Exploring the Real Need for Building a Custom Learning Platform in the World of Personalized Learning

Many schools, districts and states are looking for solutions aligned to their academic model. Need for getting customized learning solutions to meet individual needs of the learners arises from the fact that educators want a platform which could just do everything for them.  Educators weren’t really sure if they would be able to access rich program and assessment data to track the progress of the learner and do extension or remediation while teaching at different grade levels.  Existing platforms or solutions are not built to suit the needs of any one customer, school or learning style. Custom technology solutions step in here.

One of the challenges today is that existing technology available is closely aligned to instructional models whereas we aspire to transition from this phase to a phase of self-learning and diagnostic assessments. There has been a recent shift in focus from “What we want students to see” to “How can we intervene more rapidly to provide timely extension and remediation” which means learners are placed at the center of the entire learning process. Schools want to customize instructions to meet students’ individual needs and interests, while making them accountable for their own learning. What better way to do this than customizing the learning platform for adaptive learning.

Interoperability and elasticity are two important aspects to be built into any custom technology solution. Schools and districts wish to have systems in place that interact with each other through the incorporation of certain standards like QTI. This facilitates interoperability. Teachers also look for flexibility to be able to set their own grading scales. Though pre-built platforms certainly have features like progress and pace bar, educators today look for flexibility to create and control their playlists so students are free to go through those playlists at their own pace through self-directed learning

To build in this flexibility, many schools and districts have made the transition from readily available to custom built learning solutions to drive efficiency in the learning environment.