Kiera Doran | Staff Writer 

Yamha Sami | Staff Writer

Independent. Self-paced. Teacher-free.

Personalized learning has become a learning trend at Mason Middle School that was implemented at the beginning of this school year, hoping to give students a more tailored learning experience. with personalized learning, the students would teach themselves, with the teacher being the advisor.

Eighth grader Erica Fennimore, is not a fan of this trend, as she prefers a teacher to instruct the class.

“I don’t like it because I need someone to give me instructions, or directions, or else I’ll get distracted,” Fennimore said. “I need a really strict guideline to follow, and some kind of authority.”

Personalized learning is used mostly in science classes, but eighth grader Maryam Shinwari said she would prefer it also being integrated into math.

“I think math would be good for personalized learning because some kids are naturally good at math and they might pick up things fast,” Shinwari said. “So they could just keep moving forward with personalized learning.”

Eighth grade science teacher Alison Sears said there should be a balance between personalized and traditional styles of learning.

“Both practices have benefits for student learning,” Sears said. “I believe some concepts need more teacher direction and others can be personalized to give the ownership of learning to the student.”

Seventh grader Kennedy Rader said personalized learning is having a positive outcome for both students and teachers.

“I think it’s a lot easier for the teachers because they don’t have to focus on the entire class and they can focus on the students who aren’t understanding what they’re learning,” Rader said. “Then they can let the students who do understand the topic move ahead, and do what they need to do.”