For a very long time, teaching new skills (be it in a traditional educational setting or for professionals) followed a predictable pattern. The instructor would prepare the lesson, deliver the content through a lecture, and then send the learners on their way to study or apply what they had just learned.

It is a method used over thousands of years – and of course it is still used today.

Today though, we know that a more personal approach to teaching or training often yields better results in regards to learning retention.

The great thing is, the tech tools that we have available make personalized learning easier than ever.

Blended learning approaches, among other methods, give the learner the opportunity to interact with the content on an entirely different level. Flipped classrooms help to drive home the point of immediate applicability with a facilitator available to answer individual questions and to provide guidance.

For further evidence regarding the benefits of personal learning, have a look at the infographic below created by dreambox learning.

In my opinion, the most striking component of personalized learning is how we define the roles involved in the content delivery, and reception, process. Altering traditional roles definitions changes the individual expectations. The emphasis is no longer “teach it”, but instead “learn it” (or better yet, “apply it”).

Traditional teaching methodology still has its place and will not be going anywhere anytime soon. That said, we will see a shift to personalized learning, especially since it is relatively easy to accomplish to some degree by leveraging best practice in elearning development and delivery.