“Personalized Learning Products” Sigh.

This:

“Mark Zuckerberg’s investment in personalized learning can only help” fuel the approach, said Eric Schneider, assistant superintendent of instruction for the Minnetonka, Minn., school district during a panel discussion on that topic. “It should bring more products to the market, faster. It’s an investment that’s going to trigger great thinking.”

Tell me again, why does someone have to make “an investment” in making learning more personal for kids? Could it be because “personalized” learning, once again, is something we do to kids, not something kids do for themselves? Something not “personal” at all?

Corporations want “personalized learning” so they can, wait for it…make money off of the interaction. End. Of. Story.

The dirty little secret for the Valley, and apparently for many in charge of educating kids, is that engaging children by giving them the agency to learn the things they find interesting in a “personal” way is has nothing to do with product. It’s a change of mindset and approach.

And it’s free.

(Image credit: Philippe Put)

Originally published at willrichardson.com on April 26, 2016.

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Want to explore more of these ideas around learning and education? Check out my latest TEDx Talk “The Surprising Truth About Learning in Schools,” my blog at WillRichardson.com, or checkout my Amazon author page.