everyone to reach their maximum potential through customized instruction (Hsieh and Chen, 2016 ; Lin, Yeh, Hung and Chang, 2013 ).The customized instruction that includes what is taught, how it is taught, and the pace at which it is taught. This allows learning to meet individual needs, interests and circumstances which can be quite diverse (Brusilovsky and Peylo, 2003 ; Liu and Yu, 2011 ). Furthermore, FitzGerald et al. ( 2018 ) pointed out the personalization of learning is now a recurring trend across government agencies, popular media, conferences, research papers, and technological innovations.

Personalized learning is in demand (Huang, Liang, Su and Chen, 2012 ) due to new technologies involving big data and learning analytics. It should be tailored to and continuously modified to an individual learner’s conditions, abilities, preferences, background knowledge, interests, and goals and adaptable to the learner’s evolving skills and knowledge (Sampson, Karagiannidis and Kinshuk, 2002 ; Sharples, 2000 ). Today’s personalized learning theories are inspired by educational philosophy from the progressive era in the previous century, especially John Dewey’s ( 1915 , 1998 ) emphasis on experiential, learner-centered learning, social learning, extension of the curriculum, and fitting for a changing world. McCombs and Whisler ( 1997 ; as cited in Lee et al., 2018 ) claimed that a learner-centered environment develops as it considers learners’ unique characteristics using the best knowledge of teaching and learning which are available. Furthermore, Lockspeiser and Kaul ( 2016 ) claimed that individualized learning is a tool to facilitate learner-centered education. FitzGerald et al. ( 2018 ) pointed out that personalization is a crucial topic of current interest in technology-oriented learning design and discussion for government policymakers, but less so in educational research. This might be a good explanation of disunity of personalized learning approaches.

On the other hand, Niknam and Thulasiraman ( 2020 ) argued that educational society has been interested in having a personalized learning system that adjusts the pedagogy, curriculum, and learning environment for learners to meet their learning needs and preferences. A personalized learning system can adapt itself when providing learning support to different learners to defeat the weakness of one-size-fits-all approaches in technology-enabled learning systems. The goal is to have a learning system that can dynamically adapt itself based on a learner’s characteristics and needs to provide personalized learning. Human one-on-one tutors can do this and now it is possible for digital systems to do so as well. Schmid and Petko ( 2019 ) pointed out that a look at international research literature shows that personalized learning is a multilayered construct with numerous definitions and various forms of implementation. Which supports our claim that one of the most critical problems with personalized learning is, there is no readily agreed-upon meaning of the phrase ‘personalized learning’. Schmid and Petko ( 2019 ) supported this claim by stating that a clearly defined concept of personalized learning is still lacking; instead, it serves as an umbrella term for educational strategies that try to do justice to the individual’s abilities, knowledge, and learning needs of each student. Spector ( 2013 ) claimed that there would be more robust information to support personalized learning as technology develops. So many different terms have been used in the replacement of ‘personalized learning’. Researchers could not locate a systematic literature review on personalized learning terms that review the terms that have been used for personalized learning, and it is important to address this need. Therefore, this review was done to close that gap and respond to the need for a unified, personalized learning term. As a result, personalized learning definitions and the terms that have been used interchangeably, such as adaptive learning, individualized instruction, and customized learning are analyzed in this paper. These terms were chosen because they have been most used in the education field (Reisman, 2014 ). In the next several sections, each term will be defined, and their relationship with personalized learning will be discussed. The analysis of these terms guided the systematic review of the research literature that follows.

• Adaptive learning

Most educators recognize the advantages of adaptive learning, but evidence-based research stays limited as adaptive learning is still evolving (Liu, McKelroy, Corliss and Carrigan, 2017 ). Adaptive learning is one of the terms that has been used interchangeably with personalized learning. The adaptive learning system is built on principles that have been around for a very long time dating back to the era of apprenticeship training and human tutoring. However, many other labels such as individualized instruction, self-paced instruction, and personalized instruction were used interchangeably while trying to produce the most suitable sequence of learning units for each learner (Garcia-Cabot, De-Marcos and Garcia-Lopez, 2015 ; Reisman, 2014 ). While early forms of adaptive learning (e.g., apprenticeship training and human tutoring) only dealt with one or a very small number of learners, the current interest is using adaptive learning for large numbers of learners, which is why there is such interest in big data and learning analytics.

For instance, adaptive learning has been interchangeably used by Yang, Hwang and Yang ( 2013 ) in their study that focused on the development of adaptive learning by considering students’ preferences (Dwivedi and Bharadwaj, 2013 ) and characteristics, including learning styles (Çakıroğlu, 2014 ; Klašnja-Milićević, Vesin, Ivanović and Budimac, 2011 ) and cognitive styles (Lo, Chan and Yeh, 2012 ) which concluded to be effective. Wang and Liao ( 2011 ) defined adaptive learning as a developed system (Lu, Chang, Kinshuk, Huang and Chen, 2014 ) to accommodate a variety of individual differences (Scheiter et al., 2019 ; Wang & Liao, 2011 ) such as gender, learning motivation, cognitive type, and learning style to determine optimal adaptive learning experience that accommodates a variety of individual differences (Afini Normadhi et al., 2019 ) to remove barriers of time and location. Griff and Matter ( 2013 ) discussed that adaptive learning is also referred to as computer-based learning, adaptive educational hypermedia, and intelligent tutoring. Furthermore, Hooshyar, Ahmad, Yousefi, Yusop and Horng ( 2015 ) used personalized and adaptive learning to explain the importance of the Intelligent Tutoring System (Aeiad and Meziane, 2019 ) for implementing one-to-one personalized and adaptive teaching. “Although the terms ‘personalized learning’ and ‘adaptive learning’ are different, they are often used interchangeably in various studies” (Aroyo et al., 2006 ; Göbel et al., 2010 ; Gómez et al., 2014 ; Lin et al., 2013 , as cited in Xie, Chu, Hwang and Wang, 2019 , p.2).

Based on this review, adaptive learning systems are defined as those that are computerized learning systems that adapt learning content, presentation styles, or learning paths based on individual students’ profiles, learning status, or human factors (Chen, Liu and Chang, 2006 ; Tseng et al., 2008 ; Yang et al., 2013 ).

Individualized instruction

Individualized instruction is one of the terms that are often used to talk about the specific needs and goals of individuals to be addressed during instruction. U.S. Department of Education ( 2010 ) defined personalized learning as involving customizing the learning pace to individual learners (individualization), tailoring instructional methods (differentiation), and personalizing learning content. This notion has evolved from one-on-one human tutoring. It is not agreed upon whether individualization is a component of personalized learning or another term that can be used in place of personalized learning. The review results show that instead of being a component, individualized instruction has been used as a replacement term for personalized learning and is a product of personalized learning. Chatti, Jarke and Specht ( 2010 ) and Chou, Lai, Chao, Lan and Chen ( 2015 ) had used both terms without defining/explaining how they relate to each other . Bahçeci and Gürol ( 2016 ) created a portal that offers individualized learning content based on the individual’s level of cognitive knowledge. Bahçeci and Gürol ( 2016 ) stated that education should be done by recognizing the individual differences of the students such as students learning styles (Çakıroğlu, 2014 ; Klašnja-Milićević et al., 2011 ) and characteristics. The researchers observed that Bahçeci and Gürol ( 2016 ) used individualized learning and personalized learning interchangeably without pointing out that they were doing so.

Also, most individualized learning studies have used individualized instruction to refer to IEP (individualized educational plans) for students with disabilities to accommodate their needs and goals. Even though individualized instruction is suggested as an approach that individualize material to improve the learning experience for students with learning disabilities, it can benefit all students (Barrio et al., 2017 ; Ko, Chiang, Lin and Chen, 2011 ). Personalized learning considers students’ interests, needs, readiness, and motivation and adapts to their progress by situating the learner at the center of the learning process. Individualized learning allows for individualization of learning based on the learner’s unique needs (Cavanagh, 2014 ; Lockspeiser & Kaul, 2016 ). While a learner-centered paradigm of education has influenced personalized learning, the current teacher-student ratios in school systems seem to be an obstacle to make learning experiences personalized for individual students without technology (Lee et al., 2018 ), with the exception of the requirement for IEPs in many school districts. We follow the definition offered by the U.S. Department of Education and note that individualized learning in school systems requires significant technology support, such as big data and learning analytics.

Customized learning

While Lee et al. ( 2018 ) suggested a learner-centered system that supports diverse needs and development of individual learners’ potentials. This system develops customized instructional methods and learning content for individual learners with unique characteristics and interests. Lee et al. ( 2018 ) suggested that learner-centered learning and personalized learning are blended and considered together. Lee et al. ( 2018 ) defined a personalized learning plan (PLP) that refers to a customized instructional plan (Somyürek, 2015 ) that considers individual differences and needs, characteristics, interests, and academic mastery. The PLP includes the notions of individualization, differentiation, and personalization that allows learning to be personally relevant, engaging, appropriate to the learners’ capabilities, and respectful of individual differences, making learning useful and motivational.

The review of those three terms reveals a great deal of overlap with an emphasis on the need to use technology to support such efforts. This study reviews definitions of personalized learning terms used in research papers from 2010 to 2020 by systematically reviewing the literature to compare the similarities and differences in definitions of each of these terms. The hope is to synthesize the terms used for personalized learning so the researchers can analyze and go through the research in the field and conduct meta-analyses and syntheses of the research literature. Also, analyzing the definitions of the term ‘personalized learning’, ‘adaptive learning’, ‘individualized instruction’, and ‘customized learning’ that have been used can help to develop a unified definition for personalized learning that can lead a framework. The framework can help with having a common understanding of personalized learning rather than a collection of loosely defined systems. A unified description of personalized learning and analyzing the studies related to personalized learning can help consolidate findings and suggest new areas to explore.

Our idea of personalized learning rests on the foundation that humans learn through experience and by constructing knowledge. Constructivism claims that learners’ acquired knowledge and understanding, determine learning ability and that knowledge acquisition is a process of construction according to individuals’ experience (Ormrod, 2011 ). Personalized learning is influenced by a learner’s prior experiences, backgrounds, interests, needs, goals, and motivation. Moreover, it is accomplished via meaningful interactions in individual learners’ lives. Furthermore, no conscious effort is needed to be actively learning while engaged in everyday life (Kinshuk, 2012 ) although reflection and mega-cognition can promote learning.

Adaptive instruction, blended instruction, differentiation, customized instruction, individualized learning, adaptive learning, proactive supports, real-world connections, and applications are hallmarks of good personalized learning. In general, personalized-learning models seek to adapt to the pace of learning and the instructional strategies, content and activities being used to fit best each learner’s strengths, weaknesses, and interests. Personalized learning is about giving students some control over their learning (Benhamdi, Babouri and Chiky, 2017 ; Jung, Kim, Yoon, Park and Oakley, 2019 ; Tomberg, Laanpere, Ley and Normak, 2013 ), differentiating instruction for each learner, and providing real-time individualized feedback to teachers and learners (Nedungadi and Raman, 2012 ), which is all effortlessly blended throughout the learning activity. Putting a framework together can help with a practical personalized learning model for all. The model can be developed and evolved as technology develops and we learn more about human learning and machine learning.

Research methodology

For this review, the guidelines published by Okoli to conducting a systematic literature review for Information Systems Research were adapted (Okoli, 2015 ). Okoli’s work provides a detailed framework for writing a systematic literature review with its roots in information technology. As this systematic literature review is rooted in information technology, it was deemed appropriate to use Okoli’s work as the basis for this body of work.

Okoli presented eight significant steps that need to be followed to conduct a scientifically, rigorous systematic literature review. These steps are listed below:

Identify the purpose: The researchers identified the purpose and intended goals of the study to ensure the review is clear to readers.

Draft protocol and train the team: Reviewers agreed on procedures to follow to ensure consistency in how they complete the review.

Apply practical inclusion screen: Reviewers were specific about what studies they considered for review and which ones they eliminated without further examination. The reviewers created four phases to review papers to produce the final papers to review.

Search for literature: Reviewers described the literature search details and justified how they ensured the search’s comprehensiveness.

Extract data: After reviewers identified all the studies to be included in the review, they systematically extract the applicable information from each study by going through four review phases they explained in search query.

Appraise quality: The reviewers explicitly listed the criteria used to decide which papers they will exclude for insufficient quality in the search query. Researchers reviewed all papers and decided on final papers after explicit four search phases. They finalized the papers to be reviewed, depending on the content of the papers’ content and quality.

Synthesize studies: The researchers analyzed the data obtained from the studies using appropriate qualitative techniques.

Write the review: The process of a systematic literature review was explicitly described in adequate detail that other researchers can independently reproduce the review’s results.

Research question

This literature review promotes research around personalized learning in informational education. To fulfill answer of “What are the similarities and differences of different terms used for personalized learning approaches?” we need a research base and theoretical framework that provides answers to basic questions. Furthermore, the following questions are sub-questions to be considered during the study.

How is personalized learning defined?

How adaptive learning has been used and how it relates to personalized learning?

How individualized instruction has been used and how it relates to personalized learning?

How is customized learning connected to personalized learning?

What components need to be included in a well-defined personalized learning term?

Also, researchers are seeking a unified definition of personalized learning that will include all those different components. That is the focus of this literature review was conducted.

Sources of literature

To answer the research question, the researchers have selected the following well known and reputable databases to base this literature review: Scopus, Science Direct, EBSCOhost, IEEE Xplore, JSTOR, and Web of Science to ensure all related journals of the field are included. The most relevant journals for the systematic review were chosen consistently from these databases. Also, Google Scholar h5-index for the category “Educational technology” was used as the starting point since this category is a specific category for personalized learning studies.

Databases in which to base this literature review are listed in Table  1 .

The top nine journals from the “Educational Technology” category from google scholar h5-index selected to keep the range of the papers manageable while trying to ensure the review is broad enough to include enough studies that can satisfactorily answer the research question. Later, most of the journals about educational technology were indexed. SJR (SCIMAGO JOURNAL RANK) was used to validate the impact of the selected journals. Even though the impact factor is not perfectly aligned with Google Scholar’s h5-index order, the selected journals listed the most impactful journals in the educational technology field. Also, even though Journal of Learning Analytics was listed on google scholar and showed having a high impact on education technology, researchers have not located any qualified paper according to selection procedures, thus this journal was eliminated from review.

This review solely retrieved peer-reviewed article papers from online journals because those online academic journals are known to be reliable and authoritative. They allow the readers to verify the facts from their sources, which increases the reliability of enriched studies filled with data and facts. They enable the readers to perform comprehensive research and allow the reader to access more data without the limitations of space and time. A defined method was set in this research for selecting journals, to keep the process methodologically reliable and scientifically consistent. The researchers review the main databases for educational technology to ensure all related journals of the field are included. This review is only focused on journals to keep the scope of the review manageable and provide reviewed data to create a resource for future studies.

Journals in which to base this literature review are listed in Table  2 .

Supplementary procedures

Relevant papers were initially identified through traditional searches of online databases and journals. These papers were subsequently analyzed to determine their applicability to the study.

Search query

An appropriate search query was formulated that would find relevant personalized learning papers. The search query was as follows: ( Publication Title : (“journal name”)) AND (“term”) and the journals listed in the table were searched for each of following terms: “personalized learning”, “adaptive learning”, “individualized instruction”, and “customized learning.”

Inclusion/exclusion criteria

Four phases were determined to meet the paper’s inclusion criteria in the final set to be reviewed. First phase was initial search, searching each term ‘ personalized learning,’ ‘adaptive learning,’ ‘individualized instruction,’ ‘customized learning ,’ filtered years to 2010–2020 to review personalized learning papers which has been a hot topic for the research and policymakers. The language was filtered to English only to not wait on translation, the paper addressed technology integration , and type of the paper research articles that published in one of the peer-reviewed scientific journals listed to keep the scope manageable. The second search phase was eliminating by title, reviewing the abstract and keywords; researchers went through titles, abstracts, and keywords of each result of the initial search and included the ones look related to the term.

The next search phase, reading the abstract of each paper of the second search result-set, looking for a definition to see if it mentions the definition and/or terms that have been used for the term and the paper was available at one of the free online databases or the researchers’ university library. The fourth step was to download all those papers to Mendeley (indexing database) and index them under sub-folders for each journal database. Then the entire paper was read to determine if the paper was to be included in the literature review by looking for components and definitions of personalized learning and star the ones to be included in the review. Each paper that met the inclusion criteria was read in its entirety a second time to validate the paper’s decision in the final data set.

An initial search on google scholar on ‘ personalized learning’ shows that the number of published papers on personalized learning has progressively increased year by year; especially there is a jump in 2008 as seen in Fig. 1 . The date range of 2010 to the present day was chosen as this when personalized learning term started to gain more attention to research due to technology usage increase in education. The first smartphone was released in June 2007, which might be an element of the increase due to flexibility and access it provides. Cheung and Hew ( 2009 ) claimed that handheld devices are increasingly being used in educational settings. Primarily, papers published after the 2000s are focused on more technology-enhanced personalized learning. Figure 1 shows the results of the initial google scholar search on “personalized learning” published papers (Fig. 1 ).

Nine journals were determined as the source of papers to be reviewed for this study. Each journal was searched for “personalized learning,” “adaptive learning,” “individualized instruction,” “customized learning,” and each result gone through the inclusion criteria and final phase; papers were saved in Mendeley under subfolders for each journal. Table 3 are search results for each phase by journals.

The title, abstract, and when necessary, the full paper was reviewed to decide if the paper met the inclusion criteria. This process helped to finalize the papers that will be used for this study, and the result set for “personalized learning” and the result set for each term to be reviewed is shown in Table 3 . Some of the papers that did not fit the inclusion criteria are referenced in this paper as they provide valuable information about personalized learning. We reviewed 978 papers, and 4 phases of inclusion ended up with 56 relevant, high-quality papers. The 56 papers identified are marked in the references section with an asterisk. The systematic review methodology was used, and our literature search resulted in 56 relevant studies meeting the inclusion criteria. As shown in Table  4 , 56 papers met the minimum quality criteria and were examined in detail; 33 of them use personalized learning, 17 adaptive learning, three individualized instruction, and three customized learning as the main term in the paper.

Our findings revealed that although so many terms are used in education settings, by policymakers and cooperate settings, in the research field, the terms used for personalized learning are unified, and mostly personalized learning and/or adaptive learning is being used. For example, Chatti et al. ( 2010 ) and Peng, Ma and Spector ( 2019 ) are the ones who put the two most common terms used for personalized learning together and started to use “personalized adaptive learning,” which might be a good lead for future studies. However, future research needs to focus on components included in the personalized adaptive learning term’s definition, and components are included in it. Chatti et al. ( 2010 ) and Peng et al. ( 2019 ) s paper put all together very well, and Peng et al. ( 2019 ) called it a personalized adaptive smart learning environment. Future studies can focus on what components are being used for each personalized learning approach and, at the same time, acknowledge it is a term that will evolve by time as we learn more about human learning and as technology develop. Table  4 shows the results of the searches for each term by journals.

Existing and emerging trends

Miliband ( 2006 , as cited in Schmid & Petko, 2019 ) pointed out that the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development OECD ( 2006 ) was among the first to use personalized learning term and described personalized learning in the report “Schooling for Tomorrow– Personalising Education” as a critical trend. According to this educational policy report, personalized learning is characterized by changes concerning five dimensions: assessment for learning by giving students individual feedback and setting suitable learning objectives, teaching and learning strategies based on the individual needs, curriculum choices (Tomberg et al., 2013 ), student-centered approach to school organization, and strong partnerships beyond the school.

According to the United States National Education Technology Plan 2017 , personalized learning is defined as “instruction in which the pace of learning and the instructional approach are optimized for each learner’s needs. Learning objectives, instructional strategies, and instructional content (Shute and Rahimi, 2017 ) may differ depending on learner needs. Besides, learning activities are meaningful and relevant to learners, driven by their interests, and often self-initiated.” (p. 9).

American Psychological Association Presidential Task Force on Psychology in Education (1993, as cited in Lee et al., 2018 ) explained that a personalized learning plan (PLP) refers to a customized instructional plan that considers individual differences or needs such as career goals, characteristics, interests, and academic mastery. This includes the notions of individualization, differentiation, and personalization. Preparing and implementing PLPs allows for adjusting the pace to individual learners, adjusting instructional methods to individual characteristics, and having different learning goals tailored to individual interests. Furthermore, Sungkur, Antoaroo and Beeharry ( 2016 ) suggested an eye-tracking system to determine the user’s interest and behavior. The PLPs allow learning to be personally relevant, engaging, appropriate to the learners’ capabilities, and respectful of individual differences, making learning useful and motivational.

Learning analytics seems to grow to ensure the process of personalizing the content which allows mechanisms to identify student characteristics and associate them with a learning pattern (Ramos de Melo et al., 2014 ). Also, the ability to reactively organize personalized content may be a favorable factor in promoting the study support in virtual learning environments, respecting students’ different individualities, preferences (Erümit and Çetin, 2020 ) and difficulty factors.

There is a research gap in an adaptive learning environment that needs to focus on emotions and personality which play a significant role in parts of adaptive systems, such as feedback (Fatahi, 2019 ). Furthermore, Junokas, Lindgren, Kang and Morphew ( 2018 ) created a system based on multimodal educational environments that integrate gesture-recognition systems and found that it is effective in improving the learning experience.

The personalization of learning has been achieved using various methods that have been made available by the rapid development of information communication technology (ICT) (Dawson, Heathcote and Poole, 2010 ). Furthermore, Ramos de Melo et al. ( 2014 ) stated that personalization is customizing the content that allows present parts of the content as needed by the student. That is one of the most common themes among most of the personalized learning approaches which can be done by using adaptive learning systems that can present personalized content for individual students (Hwang, Sung, Hung and Huang, 2013 ).

The higher-order thinking skills and communication had attracted little attention in terms of both learning outcomes and the process of adaptive/personalized learning due to the difficulty of measurement and the limited learning support types. Furthermore, virtual reality techniques might be a solution to this need. Developing learning approaches that build on students’ current ability and support efficacy beliefs by allowing autonomy with a proper challenge to promote academic attainment (Foshee, Elliott and Atkinson, 2016 ; Xie et al., 2019 ). Future studies can focus on higher-order thinking skills cultivation by supporting these skills through personalized learning environments.

The idea of personalized learning rests on the foundation that humans learn through experience and by constructing knowledge. It is heavily influenced by a learner’s prior experiences and is accomplished via language and social interaction. Personalized learning is not the only way to think about teaching and learning. Moreover, learning will and should take many different forms. Proper instruction, blended instruction, differentiation, proactive supports, real-world connections, and applications are hallmarks of good, sound personalized learning. In general, personalized-learning models seek to adapt to the pace of learning and the instructional strategies, content and activities being used to fit best each learner’s strengths, weaknesses, and interests. Personalized learning is about giving students control over their learning, differentiating instruction for each child, and providing real-time feedback. Putting a framework together can help with practical personalized learning for all and can be developed as it faces challenges. The framework can help with having a structured common-sense personalized learning instead of a learning system that is being interpreted differently. In conjunction with a well-designed curriculum, instructional practice plays a crucial role in how children learn.

Most of the current personalized learning models/ideas are built on technology integration. For example, while Chen, Lee and Chen ( 2005 ) proposed a personalized system that provides learning paths (Nabizadeh, Gonçalves, Gama, Jorge and Rafsanjani, 2020 ) that can be adapted to various levels of difficulty of course materials (Zou and Xie, 2018 ) and various abilities of learners (p. 239). Klašnja-Milićević et al. ( 2011 ) stated that personalized learning occurs when e-learning systems make deliberate efforts to design educational experiences (Flores, Ari, Inan and Arslan-Ari, 2012 ) that fit the needs, goals, talents, motivations, and interests of their learners (p. 885). The term of needs is not specified to clarify what needs of the learner need to be considered for robust personalized learning. Considering the needs of the learner is one of the most common components used in personalized learning. However, only a few studies clarify what needs are mentioned to be considered, such as emotional needs, social needs, learning needs, knowledge needs, etc. Even if we agree on a unified definition with each component commonly agreed on, we need to ensure that each component is well defined.

In the past decades, many methods and systems have been proposed to accommodate students’ needs by proposing learning environments that consider personal factors. Learning styles (Çakıroğlu, 2014 ; Klašnja-Milićević et al., 2011 ; Latham, Crockett and McLean, 2014 ) have been among the broadly chosen components in previous studies as a reference for adapting learning. For example, George and Lal ( 2019 ) argued that personalized learning is meant to incorporate a learner’s varied attributes, including learning style, knowledge level on a subject, preferences, and learner’s prior knowledge while they discussed adaptive learning is adapting content according to learner’s choice and pace. Chen, Huang, Shih and Chang ( 2016 ) brought up the gender component to personalized learning. Furthermore, Atkinson ( 2006 ) found that there was a significant difference in learning achievement between male and female students, and among students who used different learning styles (Çakıroğlu, 2014 ; Klašnja-Milićević et al., 2011 ; Latham et al., 2014 ).

Our findings revealed that individualized instruction mostly focuses on special education students or students are limited in way compared to their peers. These students have IEPs (individualized educational plans) mandated by the state to be followed to ensure the schools are accommodating these students’ needs. One goal could be to create IEPs for all learners.

Moreover, it seems in education industry terms are quite varied, but when it comes to academia, it is mostly adaptive learning and personalized learning being used interchangeably Rastegarmoghadam and Ziarati ( 2017 ); however, mostly adaptive learning is being used when it is technology-enhanced learning. Adaptivity is typically referring to content being adjusted according to prior knowledge (Huang and Shiu, 2012 ), while personalized learning is being used for more broad adjustments according to different needs, interests, and goals of individuals.

Another finding is that adaptive learning is the most used term follows personalized learning. Individualized learning and customized learning, even though they are being used by cooperative, they are not commonly used in research. As shown in Table  4 , we have found 56 papers met the minimum quality criteria and were examined in detail; 33 of them use personalized learning, 17 adaptive learning, three individualized instruction, and three customized learning.

However, it seems that also the lack of a commonly identified personalized learning approach is an obstacle. This might be due to the nature of technology involvement; due to the rapid development increase in technology that makes personalized learning an evolving approach. That is fine if we all can agree that it should evolve as technology improves, and we learn more about humans and how human-machine interaction can improve the learning process.

Besides, another obstacle is the researchers and policymakers should show the same interest to personalized learning so the demand and research can align. Educators fear that machines will take over the teaching job if they allow technology to be used for teaching. Kinshuk, Huang, Sampson and Chen ( 2013 ) argued that the benefits of technology in education caught the interest of researchers, governments, and funding agencies. Computer systems were funded to help students in the learning process, consequently decreasing teachers’ workload. As a result, educational technology research was able to study advanced issues such as intelligent tutoring, simulations, advanced learning management systems, automatic assessment systems, and adaptive systems. Some educators believe that since technology involves big budgets, the interest of policymakers is not due to the interest of improving learning experience (Troussas, Krouska and Sgouropoulou, 2020 ); their interest is due to the monetary benefit they gain from increased use of technology in education. In addition, Kinshuk et al. ( 2013 ) pointed out that practitioners in education could not take advantage of all that research at an equally fast pace, and the implementation lagged severely behind. Researchers need to keep up with the demand of personalized learning. The alignment will help to ensure the practices policy makers discuss are research based efficient approaches that will increase efficiency of learning/teaching.

The progress of the research in personalized learning shows that by technological improvement, personalized learning becomes more embedded with technology and taking advantage of the benefits technology can offer. Some of these advantages are gathering data of learners’ emotions by using bio-trackers, which might bring up some privacy concerns.

Limitations

This study encountered several shortcomings during the review and in its attempt to answer all the research questions. The enormous number of published papers might lead to some missing relevant papers; numerous literature review studies face this problem. Furthermore, the immense effort to construct a search by identifying the keywords is crucial for the search process. The keyword determination method was conducted using a snowballing process to identify the reflections or keywords relevant to this study. Overlooking articles by omitting relevant information or keyword combinations is likewise possible due to the limited time frame.

Nevertheless, this study also faces the possible limitation caused by the selection criteria. For example, this study focused on only journal articles and was limited to only documents written in English. Therefore, other pertinent articles that are not written in English and were not published in journals might have not included.

Future research

Our findings revealed that there is no unified agreement on what components to consider planning a personalized adaptive learning environment. Future research can focus on components included in different personalized adaptive learning systems and the term’s definition to build a unified approach and definition. Future studies focusing on what components are being used for each personalized learning approach simultaneously need to acknowledge it as a term that will evolve by time as we learn more about human psychology and develop more technologies. Chatti et al. ( 2010 ) and Peng et al. ( 2019 ) paper put it all together very well, and Peng et al. ( 2019 ) called it a personalized adaptive learning. Future studies can be built on this approach to develop a general framework.

Also, a focus on higher-order thinking skills is not a common theme in the existing literature. This gap can be filled up by focusing on higher-order thinking skills cultivation by supporting these skills through personalized learning environments. Future studies can also focus on adding higher-order thinking skills as an outcome of personalized learning models and seek embedding of virtual reality techniques with considering ethical and privacy concerns.

Furthermore, a in depth study is needed to review current personalized adaptive learning platforms/systems and see if different systems work better for different goals and needs.

Conclusions

In conclusion, this study found and analyzed 56 relevant studies based on the research protocol. The findings from this study support that adaptive/personalized learning has become a fundamental learning paradigm in the research community of educational technologies. Firstly, the findings are presented as they relate to the R.Q. (Research Question) s; then, the future direction and limitations are discussed. The SLR results show that using personality traits and their identification techniques has an enormously positive influence in adaptive learning environments. This study is related to several significant domains of psychology, education, and computer science. It likewise reveals the integration of personal traits in the adaptive learning environment, which involves many personality traits and identification techniques that can influence learning. Also, it found that there is an increase of interest in two areas that are oriented towards the incorporation and exploration of significant data capabilities in education: Educational Data Mining (EDM) and Learning Analytics (LA) and their respective communities (Papamitsiou and Economides, 2014 ) which seems to adding another perspective to personalized learning and make it easier modify the learning according individuals.

It seems the personalized learning models gain more attention from governments and policymakers than educators and researchers. We need to focus on the obstacles of lack of interest to motivate the educators and researchers, the experts of the field, to voice their concerns and look for solutions to come up with a robust personalized learning model that will satisfy both instructor and learners’ expectations. Personalized learning cannot be a solution to learning until it is defined better and developed more thoroughly. Personalized learning for everyone looks different according to the needs and goals of the individual. Ennouamani, Mahani and Akharraz ( 2020 ) argued that learners are different in terms of their needs, knowledge, personality, behavior (Pliakos et al., 2019 ) preferences, learning style, culture, as well as the parameters of the mobile devices that they use. Furthermore, the increasing involvement of the researchers and educators in proposing personalized learning approaches can increase the trust towards the ICT supported personalized learning models.

In this review study, we have answered some critical research questions, including the issues with different terms that have been used for personalized learning, components of personalized learning, and obstacles to the development of personalized learning. We need more research to be done about personalized learning. We also need the involvement of experts in the field, educators, pedagogues, researchers, software engineers, and programmers to create teams to work on the same goal to produce stable, unified, personalized learning systems/models.

Also, some research issues and potential future development directions are discussed. According to the discussions and results, it was found that adaptive/personalized learning systems seem to evolve as technology develops, however, a unified agreement on the components needs to be included in personalized learning models still needed. These components may evolve as we learn more about human-machine interaction and learn to take advantage of the technology to improve learning experiences. We suggest that researchers might use the consolidated terms of this review to guide future meta-analyses of the impact of personalized learning on student learning and performance.

To sum up, this study discusses the potential obstacles to personalized learning and practical solutions for these issues. We also discussed different components used for personalized learning models and how personalized learning evolves as technology develops, and we learn more about human-machine interaction.

Availability of data and materials

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Abbreviations

Individualized educational plans

Personalized learning plan

Scimago Journal Rank

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development

Information communication technology

Systematic Literature Review

Research Question

Educational Data Mining

Learning Analytics

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Shemshack, A., Spector, J.M. A systematic literature review of personalized learning terms. Smart Learn. Environ. 7 , 33 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40561-020-00140-9

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• Personalized learning
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How to Design an Effective Learning Journey

Explore best practices for how to create a learning journey and learn why this approach is crucial for a company’s leadership development strategy.

Publish Date: September 21, 2022

Read Time: 12 min

Author: Alex Smith

The traditional approach to learning journeys is no longer cutting it. Learning journeys have traditionally been designed to solve a leadership challenge over the course of a predefined time—6 or 12 months, for example. But at DDI, we know that learning journeys must be comprehensive and continuous over the course of a career and flexibly fit ever-changing leadership challenges. In this blog, I'll discuss why it's important for organizations to evolve their approach to learning journeys and shift away from "one and done" leadership programs. I'll also provide best practices for how to create learning journeys to support modern leaders in a fast-paced business world.

What Is a Learning Journey?

Traditionally, a learning journey has been defined as a unique plan that is founded on the challenges facing your organization and the most critical skills leaders need to achieve business success. It’s always been defined as an intentional, linear path to meet a business, leadership, or learning need. And it's sequential.

A learning journey has typically been designed for groups, cohorts, or communities of leaders. It takes place over time and incorporates a strategic mix of learning methods intended to meet the needs of today’s learner. It often begins with a review of relevant organizational and assessment data, the business drivers , and the target audience’s development gaps. L&D teams can use all of this information as the starting point for designing the learning journey.

While many elements of the traditional definition of a learning journey still ring true, learning journeys shouldn’t be completely linear. Learning journeys should still be designed to help a group of leaders solve broad organizational challenges. But it’s time to empower individual leaders within these journeys to take a unique pathway, outside of or in addition to the linear journey, to meet their personal learning or business needs.

Learning journeys must become more flexible and impactful as continuous, personalized journeys that follow the careers of the learners. And they shouldn’t track one path for all leaders. Learning journeys must be continuously analyzed and molded to fit the unique needs of each leader as their careers grow and change, always considering both the skills they uniquely need to grow and their preferred learning styles .

While journeys should be personalized to each leader’s unique learning needs, they must still be grounded in the context of the organization and highly connected to the overall goals of the business.

Reasons to Invest in Learning Journeys

It’s beneficial to invest in learning journeys because this approach to development ensures tight alignment with your organization’s strategies. Your leaders develop skills that are linked to your business needs, which has bottom-line implications.

According to DDI’s Global Leadership Forecast 2021 research, companies that use blended learning journeys compared to those that do not are 8 times more likely to have a highly-rated leadership development program, 5.8 times more likely to have a strong supply of leaders for critical roles, and 2.3 times more likely to be financially successful .

Additionally, implementing effective learning journeys can help companies engage and retain talent . Recent research from McKinsey shows that the top reason employees quit over the last year was because they lacked career development and advancement opportunities. If you’re not developing your people, they’re likely to head for the door. But not just any development will do. Make sure you’re following best practices for how to create a learning journey, which I’ll discuss more below.

Finally, effective learning journeys benefit leaders themselves. Simply put, when done right, learning journeys create better and more skilled leaders. And if you use blended learning strategies with group-based development or collaborative peer learning , leaders get the chance to network and build stronger relationships.

5 Best Practices for Creating Effective Learning Journeys

Now let’s jump into our five best practices for creating effective learning journeys. Learn how to ensure your learning approach is continuous, includes multiple modalities, has senior leader support, is personalized, and is data driven—and why it matters that you get these best practices right.

1. Effective Learning Journeys Are Continuous

Recall the traditional way of thinking about a learning journey: a waterfall of activities that’s typically “one and done.” It’s linear and pre-planned from the start. But what we know after years of developing leaders is that the most effective learning experiences are continuous as the learner gains new skills and discovers new areas they need to develop.

Learning journeys today evolve and adapt without a short-term end date. There may be an intentional starting approach, for example, a journey to upskill leaders in leading their teams in a hybrid workplace . The bulk of that learning may occur over a specific time frame, but there are also interactive self-guided tools built in to sustain learning long after.

In addition, a journey like this includes flexibility to start and stop depending on what a leader may have going on, and the capability to choose a learning style that fits their needs. Learning journeys like this are continuous to address all the moments of need across a leader’s career—both expected and unexpected moments. For example, learning journeys support a leader in their transition from an operational leader to a strategic senior-level role. But when there’s an unexpected major shift in the business like a merger, their journey helps them learn the new core skills to succeed in their company’s new landscape.

This next best practice for how to create a learning journey covers why it’s so important for leaders to choose the modality that fits their learning style.

2. Effective Learning Journeys Are Blended

We know from decades of surveying and talking with leaders that they prefer learning using a blend of modalities. This includes a mix of classroom learning with self-directed options and development assignments. We say that the magic is truly in the mix of modalities that work best for your leaders.

Plus, one thing we know as experts in learning and development is that people learn better when there’s variety in their learning journey . This variety keeps leaders’ engagement high and helps them make continuous new connections to concepts.

So what does variety of learning modalities mean? It means leaders have options to choose between virtual , in-person, or self-paced learning courses. Organizations can also offer microcourses , self-insight tools and assessments , games, simulations, and other digital tools to help leaders practice new skills on demand.

Offering a variety of digital and in-person learning experiences helps L&D professionals meet leaders in their moment of need . Meeting leaders in the moment means providing content and tools on a specific topic, challenge, or skill they need.

But sometimes digital or self-directed learning options get a bad rap because the right accountability structures aren’t in place for leaders. “Build it and they will come” is never an effective approach. However, there are ways to successfully implement self-directed leadership development. The key is that L&D professionals create a structure that makes learning happen better. For example, giving leaders time to process what they’re learning on their own, and then coming back together in peer learning groups to discuss what they learned. This is just one way to ensure self-directed learning sticks.

3. Effective Learning Journeys Are Supported by Senior Leaders

When senior leaders understand the value of your program, they can also communicate and champion it to employees, making learners more likely to participate.

Having senior leaders as stakeholders who back your program can make all the difference. They can help ensure that your program is connected to your business strategy. And the more buy-in you have from the top, the more your program will be socialized within the organization. When it’s time for investment decisions about your program, senior leaders are more likely to feel ownership for current success. This can lead to more budget coming your way for expansion and improvements.

It’s also important to consider support where it matters most for your learners: their own managers should support their learning journey and development. This is a great article that offers strategies for securing manager support for leadership development .

4. Effective Learning Journeys Are Personalized

Why does personalization make a difference for learners? When development is personalized, it feels relevant. Personalized development is relevant because it's also anchored on your business context. Leaders want to connect how their development will drive success for themselves as well as for the organization.

But personalizing a learning journey must be grounded in self-insight and data. Leadership assessments can provide leaders with data on their strengths and gaps. This data can be used to influence and bring focus to a leader’s learning journey—both at the individual and group level.

When it comes to personalized learning journeys , make sure that if it’s not completely evident to your leaders that it is personalized, you directly communicate it as such. I’ve seen leaders respond well to a message like, "This is personalized for you, and here's how we did that." Communicating that your programs are personalized can help with adoption. It can also create excitement for leaders to get started on development that was built especially for them!

5. Effective Learning Journeys Are Data Driven

Being data driven allows learning journeys to be more flexible and adaptable, which is important in our ever-changing business landscape. Using data can help you pivot quickly and shift a learning journey to respond to major organizational changes. For example, self-assessment data from a company’s leaders who have recently completed a merger can show skill gaps in a newly formed group of leaders.

It’s also important to collect data at different points of your program to help you understand what’s working and what’s not. Knowing what’s effective can help you adjust the learning journey along the way according to the changing goals and needs of the learner—and your organization.

For example, measurement tools can be used to evaluate the program’s impact on your leader’s reactions, learning, and behavior change, and on organization-level metrics. Having data readily available on the impact of your leadership programs can help you highlight their success. And being able to prove the worth of your program can be crucial to sustaining your program (and your job as an L&D professional!) during disruptive times when budgets are under more scrutiny.

But more than that, being able to connect organization-level metrics to your leadership program metrics can help you see how the quality of leadership truly impacts company performance.

Implementing Effective Learning Journeys

Even the most thought-out learning journey can flop if it’s not implemented in the right way. So what are some best practices for implementing a learning journey?

We’ve already discussed some keys to implementation in this blog. It’s important to measure and track the results of your learning journey, including gathering data along the way. It’s also important to gain stakeholder engagement to help you influence, support, and accelerate your learning program.

Additionally, focus on creating a communication strategy to get everyone excited about their learning journey. This includes thoughtfully considering how you’ll kick off your learning program .

(For more on how to successfully implement your leadership development efforts, check out our Ultimate Guide to Leadership Development .)

In Conclusion:

Learning journeys done well create behavior change and adapt to change.

What a learning journey does best is create behavior change by reinforcing a blend of formal, self-guided, and peer-interactive development activities. Learning must be continuous to make progress toward mastery of competency areas.

But the best learning journeys are also flexible and open to change. After all, as the Prime Minister of Canada, Justin Trudeau , said “The pace of change has never been this fast, yet it will never be this slow again.”

Learning and development professionals have certainly gotten used to change over the past several years. Let’s remain adaptable to keep learning journeys relevant for leaders with constantly changing roles and challenges. 

Learn more about how to create a learning journey for your leaders .

Alex Smith is a consulting manager within DDI’s US Operations. He leads a team of consultants and is the engagement manager for several of DDI’s largest client partnerships across the globe.

Topics covered in this blog

• Leadership Development

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Enhancing Microsoft Teams to support developer productivity and collaboration

May 21st, 2024 0 3

With the rise of Generative AI, the demands on developers have never been greater. The work is complex, development teams are asked to do more with less, and deadlines are more aggressive than ever. As the team building Microsoft Teams, we feel these demands too, so we’re dedicated to building tools to help developers work smarter and do what they do best – build amazing products.

Whether you work in GitHub, Jira, Datadog, or other development tools, Teams can help you be more productive, stay connected with your team, and even streamline product development. All of this is possible because Teams brings together your work with the way that you collaborate – for example, sharing code blocks, taking actions directly from the app, and even bringing a bit of fun into the workplace. We continue to broaden our ecosystem, and we will introduce new integrations later in the year, such as Postman and Botkube.

Read on to see some of the new capabilities coming to Teams that will help you collaborate effectively and boost your productivity when developing products.

Collaborate effectively

Development teams collaborate to share expertise, solve problems, and improve code quality. Sometimes, teams want to have some fun and celebrate shared victories. The following updates are designed to help your team collaborate more efficiently, and even add a bit of levity to the workplace.

Send code blocks in Teams , without worrying about formatting. Paste or write code and select the language for proper syntax highlighting. This is generally available.

When you need to collaborate on code, you can avoid a long back and forth by using Microsoft Loop. Insert code to a Loop component or convert a code block to a Loop component . Everyone with access to the Loop component can review and edit it, helping drive effective and clear communication and supporting completing the task faster. Inserting a code block to a Loop component is in public preview and converting a code block to a Loop component will be generally available in June.  

We’re also adding Mermaid as a language. Mermaid is a JavaScript based diagramming and charting tool that renders Markdown-inspired text definitions to create and modify diagrams dynamically. You’ll be able to add Mermaid diagrams to your code block to make coding easier. This integration is rolling out in the coming weeks.

When sharing code with your team in chat, you can now paste a permalink which expands to provide a rich preview from Azure DevOps. The receiver can view the code in the source app. This provides your team with context right in the flow of work and avoids app switching when trying to get through your work items. Permalink in Teams will be generally available in June.

Workflows often require specific apps. Now, you can use collaborative 3rd party Loop components in Teams that work across Microsoft 365. Insert live and actionable content from 3rd party apps like Jira, Trello, Confluence Cloud, Lucid Software, Mural, and Priority Matrix directly into chats and channels, and collaborate with others to create and update the content without leaving the chat. These Adaptative Card-based Loop components are portable to Outlook helping streamline workflows across Microsoft 365. Adaptative card-based Loop components are generally available in Teams and will be rolling out to Outlook later this year.

Use an Adaptive Card-based Loop component in Teams to complete workflows

If you need to discuss and brainstorm with your team, start a quick and informal spontaneous huddle with meet now in a group chat. This ringless experience is designed to enable ad-hoc, real-time communication with your team in a hybrid environment. With meet now, it is easy to see if your colleagues are talking about an issue in real-time and seamlessly join to collaborate. Meet now in group chat will be generally available in June.

Bring more creativity and expression into your conversations with custom emojis and reactions . Upload your own custom emojis or reactions to personalize the conversation and reflect the team’s culture. Use custom emojis to efficiently share status or share a lighthearted emoji. Custom emojis are only visible within your tenant. IT admins can decide who has permission to create custom emojis; delete custom emojis; or turn off the capability altogether. This feature will be generally available in July.

When you’re working on a technical project, stay in sync and collaborate with Teams and Loop. Kick off a Loop workspace easily by intelligently surfacing the files and docum ents you need based on a Loop workspace title and description. When you share Loop pages from the workspace to Teams chat and channels, they stay up-to-date no matter which app they are edited in. This feature is generally available.

Plan projects with your cross functional team in Loop by bringing in content from task management apps like Azure DevOps and building smart automations to stay up to date with any changes. For instance, you can set a rule to notify your team in chat when a label changes in your Azure DevOps table. This is generally available.

Boost personal productivity

For developers, being more productive means spending less time on tedious tasks and more time on building innovative solutions to deliver value to customers. The updates below can help enhance your personal productivity, allowing you to focus on what matters most.

We are excited to announce slash commands in Teams compose box . Slash commands provide a quick, user-friendly, and consistent interface to take contextual actions, compose, navigate, and complete frequent tasks. Instead of taking multiple actions to perform a task, such as to open a chat in a new window, add a code block, navigate to settings or changing your presence, you can simply type slash in the compose box, select a command, and complete your task quickly. This feature will be generally available in June.

Save time with new keyboard shortcuts , enabling you to get more done without lifting your fingers from the keyboard. Stay more productive, whether it’s starting a new chat or call, muting yourself, downloading debug logs, or any of the dozens of other shortcuts. To see the full list of keyboard shortcuts in Teams, simply type Ctrl+Period (.); for Mac users the shortcut is Cmd +(.). This is now generally available.

Catch up on your messages more quickly with compact mode. Now you can see more messages in one glance, scan them, prioritize, and quickly determine where to focus first. You can switch back to comfy mode anytime from your Teams settings if you prefer more details. This is now generally available.

Work smarter with Teams AI features. Use intelligent recap to quickly catch up on a meeting that you’ve missed, customize your chat message with Copilot compose, or summarize a long channel conversation with Copilot in channels. These features are available with Teams Premium and/or Copilot for Microsoft 365 users. Now, Copilot plugins enable you to integrate with 3 rd party apps like Jira, Confluence and Trello, and tailor Copilot functionalities in Teams to your specific organizational needs, leveraging the power of generative AI to provide personalized and contextualized support across different workstream in one place.

Start your journey today

To see many of these updates in action, and learn how the Teams engineering team is using Teams to stay more productive, check out these short videos and blog . To stay up to date on the latest innovation in Teams to help you and your teams be more productive, check out the monthly What’s New in Teams Microsoft Build 2024 , review the Microsoft 365 Public Roadmap (filter for Teams), and read Teams blog posts on the Microsoft Tech Community to learn about the newest Teams announcements.

You can also watch this video to learn how Vodafone successfully migrated to Teams and the benefits they’ve experienced.

Teams is a versatile tool that can help you with any kind of development project, from small to large, from beginner to expert. We’re committed to continue improving your productivity and efficiency in Teams. Stay tuned for future updates to GitHub, Jira, and other such developer tools in Teams coming later this year. Happy coding!

Follow us on X (Twitter) / @Microsoft365Dev , LinkedIn , and subscribe to our YouTube channel to stay up to date on the latest developer news and announcements.

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Bottie - AI chatbot 4+

Learn with ai, designed for ipad.

• 5.0 • 4 Ratings
• Offers In-App Purchases

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Description.

Introducing Bottie: Your Personal AI Learning Assistant! Unlock the power of knowledge and embark on a journey of discovery with Bottie, the ultimate learning companion in your pocket. Developed using cutting-edge AI technology powered by GPT, Bottie is here to revolutionize the way you explore and deepen your understanding of the world around you. Discover New Topics: Say goodbye to mundane learning routines! With Bottie by your side, you'll effortlessly uncover fascinating new topics of interest. Our intelligent AI algorithms suggest a wide range of subjects tailored to your preferences, ensuring that every learning session is a captivating adventure. Intelligent Follow-up Questions: Learning is more than just scratching the surface, and Bottie understands that. Our AI assistant engages you with thought-provoking follow-up questions, guiding you towards a deeper understanding of the subject matter. Experience the joy of asking the right questions and unlock new layers of knowledge like never before. Stay Organized: Keeping your learning journey organized has never been easier. Bottie allows you to save your favorite topics, creating a personalized library of knowledge that is easily accessible whenever you need it. Say goodbye to scattered notes and bookmarks – with Bottie, all your interests are neatly organized in one place. Seamless User Experience: We believe that learning should be a seamless and enjoyable experience, and that's why we've crafted Bottie with an intuitive interface and user-friendly design. Effortlessly navigate through topics, explore subcategories, and access related content with ease. Learning has never felt so natural! Download Bottie now and unlock a world of knowledge like never before. Let our AI-powered learning assistant become your personal teacher, guiding you towards new horizons of understanding. It's time to embrace the future of learning – together with Bottie! Bottie Pro subscription plans: - Monthly: $11.99 - Annual: $69.99 Payments and Renewal: - Payment will be charged to iTunes Account at confirmation of purchase. Subscription automatically renews unless auto-renew is turned off at least 24-hours before the end of the current period. - Account will be charged for renewal within 24-hours prior to the end of the current period. - You can manage or turn off auto-renew in your Account settings at any time after purchase - No cancellation of the current subscription is allowed during the active period. Terms of use: https://www.bottie.app/legal/terms Privacy policy: https://www.bottie.app/legal/privacy

Version 2.2.0

New update and a new name, introducing Bottie! Alongside the new name, this update also includes UI improvements and bug fixes, ensuring a smoother and more reliable user experience.

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The developer, Swiply Oy , indicated that the app’s privacy practices may include handling of data as described below. For more information, see the developer’s privacy policy .

Data Used to Track You

The following data may be used to track you across apps and websites owned by other companies:

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The following data may be collected and linked to your identity:

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Privacy practices may vary, for example, based on the features you use or your age. Learn More

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DraftBot - AI draft generator

The Unique Burial of a Child of Early Scythian Time at the Cemetery of Saryg-Bulun (Tuva)

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Pages:  379-406

In 1988, the Tuvan Archaeological Expedition (led by M. E. Kilunovskaya and V. A. Semenov) discovered a unique burial of the early Iron Age at Saryg-Bulun in Central Tuva. There are two burial mounds of the Aldy-Bel culture dated by 7th century BC. Within the barrows, which adjoined one another, forming a figure-of-eight, there were discovered 7 burials, from which a representative collection of artifacts was recovered. Burial 5 was the most unique, it was found in a coffin made of a larch trunk, with a tightly closed lid. Due to the preservative properties of larch and lack of air access, the coffin contained a well-preserved mummy of a child with an accompanying set of grave goods. The interred individual retained the skin on his face and had a leather headdress painted with red pigment and a coat, sewn from jerboa fur. The coat was belted with a leather belt with bronze ornaments and buckles. Besides that, a leather quiver with arrows with the shafts decorated with painted ornaments, fully preserved battle pick and a bow were buried in the coffin. Unexpectedly, the full-genomic analysis, showed that the individual was female. This fact opens a new aspect in the study of the social history of the Scythian society and perhaps brings us back to the myth of the Amazons, discussed by Herodotus. Of course, this discovery is unique in its preservation for the Scythian culture of Tuva and requires careful study and conservation.

Keywords: Tuva, Early Iron Age, early Scythian period, Aldy-Bel culture, barrow, burial in the coffin, mummy, full genome sequencing, aDNA

Information about authors: Marina Kilunovskaya (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation E-mail: [email protected] Vladimir Semenov (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Candidate of Historical Sciences. Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences. Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation E-mail: [email protected] Varvara Busova  (Moscow, Russian Federation).  (Saint Petersburg, Russian Federation). Institute for the History of Material Culture of the Russian Academy of Sciences.  Dvortsovaya Emb., 18, Saint Petersburg, 191186, Russian Federation E-mail:  [email protected] Kharis Mustafin  (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Technical Sciences. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.  Institutsky Lane, 9, Dolgoprudny, 141701, Moscow Oblast, Russian Federation E-mail:  [email protected] Irina Alborova  (Moscow, Russian Federation). Candidate of Biological Sciences. Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.  Institutsky Lane, 9, Dolgoprudny, 141701, Moscow Oblast, Russian Federation E-mail:  [email protected] Alina Matzvai  (Moscow, Russian Federation). Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.  Institutsky Lane, 9, Dolgoprudny, 141701, Moscow Oblast, Russian Federation E-mail:  [email protected]

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