Engaging students and personalizing instruction with technology requires IT and instructional experts to work effectively, together, outside of their traditional silos.

If you’re reading this magazine, that’s probably something you’re well aware of. The tricky part is how to actually go about doing those things, and convincing everyone around you that they should be striving for that approach as well. How do you get that done?

Let’s start with what personalized learning is — or should be — and go from there. A 2017 Medium post from the Office of Educational Technology laments the lack of clarity about the term “personalized learning”: “The lack of a consistent definition and language for a relatively complex idea has hampered both understanding and effective ­implementation,” the article states.

Indeed, the concept has been conflated with other educational and ­instructional approaches that integrate technology: adaptive learning, blended ­learning, ­competency-based learning and differentiated learning, to name just a few.

The post points out, rightly, that it’s “important to recognize that personalized learning entails more than a definition: school ­culture, pedagogy, curricular choices and available resources all influence the shape personalized learning takes in any given learning environment.” Enter the silos.

When we can agree on the mission or goals of a personalized learning initiative, it becomes easier to break down the barriers and engage the various teams so we can start to agree on the technology tools and support that will meet those goals.

MORE FROM EDTECH: See where K–12 schools can turn to for personalized learning resources.

K–12 Departments Must Find Common Ground

So, how can teams get to the point where everyone is on board with the personalized learning program and goals? 

One place to start is with ourselves, and improving our leadership skills so that we can more skillfully guide the kinds of discussions that need to take place before landing on a common vision.

Engaging other teams and educational communities requires a safe space where everyone feels they can talk openly and honestly about what will work, given the specific students, resources and support available in a school or district. Identifying and understanding weaknesses becomes even more critical when teams look to scale out programs beyond a few innovative classrooms to an entire school or district.