Impacts of Personalized Learning

Few days ago, when I was scrolling through Instagram feed I came across a post on photography. It was by my friend, a school kid explaining the application of Golden ratio in Photography. He has explained it really well that even a starter could understand. I don't know whether he knows the math behind it or whether he would have understood the math behind it, if I had explained. The way he is a pro at his field, fascinates me. Here is a link for his post:

https://www.instagram.com/p/CCx8GMOMdUH/?utm_source=ig_web_button_share_sheet

Here is a link for my article on the same:

https://shasthrasnehi.com/golden-ratio-of-nature/

Generally speaking, we are pros at our own fields of interest. If not a pro, at least we are good at it. Very few people, choose their passion as their field of work. Very few dare to take the risk. That is not the point here. The point is, how we are a pro at our passion and a dummy at the other. In his case, the thing is same, that is the golden ratio. But his knowledge on the same is not. He knows the application of golden ratio in photography and he has applied the same too. That is, he has a practical knowledge on the same. But, does he know the math behind? Is his level of understanding on both, the same? I don't think it is. He can find golden ratio behind photos. But, can he find the golden ratio behind the problems he solves in math? Or can he say where it is hidden in Biology? He could be, or maybe he couldn't.

But, one thing I could say for sure is, he has better understanding of its application in photography than in other fields. That is because he really loves his passion i.e. photography, but not math and other sciences, even other arts too. Similarly, I could say where it is used in math, but not in photography or other arts. Even if there he faces hardships while learning, he would take it easy. But stumbles even if he faces a small problem in other subjects. This is just an example of how we are and how our mind influences what we learn.

Our mind plays a hard-hitting game when it comes to learning. He finds photography to be easy, but its base math to be hard. This is where favoritism comes. Since photography is his favorite, he finds learning it to be easy and math to be hard even when he is learning the same. This could be why he scores average marks in math and other subjects. The one who taught him the trick behind that pic, explained him in a personalized way. Or maybe it's how he teaches others too. Now, it could be easy for him and others who know the math behind that pic to learn the real math. Similarly, they could learn the real knowledge behind the tricks they use in photography and in other arts. Learning math through photography could be easy-peasy for him and other photophiles.

Even the gadgets we use are personalized to our interests. Some prefer dark mode, while some prefer light. Some find android to be satisfying while others choose iOS. Background, chat screen, keyboard, everything we use are personalized. Have you ever noticed that when a few people handle our device, we don't find it the same as it used to be before. This is why personalization matters. But, is it possible for everyone to learn in a personalized way? Though it may seem impossible for the teachers to personalize their lessons for every student, the students can have their own way of learning. It might help them learn easily in a fun filled way. Homeschooling paves way for personalized learning. But, not everyone can afford homeschooling and regular schooling would lose its value. Only the learners should take efforts to learn. First, it might seem hard to find its application and to have hands-on experience. Remember, its more effective than any other way.