ED's Cator Describes Personalized Learning

THE Journal (1/5, Demski) reports on the advent of "personalized learning, a student-centered teaching and learning model that acknowledges and accommodates the range of abilities, prior experiences, needs, and interests of each student--with the goal of moving every student to a higher standard of achievement." The defines the concept, contrasting it with individualized learning and differentiated instruction. "In the National Education Technology Plan, the US Department of Education's Office of Educational Technology describes personalized learning as an instructional approach that encompasses both differentiation and individualization, but is also flexible in content or theme to match the specific interests and prior experiences of learners. Karen Cator, director of the OET, explains further: 'Personalized learning really takes into consideration that long tail of interest, of prior motivation, of languages. It leverages all the different things that people have in their repertoire to add value to their learning.'" The article notes that Cator and Education Secretary Arne Duncan "advocate a tech-enabled model of personalized learning."