No more one-size-fits-all, personalisation has gone mainstream. How? Your supermarket shows you TimTam promotions because it knows your habit. Radio is being edged out by choose-your-own-playlist streaming sites like Spotify and Apple Music. In education, students can choose when they start their course, as well as when and where they study. So what does personalisation mean for teachers? It's good news, and bad news.
First, the bad news...
1. Teachers will be burdened by more enquiries. Consumers are more conscious of their own value, and this goes for students as well, who want holistic customer care during their study experience. They won't hesitate to Tweet, post, email, or text to get your attention for any help they need, from draft feedback to report structure to online research skills, even though more of their enquiries won't be directly related to your course.
Look familiar? Source: LinkedIn
2. Teachers will work longer hours, staying 'switched on' to respond to individual students across more online channels. Dr Nicola Johnson, Senior Lecturer in the School of Education at Federation University said,
"Teachers haven't been good at that - separating work from home. They'll take home certain parts of their work but we all know that with teaching you can spend hours and hours and hours every week. It's endless and so we've got to have the disconnect."
And now the good news...
3. Teachers will use data to engage. Students' personal study was once hidden, especially online. This meant teachers couldn't help students and, on the flip side, students experienced isolation and low-satisfaction with their course. Now, teachers are using personalised student insight to track engagement, capabilities, and at-risk students, which makes students the winners, too.
4. Teachers will be more valued. With 24/7, personal, academic support, students are overcoming frustrations and a lack of core skills that would normally distract and derail. Students can better engage with content and their teacher's expertise - the true value of their study experience.
Improving writing skills and confidence = gains for course delivery and student success. Source: TAFE NSW
So personalisation will be a burden for teachers who don't have the tools to manage it, but a driver of student success for those who do.
As a TAFE teacher, you can use your Institute's Studiosity service to help. To start, make sure your students know how to connect to Studiosity through the student portal or intranet, especially outside your contact hours.
Meet student demands for personalised learning, while building core skills, literacy, and everyday confidence.
TAFE teachers, you can also find more information and free resources here.
