Considering the Possible Relationship Between Personalized Learning and Service Learning - A Historical and Pragmatic Perspective

Oct 15, 2026

Personalized learning (PL) has re-emerged as an approach meant to re-engage students and better prepare them for college and careers, supported by new classroom technologies. Yet its broader effects on education narratives, community, workforce, and democratic principles require further study. This essay applies a technoskeptic, historical and pragmatic lens to analyze PL’s implications and argues that service learning can more effectively engage students while advancing a communal, democratic learning narrative.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages15

Reading Time38 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

Defining personalized learning (PL)

Technology-focused interpretations of PL

PL’s historical roots and renewed interest

Cultural drivers of personalization

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| Considering the Possible Relationship Between Personalized Learning and Service Learning: A Historical and Pragmatic Perspective | | --- | --- | Jennifer Spiegel, Elizabeth Forward High School (Pennsylvania) Joshua Clements, Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College (Georgia) Abstract Personalized learning (PL) is not new, but it has morphed andre-emerged as an approach that might re-engage today’s students in the classroom and better prepare them for college and careers in the 21st century. Amid this re-emergence of personalization is the implementation of new technologies in the classroom. While technology may offer efficient ways to deliver PL, the impact of PL on the educational system and the narratives that guide learning, as well as its effect on the larger community, the workforce, and the democratic principles that guide America, need further exploration. This essay looks at personalized learning historically and pragmatically using a technoskeptic approach. This paper examines personalized learning’s implications and offers ways personalized learning via service learning may be more effective in engaging students while also continuing to contribute toa communal, democratic narrative. When properly applied, service learning encourages students to use their knowledge to solve real-world problems in their communities. As modern culture moves toward isolated media environments and individualized experiences, students need more exposure to other people and differing worldviews to maintain democratic ideals, a robust learning experience, and humanity in reality, as opposed to what is offered on a screen. Keywords: personalized learning, service learning, educational technology Introduction Educational trends in American schools come and go as often as changes in teen fashion. Some last only a few years and gain a quick following as educational stakeholders jump on the bandwagon to incorporate new, progressive-appearing positions. Shortly after, they fade away and are replaced by the next trendy concept or catchy term that is often rebranded from an earlier idea, methodology, or pedagogy. Others take root more deeply in the educational realm as stakeholders within local education communities and larger national and corporate interests provide training, money, and resources that enable these movements to gain momentum for the long term. One such trend is personalized learning (PL) . Attempting to define PL proves difficult due to the myriad ways the term is used across the literature and in various contexts (Bernacki et al., 2021; Walkington & Bernacki, 2020). A cursory glance through the literature finds such definitions as PL being “instruction in which the pace of learning and the instructional approach are optimized for the needs of each learner…In addition, learning activities are meaningful and relevant to learners, driven by their interests, and often selfinitiated”(US Department of Education, 2017, p. 9) . This definition implies that personalization is achieved through time and approach as well as through content. Educational technologists define PL a bit differently by stating that it “requires a digital learning environment to be classified as a personalized learning environment to be adaptive to individual knowledge, experience and interests and to be effective and efficient in supporting and promoting desired learning outcomes”(Shemshack & Spector, 2020, p. 2) . Further still, other advocates of PL promote adopting technology as a means of expanding opportunities for learning. Patrick (2015) suggested that through applying “modalities of blended and online learning using advanced technologies, personalized learning is enhanced by transparent data and abundant content resources flowing from redesigned instructional models to address standards”(p. 57) . The use of the words “efficient” and “data” in these two definitions imply a technological focus, since technology will speed up the learning p

FAQs

Why is personalized learning (PL) considered difficult to define?

PL is used in many ways across literature and contexts, resulting in multiple definitions that emphasize different mechanisms such as pacing, meaningful activities, and digital adaptive environments.

How do educational technologists characterize personalized learning?

Educational technologists describe PL as requiring a digital learning environment that adapts to learners’ knowledge, experience, and interests to support intended learning outcomes efficiently and effectively.

What role does service learning play in the paper’s argument about student engagement?

The paper suggests that when properly applied, service learning encourages students to use their knowledge to solve real-world problems in their communities, helping sustain engagement and a communal democratic learning narrative.

Oct 15, 2026

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