Adaptive learning is instruction that leverages computers to personalize the learning process. This better engages learners, individualizing and differentiating the process to learners' unique needs and interests, respectively. Through system feedback that hones in on learner weaknesses, proponents of adaptive learning claim that learners can more efficiently and effectively demonstrate mastery of given instructional objectives. Because adaptive learning is tailored to individual needs and preferences, the ramifications for education are significant and disruptive (calling into question tradition progression based on cohort/age). Rather than focus on the average student, adaptive learning addresses the outliers. Struggling students can get help with specific difficulties, and more advanced (typically bored) learners can be stimulated and prompted to further explore and/or learn more deeply. In order to do this, predictive analytics, A.I., and machine learning technologies are key.
Connectivity issues, lack in technology proficiency, start up costs (human resource allocation included), and at first glance a bend towards a behaviorist mindset may provide barriers to this newer approach. Opponents of adaptive learning may say that the approach de-stresses development of big-picture thinking, spontaneity in human interactions, critical assessment of content, and the meaningful, more social/emotional side of learning. However advanced the technology becomes, I do not foresee adaptive learning as ever being the go-to method for teaching soft, interpersonal skills or complex skills/logic. People need people to learn at these levels.
Ultimately it is obvious to me that this is the way forward for content of a more basic nature, however. I can see how incredibly useful it could be for children of all ages on the one hand, and for many forms of corporate training on the other. In practice, I don't feel that adaptive learning is as truly adaptive as some might claim it to be, but I think it soon could be.
adaptive learning module to support signature project:
I had already thought of this in the "questions for SME" section of my assignment, but if time permitted in the training, I would ideally like to create screencasted walk-through videos for the technical side of the training (which was not the whole part of my design), chunking into segments that faculty could access when needed when troubleshooting how to submit their activities to the website. I was ultimately thinking of this training as occurring in a live face-to-face environment, and designed it that way (to reflect the fact that I would have to do it that way in real life anyway). However, the target audience of trainers could opt to bring the whole thing online online by using a simple platform such as teachable.com, allowing them to create multiple choice formative assessment after each chunked piece of instruction. Faculty using the platform could navigate to what they need and skip over parts that they already know. This is not automated adaptive learning, I know, but it does put control of what and how to learn with the learner at least to some extent.
Actually, even better, since many faculty already use Moodle, I don't see why that basic LMS could not also be used for training. This way, multiple types of activities could be created and the learner would have the ability to adjust their learning path as they see fit during the learning process. The system could also keep track of who has done what and how they fared on any assessment built into the system. The problem is that in practice, many faculty members in my situation do not use Moodle (aren't even on the system) as it is not required by my institution, and there are sadly many technology-adverse.
In an ideal situation, instead of presenting information first in the traditional way, content could also be activity-driven; learners could acquire the technical side of what they need to learn via interactive web-based activities. For example, to learn what to where to click when using the Wordpress editor, a clickable map interface could be presented to learners, requiring them to match questions to locations, drag sections to parts of the map, or even touch parts of the map - all very stimulus-response like. I am thinking something along the lines of the training created by Smart Sparrow. Learners get engaging, highly-specific feedback this way. However, ultimately this size and scope of project does not not necessitate an investment in an adaptive learning platform. If the training were more complex and would require reuse over several years, it might be worth the resources.