What Personalized Learning Means to Me

When I think about personalized learning, I see it as a balance between structure and choice. It’s not about throwing out standards or goals—it’s about creating space for students to connect learning to their own lives, interests, and needs. That’s what makes learning stick.

How I’ve Experienced It

One clear example for me comes from a sociology course I took last year. For my final paper, I was able to use my own experiences within a capitalist system and connect them with current articles in academia to build a research essay that felt both rigorous and authentic. The assignment framework was the same for everyone, but the freedom to personalize the topic gave me a sense of ownership over the work. Instead of just checking a box, I was building something meaningful.

This is what personalized learning feels like in practice: the mix of guidance and choice that pushes me to engage more deeply.

Where PLNs Fit In

In our readings for EDCI 338, Green (2016) describes Personal Learning Networks (PLNs) as formal and informal networks where people with similar goals collaborate, share resources, and learn together. I like to think of PLNs as webs of connections—threads linking me to people, tools, and ideas that expand my learning beyond a single classroom. For example, I follow teachers on Instagram who share literacy strategies and playful math activities. Those posts become part of my web, giving me practical insights that I can filter and personalize to fit my own goals. What makes it powerful is that I get to choose which strands of the web matter most to me, building a PLN that feels both flexible and personal.

Of course, there are challenges too. Social media can easily slide from purposeful learning into distraction. I’ve noticed that when I use it with intention—searching for strategies or perspectives—it becomes a valuable part of my PLN. When I scroll passively, it doesn’t add much. That intentionality feels like another layer of personalized learning: knowing my goals and choosing resources that support them.

Why It Matters

What I take away from these experiences is that personalized learning isn’t just a K–12 idea—it’s shaped my university experience and will continue to shape how I learn and teach. Having choice and ownership in my sociology paper made me more invested in the outcome. Building PLNs through social media lets me expand my learning beyond the classroom.

As I prepare to become an educator, I want to carry these lessons forward. I want students to feel the same sense of ownership I’ve felt—because learning feels most powerful when it connects to who we are and what we care about.

References

Green, C. (2020) “Chapter 5: Personal Learning Networks: Defining and Building a PLN” in Learning in the Digital Age by Tutaleni I. Asino. Oklahoma State University. https://open.library.okstate.edu/learninginthedigitalage/chapter/personal-learning-networks_defining-and-building-a-pln/