Teachers' Perceptions Concerning Digital Personalized Learning: Theory Meet Practice

Abstract

The ever-evolving landscape of education is constantly intersecting with rapid advances in technology. Digital personalized learning (DPL)—learning which occurs in a digital learning environment that adapts to the individual learner—is believed to benefit both students and teachers. While DPL is believed to benefit students and teachers, there is a lack of research on its implementation in real classrooms and teachers' perspectives are often overlooked. As such, there is a clear need for examining the implementation of DPL in authentic classroom settings from the perspective of teachers. The current study explores: (RQ1) How do teachers perceive the idea of DPL? And (RQ2) What are teachers’ views on the implementation of DPL tools in their (future) lessons? Ten focus group interviews involving 56 teachers revealed limited DPL awareness and low usage of DPL tools. Despite their interest in DPL, teachers identified considerations such as targeted students, teachers’ roles, and technical problems. Four challenges were also identified: a gap between theory and practice, varying understandings of DPL implementation, the role of intelligent DPL tools versus teachers, and awareness of technical versus pedagogical needs. These findings provide valuable insights for the sustainable and responsible implementation of DPL tools.