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Personalized learning is defined in wikipedia as the "tailoring of pedagogy, curriculum and learning environments by learners or for learners in order to meet their different learning needs and aspirations"  This includes: Pedagogy, Curriculum, and Learning environments.

Do we improve learning by employing such methods as learning analytics and big data? The question is whether we should apply these methods, for two reasons:

• First, individual variability outweighs statistical significance; and  
• Second, it shouldn’t be up to the education system to determine what a person learns, how they learn it, and where. 

It may be preferable to embrace an alternative to personalized learning, which might be called personal learning.  Personal learning often begins informally, on an ad hoc basis, driven by the need to complete some task or achieve some objective. The learning is a means to an end, rather than the end in itself. Curricula and pedagogy are selected pragmatically. If the need is short term and urgent, a simple learning resource may be provided. If the person wants to understand at a deep level, then a course might be the best option.  

More information here: http://www.downes.ca/post/65065