Chapter 9; “The Personalization Principle”

The “Personalization Principle” says that students learn better when they feel more personally involved with their teacher. Because they perceive the teacher as a human being they are interacting with, they do not want to disappoint by not trying their best. Since it is more difficult to cause personalization to happen in an online environment than in a traditional classroom, it is important to see what research has to say about designing a more personal lesson. First, a conversational rather than a formal style is better. With just a few word changes and no content deletions, the wording can become more personally engaging. This personalization includes a pleasing voice quality if narration of any kind is done. Using human narration instead of computer-generated speech and making sure the accents aren’t pronounced are essential.  Polite speech is also important. Students would rather feel like they can choose from several options rather than be told to do something. Typically, students would rather learn male-stereotyped lessons from a male voice and female-stereotyped lessons from a female voice. An exception to this is math -a male stereotype - where students seemed to prefer a female narration. Second, an on-screen coach can help guide a student through the lesson, acting much as a live teacher would in a “brick and mortar” classroom. This coach does not have to look like a real person: it can be an animal, a cartoon, or whatever. However, the coach does have to act like a human, so the student can relate human-to-human. Third, the author of the course should be made visible to the students. This doesn’t mean photographs or videos need to be shared. It means the author’s personal feelings about the subject matter should be shared in some way. The previous chapter should not be forgotten, though. Sidetracking to the author and his viewpoints should not be overdone; the learning objectives should remain the central focus.

This chapter in Clark and Mayer’s textbook fits very well with my usual style of teaching. It is encouraging to know that research bears out what I have seen in the classroom, that when a student relates more personally with the teacher, he learns better. I always tried to get to know my students well and to use examples that related to their own likes and dislikes, making the lesson more personal for them. Since I am a math teacher, I thought it was very interesting that students seem to prefer a female voice for their math lessons, when they usually want the stereotyped gender teaching the class. In fact, the textbook authors specifically recommend using female teachers for online math lessons, based on the outcome of the research that has been done.

The examples in this chapter of how to change text to a more conversational style are very helpful. I don’t know if we will use an on-screen coach for our lesson, but we will definitely try to make our lesson less formal and more conversational. Even though there are four of us writing the lesson, we will try to include some author personalization where applicable. The section on polite speech seems at first glance to contradict the “Avoid extraneous words” advice, but most people prefer to be asked nicely rather than be ordered to do something. To do this requires more words, but tact and diplomacy fit into an e-lesson just as they do in other parts of our daily lives.

References:

Clark, R. C., & Mayer, R. E. (2008). E-learning and the science of instruction. San Francisco: Pfeiffer.