For those of us working to stoke Personalized Learning in education, we can take heart that the personalization movement is alive and well and growing in two other fundamental segments of society: Business and Healthcare.
In business, the personalization movement has arisen in almost stealth fashion to surround us. Look about and you’ll see evidence of this popping up as customized clothing, food, travel options, recreational products and much more. Lifestyle marketing and niche businesses, even charities, now provide us with many more choices about how and where we live, what we consume, and the service activities we choose.
A couple of weeks ago renowned marketing guru and CBC radio host Terry O’Reilly dedicated a complete segment of his weekly radio show, Under the Influence to the theme of “Mass Customization“, and it was riveting (check out the show here). According to O’Reilly Mass Customization is one of the fastest growing trends in marketing and it’s here to stay.

According to consumer reports, so is the trend of providing personalized healthcare. This is the natural outcome of a better informed public demanding personalized responses and also better informed health care practitioners who want to provide better care and health options for patients. It’s also an outcome of blending or integrating cross-cultural healthcare insights thanks to a broader informational exchange on micro and macro levels, which can largely be attributed to the internet, information exchange protocols between countries and personal curiosity and committment. Oh, and this list also includes manufacturers and service providers moving quickly to offer personalized choices in healthcare products from implants to prosthetics to therapeutic options.

Some people opine that we are are burdened by “too many choices” and our choices should be limited. Not me. I believe that, for the most part – excepting some ethically-challenged options – we experience richer lives with better quality of life because of increased personalization in business and healthcare. The same will be true as we move to embrace Personalized Learning.
The parade is starting and it promises to be exciting.