By Noah Gold for The Juice

Each student learns differently. In order to ensure children have the tools they need to succeed academically, education methods should be adjusted to meet each student’s needs. Such personalized learning represents a transformative shift in education.

After decades of a one-size-fits-all model that inevitably leaves students behind, personalized learning crafts an educational experience to meet the unique needs, skills, and interests of each student. With the right tools in their arsenals, educators can shift to an approach that celebrates the individuality of learners, empowering them to achieve their full potential.

Why Should We Change How We Teach?

The past few decades have been defined by rapid technological progress. However, while nearly every industry has been revolutionized by technological innovation, today’s classrooms still eerily resemble those from a century ago – desks facing a white board and lecturer, with the same broad-strokes teaching method applied to all students. 

This style of education does not focus on improvement and individuality, but on learner conformity. This leaves students who learn at different paces at a disadvantage. In fact, the National Center for Education Statistics reports that only about one-third of students in 4th, 8th and 12th grades are proficient in reading and have shown “solid academic performance and demonstrated competency over challenging subject matter.”

One thing is clear: the world is changing, and education methods must change with it.

Technologies like The Juice can help teachers engage with students on a personal level that may not have been possible in previous years. Many teachers have hundreds of students: creating personalized plans for each one would be an impossible task. The list of duties that fall to the teacher can often seem unending; The Juice allows teachers to adapt activities for students of all levels without sacrificing valuable time.

Agency as a Tool for the New Student Experience

Choice is a powerful element of personalized learning. When students have the agency to choose what interests them, the education process can foster passion and interest in learning. Connecting their studies to personal affinities and future aspirations makes the content feel relevant and exciting. The digital world is increasingly personalized. Students carry more technology than NASA used to put the first man on the moon in their pockets, and it’s all algorithmically targeted towards their specific choices and tastes– with every like, save, or share, their feeds are flooded with similar content.

In sharp contrast, traditional education methods employ “one size fits all” tactics. To many students, school is one of the only experiences in life that isn’t tailored to their preferences– it’s the one thing that isn’t specifically for them. Traditional learning peels students away from the world of ubiquitous personalized content they’ve come to expect.

How The Juice Can Help

Building Collective Culture

Although – or perhaps because – students experience education differently, in-class discussions are a powerful educational tool. However, in-class discussions often presuppose that all students have a similar grasp on the same source material. Students with lower proficiency might struggle with the complexity of a text, and feel uncomfortable participating. This is when personalized learning shines. When all students have access to the same foundational material, adjusted to their specific reading levels, effective in-class discussion can become inclusive and open. 

The Juice addresses this challenge by offering adaptive articles, adjusting words and phrases to ensure the information is accessible across all reading levels. The core essence remains the same– only the complexity of the language changes. Teachers can assign pre-discussion readings with confidence on The Juice knowing that each student will have material presented to them at a level that is simultaneously rigorous yet achievable. As a student’s reading comprehension improves, their reading levels will adjust to reflect their progress and offer them more challenging texts.

Creating Personalized Profiles

The Juice can be a tool to help build a collective culture through personalized experiences, bridging the gap between students’ different levels. On The Juice, students can select content that interests them and engage critically with the material of their choosing. In having options, students identify with the content they read, and are significantly more likely to spend time reading. 

Reading The Juice has proven benefits. Two quantitative studies concluded that students who read The Daily Juice for four weeks saw reading comprehension improve an average of 26.5% and current events and civics knowledge improve by 18.5%.

In order to tailor an individualized learning experience, it is important to fully understand how students engage with different material. Whenever students make choices on The Juice, those decisions help cultivate unique profiles for each student for their specific learning style. This individualized approach ensures that learning with The Juice stays interesting, engaging, and pushes students towards their academic goals.

The Juice aims to empower educators to provide their students with excellent materials tailored to their specific interests. Bridging the gap between individual learning needs and collective educational experiences ensures that every student has the opportunity to reach their academic potential.