Rural Educators’ Perceptions of the Use of Personalized Learning as a Possible Means to Enhanced Student Learning

<p>The aim of this qualitative study was to investigate rural educators’ perceptions of Personalized Learning as a possible means to enhance student learning. The theoretical framework for this study was Weick’s Theory of Sensemaking (Vazquez et al., 2022). Sensemaking is how people make sense of new phenomena and apply that knowledge to situations. The Personalized Learning Conceptual Framework for this study is based on Georgia’s 9 Essential Conditions of Personalized Learning and the 10 Standards of Practice that support the essential conditions. A basic interpretive study was conducted, which utilized a survey and individual, semi-structured interviews to collect data from participants. The survey, distributed via Qualtrics Survey Platform, consisted of 12 questions, four of which were demographic questions, and the others aimed at gathering educator's understanding and perceptions of Personalized Learning. The interviews were used to gain even more insight into educator’s perceptions. Suggestions for future research include having a more diverse participant pool of educators; exploring how students, parents, and other stakeholders perceive Personalized Learning; investigating educators’ perceptions of Personalized Learning across a more diverse geographic range, including urban, suburban, and other rural areas outside of Georgia; investigating best practices for introducing Personalized Learning specifically to administrators, and having more semistructured interviews including a wider range of educators, support staff, and other stakeholders. A result of this study was that the rural Georgia Educators who served as participants considered Personalized Learning as a possible means to enhance student learning according to survey and interview data. Additionally, according to document analysis, there was evidence of Personalized Learning strategy implementation among the districts of study</p>

Name thesis:degree_name

Doctor of Education

Level thesis:degree_level

Dissertation

Discipline thesis:degree_discipline

Teacher Education

Year dc:date.available

2024

Author dc:creator

• Drummer, Shiona Shanel

Contributors dc:contributor

• Jessica Banks, Chair
• Jennifer Lovelace, Member
• Allyson Douthit, Principal

• Personalized Learning
• Sensemaking
• Culturally Responsive Pedagogy
• Differentiated Instruction
• Traditional Learning
• Educators’ Perceptions
• Rural Schools
• Education

Language dc:language

English

Repository record dc:identifier

https://csuepress.columbusstate.edu/theses_dissertations/550

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:csuepress.columbusstate.edu:theses_dissertations-1552