Adaptive learning... is an educational method which uses computer algorithms to orchestrate the interaction with the learner and deliver customized resources and learning activities to address the unique needs of each learner.

‘Adaptive learning’...means different things to different people. In the most general terms, it can be defined as a way of delivering learning materials online, in which the learner’s interaction with previous content determines (at least in part) the nature of materials delivered subsequently. The process is automated, dynamic, and interactive. Its purpose is to generate a personalized learning experience.

...a system that is continuously adaptive — that responds in real-time to each individual’s performance and activity on the system and that maximizes the likelihood a student will obtain her learning objectives by providing the right instruction, at the right time, about the right thing.

... a learning environment is considered adaptive if it is capable of: monitoring the activities of its users; interpreting these on the basis of domain-specific models; inferring user requirements and preferences out of the interpreted activities, appropriately representing these in associated models; and, finally, acting upon the available knowledge on its users and the subject matter at hand, to dynamically facilitate the learning process. The preceding informal definition should differentiate the concept of adaptivity from those of tailorability / configurability, flexibility / extensibility, or the mere support for intelligently mapping between available media / formats and the characteristics of access devices.