Just a year ago, tech billionaires Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates announced a joint plan to fund an initiative into promote what they called “personalized learning.”
Personalized learning would tailor learning around children, studying the ways in which they learned and developing coursework that was attuned to individual students. The goal would be to create an individualized, independent learning plan for each student, making it easier for them to self-educate and reach important milestones at the same time as their peers. However, recent issues with Facebook’s data privacy may make this investment more complicated.
Personalized Learning in a Data-Driven World
Personalized learning rests on the premise that every child learns differently. Though data-driven personalized learning, systems would be created that would learn from the child, based on how the child learns best. The system would then automatically modify its materials to appeal to the child in question.
Personal, individualized learning is already used in many private schools and charter schools, as well as for children who have learning disabilities. The unique aspect of the Zuckerberg and Gates’ charity endeavor would be leveraging new, cutting-edge data technology to improve existing approaches.
In this type of personalized structure, children are able to learn in a self-motivated, self-directed way. Programs are designed for children to work at their own pace. Rather than working in a traditional classroom environment, students are directed to log into software and begin their coursework on their own.
Politics Puts Plan in Doubt
Though the personalized learning system is not necessarily related to Facebook’s platform, the privacy controversy surrounding Facebook has widespread implications for how data is collected and how it is used. It is this implication that caused Netflix, Amazon, and Google stock to plummet at the same time as Facebook’s stock, even though they were not involved with Cambridge Analytica nor under any direct scrutiny.
A core aspect of personalized learning is that it requires that data be collected about students. More specifically, this data would be collected regarding children. Though this data would ostensibly be used for informational purposes, it could also be rife for misuse. Advertisers could use detailed knowledge of children to market products directly to them. Data about children could be compromised by criminals and disseminated through the internet for the purposes of identity theft, with no way of scrubbing it from the internet permanently.
It is worth noting that when Cambridge Analytica approached Facebook for their studies, they were collecting data for educational purposes. However, this information eventually found its way into the hands of advertisers. Thus, the question becomes whether a company affiliated with Facebook would be able to be trusted with the type of information that personalized learning would require.
These aren’t the only issues that are facing the concept of personalized learning; in fact, detractors are already getting organized. Personalized learning is seen by some to be an impersonal and isolating process, which will pit children against each other academically and discourage socialization and communication. This approach could theoretically be used to reduce the amount of teachers in schools and, geared entirely towards self-motivated study, could leave some children to fall far behind.
Further, it’s feared that personalized learning could take power away from educators who are specialized in teaching children, and place it more firmly towards software companies who may have other agendas.
Facebook Stock Rebounds from Mid-March Plunge
With all of this in mind, it appears as though the worst of the Cambridge Analytica controversy may be over. On March 16th, 2018, Facebook stock closed $185.09 — off from its high of $193.09 in February, but still historically high. By March 27th, Facebook’s stock had plunged to $152.22. Since then, the stock has rebounded, reaching $165.84 by April 23rd.
A good deal of this is due to Mark Zuckerberg’s testimony. While the internet greeted the testimony with mixed reactions, Zuckerberg’s appearance with lawmakers appears to have reinvigorated investor faith. Many analysts are now calling Facebook stock a good buy.
Should nothing more come from the Cambridge Analytica scandal, Facebook is still a strong performer and well-monetized. That being said, companies that are investing in personalized learning or that are involved in these efforts may not be on as firm ground.
Regards,
Ethan Warrick
Editor
Wealth Authority
