Preparing educators for adaptive education (AE) programs

There has long been awareness that educational experiences should be individualized. In the health professions, this tenet remains inconsistently implemented. Adapting to the widely diverse characteristics of different learners requires educators who are prepared for planning and implementing adaptive education (AE).

Learning experiences, for both educators and health professions students, can be substantially enhanced by mirroring clinical care, where we respect the uniqueness of each person and increasingly approach care as a collaboration. We are continuously "diagnostic," striving to understand our patients' clinical and life circumstances, adjusting to new findings. Learners are also unique in multiple, relevant ways. They deserve educators who work with them collaboratively and "diagnostically," adapting to changing information.

Until recently, having educational programs that adapt to learner uniqueness was logistically and economically unrealistic. Now, thanks to deeper understandings of the learning process and new technologies, individualization is feasible. Here, we focus on the foundation step of preparing educators. Educator development: Suitably prepared educators are indispensable to success in becoming appropriately adaptive to learners' needs. For some educators, becoming more adaptive can be contrary to long-held assumptions and habits. We offer recommendations for effective educator development, without which authentic AE is unlikely.