e-Learning and the Science of Instruction: Proven Guidelines for Consumers and Designers of Multimedia Learning

8.10. What We Don't Know About Personalization

Although personalization can be effective in some situations, additional research is needed to determine when it becomes counterproductive by being distracting or condescending. Further work also is needed to determine conditions—if any—under which the visible author technique can be effective. Perhaps the most exciting application of the personalization principle involves the design of pedagogical agents, so research is needed to determine which features of an agent promote learning. In addition, we do not know whether specific types of learners benefit more than others from the personalization principle. For example, would there be any differences between novice and experienced learners, learners ...