Blazing a Trail for the Next Generation of Personalized Learning

Personalized learning. It’s a term that has floated around in education circles for the past 20 years, even as edtech publishers largely failed to deliver on the promise of what it was supposed to be.

Those who have been around will recognize the buzzwords: adaptive, differentiated, leveled, and so many more. But how personalized are the “personalized” learning programs we’re all familiar with? Most of them have never advanced beyond simple algorithmic leveling; e.g. a student’s placement test indicates they are working at a first grade level in the numbers and operations domain, so that content gets served up to them first. 

That’s a fine start, but the lessons are still the same for every student. The word problems and text passages are still generic and cookie-cutter. The practice sets are still just multiple choice, drag-and-drop, apples and coins, right or wrong. There’s nothing personalized about any of it. 

eSpark is reframing that discussion, one classroom at a time. As one of the first supplemental curriculum programs to lean into the AI revolution, they have spent two years raising the bar for what personalized learning can be. By integrating student choice, voice, and real-time supports across their math, reading, and writing curriculum, eSpark has helped teachers successfully engage even the most reluctant students. How are they doing it? By ensuring that each student enjoys a wholly unique experience tailored to their needs, interests, and pace. 

Lessons rooted in student choice and voice

What are your students talking about on the bus, at recess, or during those transitions when they’re not supposed to be talking at all? Odds are, there’s very little overlap between those topics and the ones they typically engage with when they work through their center rotations. 

With eSpark, students have the agency to choose (or create) the themes of their lessons. That means working with non-fiction texts about Minecraft, YouTubers, or culturally relevant topics. It also means opening the door to infinite possibilities with freeform text inputs that stretch their creative muscles and put them in the driver’s seat of their learning journey. 

Real-time feedback and microinterventions

eSpark doesn’t just use AI for its own sake. The program serves as an extension of the teacher in a classroom by delivering real-time feedback and instruction to support productive struggle, remediation, and continuous improvement. In eSpark Writing, Willow, a friendly AI tutor, walks students through every step of the writing process by evaluating responses and suggesting next steps. 

In eSpark’s new Reading Lab activities for phonics and fluency practice, another eSpark character, Fennec the fox, delivers personalized microinterventions when students struggle to pronounce a word correctly. These research-based scaffolds support teachers by delivering critical 1:1 foundational reading instruction without the need for time-intensive intervention on their part. 

Crucially, eSpark adheres to the U.S. Department of Education’s guidance to “Always Center Educators” by giving teachers full transparency into what students are working on, how they’re progressing, and where additional human support might be needed. This humans-in-the-loop approach ensures a fair and equitable learning environment for all students, emphasizing connection and collaboration over algorithmic decision trees.

A safe and secure way to introduce AI in the classroom

eSpark isn’t some flashy new startup looking to capitalize on the rise of AI. They are an established publisher that meets all requirements for evidence-based interventions under ESSA. The program has been repeatedly proven to improve student outcomes in a variety of settings. It’s for these reasons that eSpark is making its mark as one of the easiest and safest ways to introduce students to the magic of AI without any of the inherent risks. 

Where other publishers treat AI as something they need to bolt on to their existing platforms just to keep up with the latest trends, eSpark has integrated the technology seamlessly to meet specific classroom needs. Every student who logs in enjoys a wholly unique and tailored experience that is instantly distinguishable from any other program they’ve ever used. It’s the perfect way to unlock those magical classroom moments that have been so much harder to find in the years since the pandemic. 

Try it free today

eSpark offers a no-strings-attached free trial for teachers for a minimum of 30 days. If you love the program (and you will), competitive school membership pricing makes it an easy fit for most school budgets. You can also continue to use the free version of the product indefinitely. Click here to get started.