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Personalization is about the student being in charge of their learning. The student decides what they want to learn, how they want to learn it, and how they plan to demonstrate mastery. This process gives students ownership of their learning, which then leads to higher motivation. The teacher’s responsibility in such a setting would to be monitor, mentor, and gently guide students through their topics of study. This kind of system would be a process that would extend several days, weeks, and possibly months depending on the topic.
Differentiation is a more teacher directed approach. In this case, the teacher picks the content, how the material will be delivered and how students will be assessed. With differentiation, there could be several students learning in different ways at the same time, but they are all learning the same concept. This approach can allow for student choice; however, the learning target is the same for every student.
While I feel there is quite a difference between personalization and differentiation, I don’t feel that it is a difference strong enough to notice the moment you step into a classroom. After engaging with the students and asking them some questions, you would begin to notice whether or not students are working on the same concept or their own individualize plan.
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