learnerprofile

A learner profile is a structured collection of information about a learner that describes their background, abilities, goals, preferences, and context to inform instruction, assessment, and analytics. In education and educational technology, learner profiles may be created by teachers, learners themselves, or learning systems, and stored in a learning management system, an e-portfolio, or a dedicated learner information system. Profiles can be static or dynamically updated as new learning data becomes available.

Common components include prior knowledge and skill level, identified learning goals, motivation and interests, preferred learning modalities, pacing and time availability, language and accessibility needs, digital literacy, devices and connectivity, and the learning environment. Profiles may also record learning history, achievements, certifications, and feedback from assessments or activities.

Data sources and use: information is drawn from assessments, self-reports, interactions with learning activities, and system-generated analytics. Learner profiles support personalized content sequencing, adaptive resource recommendations, targeted prompts or scaffolds, and progress monitoring. They help instructors tailor support and measure growth, while enabling learners to track their own development. Privacy, consent, data governance, and security are important considerations, including data minimization, the right to access and rectify information, and clear policies on sharing and retention.

Challenges and considerations include ensuring data quality, avoiding bias, keeping profiles up to date, and achieving interoperability across platforms. There is also a balance to strike between gathering enough information to enable meaningful personalization and protecting learner privacy. In educational technology, the concept relates to the learner or student model used by adaptive systems to tailor content to individual needs.