Adaptive Learning

EDUCAUSE LEARNING INITIATIVE | MARCH 2017

Adaptive learning has been hailed as one possible approach to bringing personalized, highly targeted education to large numbers of learners through various IT systems and tools. The term adaptive learning can refer to different things, and the resources below present a range of perspectives on the topic, as well as obstacles, opportunities, and predictions.

Adaptive Learning Platforms: Creating a Path for Success (2016)

This article chronicles the path Colorado Technical University took in selecting and implementing an adaptive learning platform, including the motivations and expected benefits from the system, the pilot program and training, and outcomes of the initiative.

Learning to Adapt 2.0 (2016)

This report describes the evolution of adaptive learning platforms and the current landscape of that market. It is based on information collected both from vendors of such tools and from colleges and universities, with an eye toward helping both communities understand what is needed and where the technology is headed.

Lessons Learned From Early Implementations of Adaptive Courseware (2016)

The Adaptive Learning Market Acceleration Program provided grant funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to 14 colleges and universities to investigate the impact of adaptive learning for low-income adults seeking postsecondary credentials. This evaluation describes the program’s methodology and its findings.

Personalized Learning vs. Adaptive Learning (2016)

This blog post makes the argument that whereas personalized learning is a set of activities, adaptive learning refers to the products that support personalized learning. The post also differentiates between courseware and adaptive courseware.

Adapting to Learn, Learning to Adapt (2016)

This ECAR research bulletin offers a broad discussion of adaptive learning from the perspectives of students, faculty, and institutions. It describes long-running initiatives at the University of Central Florida to pursue online learning and explains how adaptive learning influences those efforts.

‘Our Technology Is Our Ideology’: George Siemens on the Future of Digital Learning (2016)

This profile of George Siemens talks about the role of adaptive learning—and adaptive learners—in what Siemens describes as the need for educational institutions to teach students the skills that they will need in the coming years. He argues that most current adaptive learning platforms need to be redesigned to meet those needs.

Clearing the Hurdles to Adaptive Learning (2016)

This article outlines six challenges that must be overcome for adaptive learning to take hold, including evidence, resources, change management, partners, data management, and expectations. The article also describes how some institutions have addressed these challenges.

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