What is mass customized learning?  Simply a way of approaching the traditional method of schooling that has dotted the educational landscape for over 100 years. In our conversations, we often discuss three core concepts that are key to MCL: Rate, Style & Technology.

​Here’s a deeper explanation of each of these. 
 
Rate
Wouldn't we all agree that humans learn at different rates?  Think of your own children. Did they all learn to talk and walk at the same age?  As you sat in math class in middle school, wasn't it apparent that some students in class just picked up the stuff faster than others?  This is a fundamental fact of human nature, yet we still hold true to a false notion that third grade must equal 180 days of school.  Or the notion that those middle school math geniuses must wait unit the end of the course to move on to more engaging and challenging material.  
 
Style
Wouldn't we all agree that we have different learning style preferences?  Some of us naturally connect with the written word and love to read and converse to make meaning of content.  Others need movement and a tactile approach to learn best.  Yet our school system churns out worksheets and one- size-fits-all projects.
 
Technology
Wouldn’t we all agree that technology has changed the landscape in every sector of our lives … except, perhaps, public education? Think online banking, online grocery ordering and delivery, booking car services via your smartphone, and the smartphone itself. Like these other innovations, an Internet connection and a device are revolutionizing our industry and people are making choices like never before.
 
So what does this mean for us?  

• If a third grade learner masters all the math that is required of her – midway through the school year, why can't she start fourth grade math?  If an eighth grader can do Algebra II, we must find a way to meet him where he is, not where we expect him to be.  We all learn at different rates, yet we move students in a pack mentality. Technology will help manage this.   
  
  
• Technology avails to us a massive amount of information that once was the domain of the teacher and a textbook alone.  What becomes of the fundamental role of teacher when everything we teach is online and easy to access?  Why would we need a textbook when the Internet holds more information than we can possibly consume? 
  
  
• Competition is at the front door.  Parents have more choices than ever before, and our stance of being “the only game in town” is over.  It makes no sense to debate which is better; it boils down to locus of control.  When you have a choice, you have some control.   We all know that bacon-cheese fries are not the healthiest option and yet … 
  
  
• We need to provide as much voice and choice as possible for our learners. Yes, some will not be able to manage total control of their schedules and their learning; but some can.  The Industrial-based system treated everyone as a cog in the machine.  True motivation will come when learners are provided a choice in how best to learn. 
  
  
• We need to embrace mastery learning.   When a student shows mastery of a concept or standard, they move on under the watchful eye of a teacher.   
  
  
• You noticed I referenced a teacher.  A human.  Public education has always been, and hopefully always will be, a human-to-human endeavor.  The human element is critical to improving the human condition.  Throughout history, despite the innovation or invention, it has always come down to humans sticking together and embracing the new, together; this time is no different.  

MCL is this and more.  It is not:

• Just technology;
• Letting students do whatever they want; or
• Requiring students learn only from a computer.

 
MCL done right means that our learners arrive each day to a learning environment that:

• Meets them at their level;
• Allows them to use their best learning styles;
• Engages them in learning skills and concepts with content of high interest to them;
• Inspires them to come to school; and
• Sets them up for challenges, and success, in school.

 
MCL honors rate, style and technology, but, most of all, it is a human-to-human endeavor, connecting learners with learning facilitators who help them achieve and succeed.

​That is the ideal learning environment. 

I recently listened as a graduate student presented his final exam to his classmates. He shared a story about his family’s annual, two-week vacation, during which his family members took turns assembling a large puzzle, piece-by-piece.
 
The episodic memory was one that created a special memory about his family; he shared the memory to illustrate who he is today, as a leader. As he spoke, it was not hard for all of us in the audience –professor or classmate – to conjure images of puzzle-building and family memories. He connected with us by sharing a story and an activity that we have all, at some point, experienced. Most of us can remember a time when we built a puzzle, using the puzzle box’s illustration of the “finished product” as guidance.
 
As I drive drove home after class, it dawned on me.  What many of us who are trying to reinvent and reimagine schooling struggle with is, simply, that there is no box top for this puzzle.
 
Imagine for a minute that you have to complete a difficult puzzle without a picture showing you where to fit the pieces, or what it should look like when you finished.  Now imagine trying to create the ideal learning environment for thousands of diverse and unique learners – without a box top picture, or school to visit where you can see what the change should look like as the pieces are assembled or, even better, when assembly is complete. Of course that is a natural course of action – to visit another school already implementing the change you seek (if you think about it, whatever the change, someone, somewhere had to go first). 
 
How would you approach the puzzle without the box top? I’m betting most of us would do the following:

• Begin with the end pieces, the easily identifiable pieces of the puzzle that form the outline, edges, limits of the puzzle and the change; and
• Examine the pieces and match colors and patterns that have some relationship and are easily identifiable. 

But how long would you stay with the puzzle?  If you could piece together the framework, and identify some inside pieces, but had no clear picture of the “end product” – how long would you continue to build? When would you reach your frustration level and abandon the puzzle?
 
We have assembled puzzles, or educational environments, or schools for years but, always, with the benefit of a box top. How might we paint a mental picture of the future (or the puzzle) so that you could move forward with us on the journey?
 
I encourage you to reflect on this, and what it means for schools, school leaders, and our efforts to provide an ideal learning environment for our thousands of learners. Share your thoughts with us, as we continue this dialogue.