Blended, personalized learning continues to grow in both the number of implementations and the amount of research and best practice sharing available through the Internet and various organizations such as iNACOL and ISTE. However, as many have written, it is so much more than just the technology. Lenny Schad, author of “Bring Your Own Learning: Transform Instruction with Any Device” (ISTE 2013), tells Gail Marshall in the latest edition of ISTE’s "entrsekt" journal, that his first question for districts wanting to do one to one instruction or BYOD is always “Why do you want to do this?” He makes a valid point. If our reasons focus on the technology, instead of the potential changes in teaching and learning, then we’re probably not ready to move forward. Our reasons need to center more on teaching our students to navigate successfully in a digital world. Once we’ve answered our question of “why” at a high level, we can begin to delve into the questions that will help make the 1:1 or BYOD model locally relevant.

The six questions below provide only a starting point. But, when answered completely, help us begin to define the details behind the “why” and make the implementation much more locally relevant.

1. What are our expectations for students in this new environment? Are they clearly stated, shared, and meaningful?
2. What student interactions are or will be planned for? Have we mapped these interactions to the results we want to achieve?
3. What steps will we take to make 1:1 blended instruction personally relevant to each student?
4. What resources do teachers need to be effective in their job and deliver a high level of quality? How does 1:1 or BYOD impact resource availability, delivery, and quality?
5. What are all of the educational programs that we’re using? Do we understand them all? How will they each intersect with our 1:1 implementation?
6. What are we willing to change in order to ensure that the focus remains on teaching and learning, not on the technology?

Regardless of whether we plan to do 1:1 or BYOD, flip classrooms, use the rotation or flex models, or provide fully online courses, the power of any implementation lies in the depth of connection to learning and teaching, and the steps we take to make it local.