Personalized learning means different things to different people. Visit different schools with different models, and chances are they will all tell you they are using some form of personalized learning.
But what does “personalized learning” mean, and how do schools follow in others' footsteps in order to get in the game?
When it comes to sports, players turn to the playbook. Teams start by following a set of strategies that are tried and true, tested over decades of playing the game. (Take the play-action pass, or the pick-and-roll, for example!) But the greats—the players, coaches and innovators who are immortalized—achieve their goals by adding their own flair and philosophies to the game. They can assess and adapt to any situation.
So when it comes to personalized learning, where’s the playbook with those reliable, go-to plays to put into action?
For a field that’s so young and has yet to be solidly defined, these personalized learning plays are being invented as we go. And how they are tweaked and implemented by brave educators across the country is incredibly exciting. Schools are taking different definitions or frameworks for personalized learning that others have created and making them their own.
To define personalized learning for themselves and bring that vision to life, educators turn to a number of resources: frameworks and blueprints for personalized learning, networks of innovative schools and educators, and ultimately their own communities to co-create a vision for what it will all look like. To honor the players and the coaches of this personalized learning game, we’ve captured stories of:
- How organizations and educators are creating their “playbooks,” or defining personalized learning with frameworks,
- How schools and districts are “carrying out the plays” and making those definitions uniquely their own, and
- How they are leading “the team huddle” and bringing these visions to life with the help of their entire communities.
We’ve also borrowed and shared a few of the tricks and tools being used to build personalized learning in schools and classrooms (from frameworks to white papers to professional development activities), so that you can start assembling your own playbook, whether for a few kids in a classroom or a 50,000-student district.
Take these plays, practice them, share them and inspire more players to play along. Let the personalized learning games begin!
Writing the Playbook: Personalized Learning Frameworks
Carrying Out the Plays: Implementing Strategies School or Districtwide
Team Huddle: Communicating a Personalized Learning Vision
Twelve Resources to Get You Started
Interested in creating a personalized learning playbook? Here's our list of starter resources. And if you've got materials that you think others should use, please include it in the comments section below!
| Resource | Description | Type of Resource | Who's the Ideal User? | Read More About it! |
| A Working Definition of Personalized Learning (NewSchool Venture Fund) | List of four common attributes shared by the emerging community of schools designed for personalized learning |
Infographic/ Framework |
Teachers, District or School Administrators |
Why use it? |
|
Blended Learning Worksheets (Christensen Institute) |
Worksheets for admins/schools to practice going soup-to-nuts personalized |
Activity | Teachers, District or School Administrators |
Why use it? |
|
Redbird Personalized Learning Framework (Redbird Learning) |
5-year description of steps for going blended |
Framework | District or School Administrators |
Who's using it? |
|
Blueprint for Personalized Learning in Delaware (Rodel Council) |
Stats, systems, and interviews with educators to support going blended |
Framework | Teachers, School Administrators | Why use it? Who's using it? |
|
Mean What You Say: Defining and Integrating Personalized, Blended and Competency Education (iNACOL) |
Descriptions of the differences between three frequently-interchanged terms |
White Paper | Anyone |
Why use it? |
|
Pearson's 1:1 Framework (Pearson) |
Research-based approach designed to help schools go 1:1 |
Framework | Teachers, School Administrators |
Why use it? |
|
A Fundamental Shift in Teaching And Learning to Meet the Blueprint 2.0 Theory of Action (Baltimore County Public Schools) |
School and districtwide recommendations for going personalized from Lighthouse Schools in BCPS |
Framework | Teachers, District or School Administrators |
Who's using it? |
| Human Capital Management: Developing a Strategy for Success in a Personalized Environment (Matchbook Learning) | Strategies for cultivating blended learning leaders | White Paper |
School Administrators | Why use it? Who's using it? |
| The Edtech Challenge (The Edtech Challenge) | Self-paced, scaffolded technology integration course for educators; major focus on personalization |
Course | Anyone | |
| A Framework for Cultivating High-Quality Blended Learning at the State Level (The Learning Accelerator) | Research-based approach for state/local education groups | Framework | State Officials | Why use it? |
|
Redesigning Districts to Support Blended Learning (The Highlander Institute) |
Analysis of triumphs and challenges of 3-year adoption of personalized learning in the classroom across Rhode Island | White Paper | Anyone | Who's using it? |
| Project-Based Learning School Rubric (Buck Institute for Education) | Based on BIE's "8 Essential Elements of PBL;" rubric describes what teachers and leaders do in order to support PBL implementation | Rubric | Anyone | Who's using it? |