Today's teachers are continuously challenged to differentiate their teaching strategies to accommodate the increasing diversity within student groups. In a world undergoing deep transformations, educators support students with unique learning challenges, those in need of more guidance, and fast learners eager for new activities. Digital technologies can address these realities, provided they're deployed wisely, aligning with pedagogical intentions and the nature of the activities.

What is personalized learning?

Personalized learning aims to enhance each student's educational success by considering their learning needs, interests, and aspirations. This approach significantly differs from traditional teaching methods by offering more tailored content and support. For example, flipped classrooms enhance this personalized support, optimizing direct contact time with each student without neglecting content delivery, thus empowering students to take charge of their learning.

Which educational technologies can assist teachers?

Three students collaborating on a project using a computer

Educational technologies, or EdTech, refer to digital platforms (mobile applications) or websites that offer classroom management tools, and a variety of educational content. In the United States, they're often referred to as "digital learning solutions."

Teachers can leverage these digital tools to better plan their lessons and interventions, carry out learning activities, assess students (formative or summative), and provide useful, specific and clear feedback. These technologies foster greater student autonomy and present content in a rich, dynamic way, accessible on phones, tablets, or computers, both at school and at home. Naturally, this usage should be ethical, critical, and responsible.

Content includes:

Digital or audio books;
Interactive activities and tools;
Video tutorials;
Immersive educational games (unlocking levels like in video games);
Virtual reality science labs;
3D animation;
Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools.

Classroom management tools feature, for example:

Playful behavior management systems engaging each student;
Tools offering team discussion themes;
A tool for creating groups;
Digital portfolios for each student;
Tools for establishing daily tasks and an event calendar;
Parent communication tools (news, homework, student work, etc.)

What added value do digital technologies bring to personalized learning?

Typically, an educational platform promotes engagement from both teachers and students throughout a sequence of activities. These platforms can be utilized as part of the curriculum or in addition to it, during workshops or special activities, and may be offered by companies, institutions, organizations, or education departments.

In a personalized learning context, educational platforms offer numerous benefits to students and teachers:

Students can study content at their own pace, with clear objectives and requirements;
Teachers can reduce and more precisely target the use of lectures to share content, freeing up more time for other tasks such as personalized support;
Students in need of encouragement and explanations can more easily receive constructive feedback from teachers, while other students complete their work, also benefiting from supportive feedback;
Both students and teachers can interact with sophisticated conversational AI agents through varied prompts, while exercising critical thinking;
Students are motivated by interactive and customizable content according to their interests;
Teachers can better track each student's progress, offer constructive feedback, and accurately assess learning.

Vireo's Educational Platform

A student using the Vireo digital platform on a tablet

Complementing the classroom hydroponic garden, Vireo has developed an educational platform filled with stimulating pedagogical content for all study levels. The Vireo platform offers an abundance of smart resources aligning gardening to various school curriculums, facilitating significant transdisciplinary projects, and engaging schools and communities in meaningful initiatives.

It features suggestions for educational pathways, dynamic lesson plans, informative articles, delicious recipes, and engaging activities like measuring plant growth and pH levels.