AI-mediated personalisation and learning styles: from algorithmic profiles to pedagogical mediation

Authors

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.55777/n3ej1r73

Keywords:

Artificial Inteligence, Personalization, Learning Styles, Perfil algorítmico, Digital spaces

Abstract

Artificial intelligence (AI) has renewed the promise of personalised learning in digital and distance education. Yet varying content, inferring a profile or producing rapid feedback does not in itself amount to personalisation. This article presents a critical narrative review, conceptual in nature, of AI and learning profiles. It brings together research on personalisation, learning styles, distance education, learning analytics, feedback, self-regulation and digital communication. The analysis distinguishes three interdependent planes: algorithmic personalisation, pedagogically mediated personalisation and an ecological reading of ways of learning. Digital traces, it argues, should be treated as provisional, contextual evidence of learning rather than definitive representations of students. Learning styles are therefore treated as predominances observed at a given moment and open to development; broader ways of learning form dynamic, situated repertoires rather than fixed categories for teaching. The article considers AI as a space in which students can rehearse academic participation, provided that digital interactions are continually brought back to information sources, criteria for validating knowledge, teacher mediation and dialogue with peers. Personalisation has educational value when it broadens opportunities to learn, diversifies strategies, keeps algorithmic inferences open to challenge and links individual support to participation, collaboration and the social construction of knowledge.

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Author Biographies

  • Daniela Melare Vieira Barros, Open University

    Ph.D. in Education from the Universidade Estadual Paulista (UNESP) in Brazil and a Ph.D. in Education, Pedagogy, and School Administration from the Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED) in Madrid. She is a tenured Assistant Professor in the Department of Education and Distance Learning at Universidade Aberta (UAb), where she currently serves as associate coordinator of the Bachelor’s Degree in Education. She is a full-time researcher at the Laboratory of Distance Education and eLearning (LE@D) and a collaborating researcher at the Center for Global Studies, within the Education and Global Citizenship Group.   

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  • Ana Maria de Jesus Ferreira Nobre, Open University

    A faculty member at Universidade Aberta since 1998, initially in the Department of Humanities and, since 2010, in the Department of Education and Distance Learning, where she teaches undergraduate and graduate courses and supervises postdoctoral projects, doctoral dissertations, and master’s theses. She is a researcher affiliated with UID-FCT No. 4372, the Laboratory of Distance Education and eLearning (LE@D), collaborating on national and international projects and participating in the organization of scientific events. She is a trainer accredited by the Scientific-Pedagogical Council for Continuing Education of the Ministry of Education. As an author and researcher, she is also interested in open education, games and mobile learning, research methodologies, and TDIC in educational contexts. 

  • Paula Valente, Open University

    Ph.D. in Language Teaching—Multilingualism and Education for Global Citizenship from NOVA University Lisbon and the Open University, and a master’s degree in Pedagogical Supervision from the Open University. She is a visiting assistant professor at the Open University and a collaborating researcher at the Laboratory of Distance Education and eLearning (LE@D) at the same university. She is conducting postdoctoral research at the Pontifical Catholic University of Paraná (PUCPR) in Brazil on the pedagogy of using artificial intelligence in continuing teacher education.

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Published

2026-10-01

Issue

Vol. 19 No. 39 (2026): Digital and hybrid education in transition: learning, innovation and inclusion

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SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES OPEN

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How to Cite

Melare Vieira Barros, D., Nobre, A. M. de J. F., & Valente, P. (2026). AI-mediated personalisation and learning styles: from algorithmic profiles to pedagogical mediation. Journal of Learning Styles, 19(39), 1-12. https://doi.org/10.55777/n3ej1r73

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