Personalized learning, Student agency & Intrinsic motivation

In this episode of Learning Can’t Wait, Hayley Spira-Bauer speaks with Aidan McDowell, founder and CEO of Unique Learn, about making learning more personal, purposeful, and engaging. Drawing on his own school experiences, Aidan explains how understanding students’ interests, cultures, emotions, and circumstances can help educators create meaningful learning experiences. He discusses Unique Learn’s approach to personalized practice and Unique Path’s student-driven career exploration, emphasizing intrinsic motivation and opportunities for students to direct their learning. The conversation also explores his concerns about blanket AI bans, his company’s shift toward helping districts manage fragmented technology and data, and why listening to educators and treating students as individuals should guide innovation.