If you are new to the term adaptive learning, you might have questions about adaptive learning. This blog tries to answer some basic questions on adaptive learning.
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In today’s fast-paced era of technology and globalization, it’s the harsh reality that we cannot afford the luxury of having an instructor modify the training methods or update course material to help each learner individually. What we can do instead is design an adaptive learning system that can be leveraged in both online as well as blended learning programs. If you are new to the term ‘Adaptive Learning’, I am sure you have a couple of questions on what exactly this term means in the context of corporate training. Read on to find the answers.
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Table of Contents
- What is Adaptive Learning?
- How Does Adaptive Learning Benefit Learners?
- How is Adaptive Learning Different from Personalized Learning?
- Is a Learning Management System (LMS) Required for Adaptive Learning?
- Are There Different Levels in Adaptive Learning?
Q1. What is Adaptive Learning?
ANSWER: Adaptive learning is a technique that uses technology and data to address each learner’s trouble spots by automatically providing individual support, thereby making learning more effective.
EXAMPLE:
Joe and James are sales reps in a pharmaceutical company, going through an online product training program that introduces them to the various drugs manufactured by the company, their uses, and contraindications.
Joe is unable to answer questions related to the contraindications of drug A. The adaptive learning courseware gives Joe content related to a basic overview of drug contraindications and retrains him on the content related to product A before he can proceed to the next module of the course.
Q2. How Does Adaptive Learning Benefit Learners?
ANSWER: Adaptive learning acts like a one-on-one instructor to learners. So you might have multiple learners taking the same course, but the content they see is based entirely on their current knowledge levels, experience, and past performance in the training session.
EXAMPLE:
You have three employees taking software training. The training program is actually an update that reflects new features included in the software being used by the procurement department. You could include a pre-assessment that checks learners’ existing knowledge and based on the score, the training program can branch out to address learners on three different levels.
- The first employee is already aware of the software and has hands-on experience. He is able to go through the training program quickly. He is also able to skip going through content he is already aware of. So the time taken for him to complete the training is less.
- The second employee is aware of the software but lacks hands-on practice. The adaptive learning program gives him multiple watch-try-do activities that simulate the real environment. He may also be given access to the test environment for practice sessions.
- The third employee is new and knows nothing about the software. The training program takes him right through the basics to the point where he feels he can work on the software comfortably.
Each employee is at different levels of knowledge and skill proficiency. Adaptive learning ensures the right learning path is provided so that learners become proficient in what they need to know, instead of wasting time going through what they already know.
3. How is Adaptive Learning Different from Personalized Learning?
ANSWER: Both these terms are often used interchangeably. But there’s a fine distinction between the two.
What is The Difference Between Personalized Learning and Adaptive Learning?
Personalized learning is an umbrella term and it’s right to say that adaptive learning is a kind of personalized learning. Personalized learning, just like adaptive learning, takes learners on a specific learning path. However, the difference is that personalized learning is not dynamic.
Adaptive learning provides a one-on-one learning experience by providing learners with what they need to achieve proficiency in the subject of training. In adaptive learning, the learning program adapts itself to learners’ performance levels in real-time and takes them on the most efficient learning path.EXAMPLE:
For personalized learning, sales professionals in Asia are offered a course on selling skills relevant to the sales skills in their region. So, as soon as a learner selects the region he/she is in, the relevant content is displayed.
Adaptive learning takes this concept a notch further. Even among sales professionals located in the same area and accessing the same course, each learner is provided with specific information that is needed to improve their sales skills and proficiency levels. This is done by tracking each response from the learner, and dynamically adapting to learners’ performance levels.
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4. Is a Learning Management System (LMS) Required for Adaptive Learning?
ANSWER: Any learning program that requires learner activities to be tracked needs to be hosted on a learning management system (LMS). So is the case with adaptive learning. The LMS supports adaptive learning by:
- Being highly customizable
- Providing anytime, anywhere access
- Supporting a variety of content formats
- Displaying content dynamically
- Tracking every small progress made by the learner
- Supporting learning analytics
EXAMPLES:
Here’s an infographic enlisting the 5 best LMS platforms for adaptive learning.
5. Are There Different Levels in Adaptive Learning?
ANSWER: Yes, adaptive learning can incorporate different levels in a few ways. Depending on the level of adaptive learning you require, there are software tools available in the market to help you achieve that level. Here are the common levels prevalent in adaptive learning:
Self-paced interactive level
At this level, a learner completes the summative assessment and immediately receives feedback on performance (questions answered correctly as well as incorrectly). If a requisite number of answers are correct, new content is unlocked.
Content level
The learner receives feedback on the summative assessment. He also receives an explanation for each wrong answer and can review sections of content related to that question.
Assessment level
A learner answers a question in the summative assessment. If he answers correctly, the next question is a tougher one. If the answer is incorrect, he is given a comparatively easy question before proceeding to more complex questions.
Assessment and content level
The learner answers all questions of a formative assessment and receives a tailored plan that contains relevant content and practice activities. After completing this, the learner takes the summative assessment after which a new learning plan is generated.
Assessment and content level with high granularity
At this level, every step the learner takes to answer a question is recorded. Feedback is given at each step. How the learner performs at this level decides the difficulty level of the next question.
Watch this video to learn the art of giving constructive feedback.
Parting Thoughts!
With the advent of Artificial Intelligence (AI), adaptive learning in the corporate training landscape has gained momentum. It can boost learner engagement, promote knowledge retention, improve learning outcomes, etc. Leveraging adaptive learning for all kinds of training programs can be tricky, so don’t shy away from re-engineering the existing training content and presenting it in different formats and complexity levels to suit individual learning levels and preferences. If you wish to leverage AI for repurposing content and designing new one, then check out our handy guide on how to use ChatGPT below.
Editor's note: This post was originally published on February 8, 2023 and has been updated for comprehensiveness.
