Personalized Learning. How to Get It Right.

Personalization may be the “word of the year” for learning and development. And why not? Recent advances in technology make personalizing learning more feasible than ever before.

Who wouldn’t want learning that feels tailored just for them? However, when we examine the research, we realize there is a more complex picture.

Some types of personalization do lead to meaningful improvements in learning outcomes, while some don’t have much impact at all, and a few can even get in the way.

The difference lies in awareness. The evidence consistently highlights that personalization works best when it begins with learners becoming aware of their starting point, their progress, and their growth edges. For adult learners in particular, awareness is the lever that ensures personalization results in real-world performance gains.

How to Personalize Training Programs

The strongest effects come when we personalize around people’s level of knowledge, how they progress through the learning, and the kinds of feedback they’re offered.

Specifically:

Expertise. A consistent finding in learning science is the “expertise-reversal effect.” Novices and experts benefit from different approaches. Novices need more worked examples, scaffolds, and step-by-step guidance; experts perform better when given fewer prompts and more open problem-solving.

But the key here is awareness. If learners aren’t first aware of their own level of knowledge and confidence, it’s almost impossible to match them with the right types of support. In this way, awareness acts as the input signal that drives meaningful personalization.

Learning pathways. Adaptive systems that adjust the sequence or difficulty of tasks based on a learner’s progress consistently improve results. The real benefit isn’t in letting people go wherever they want, but in helping them be aware of the right “next step” for their growth.

Practice schedule. Spacing and adapting retrieval practice (when people revisit content they are learning) significantly strengthens retention. Awareness and intention in building a practice schedule result in learners feeling both challenged and successful as they can revisit knowledge just before it begins to fade.

Feedback. Research shows that information-rich, task-focused feedback yields medium to large effects. The key is in the timing and specificity: Adults learn more when feedback draws attention to what they did, why it worked or didn’t, and how to improve; rather than just providing general right or wrong feedback. The feedback creates the awareness loop that drives confidence and competence.

Bounded choice. Giving learners some control over their learning supports motivation. This could look like providing the ability to choose the order of learning components, or allowing learners to skip content they can demonstrate knowledge of. Finding the right balance is important as giving too much freedom can lead to confusion, but providing some freedom reinforces awareness of progress and a sense of agency.

The Impact of Awareness-Driven Personalization

When personalization includes activating awareness, learners engage at the right level of challenge, progress feels tangible, and application becomes natural.

For the individual, awareness of strengths and gaps builds confidence and makes progress visible.

In the learning process, awareness of how to apply knowledge in different contexts helps people move beyond “knowing” into “doing.”

At the organizational level, awareness of what truly drives performance means investment flows to approaches that stick, not just those that are popular.

In contrast, when personalization is superficial or misaligned, learners may enjoy the experience but leave without deeper personal capability. Awareness is a key difference between just consuming learning and being transformed.

A Practical Checklist

For those designing learning, here are a few questions to help keep awareness at the center:

• Have we helped learners to see their starting point?

• Does the learning pathway stretch them appropriately based on their performance along the way?

• Are practice opportunities spaced and adaptive enough to build retention?

• Does feedback draw attention to the process, not just the score?

• Do learners have the right amount of choice to feel agency without losing direction?

Conclusion

Not all personalization is created equal. When it focuses on preferences or surface-level tweaks, its impact is limited. However, when awareness is the starting point for personalization, when learners see where they are, what they need, and how they can grow, then personalization becomes an engine of transformation.