Leading Personalized and Digital Learning provides needed guidance for principals, aspiring principals, and other school leaders at a critical time when educators are looking to put the power of technology to work for student-centered learning. The authors identify eight leadership essentials that school leaders must attend to if they are to lead an effective and sustainable transition to a new way of teaching and learning. They also offer resources and wisdom gleaned from years in the field.

The proliferation of technological tools means K-12 education can now be tailored to meet the needs and interests of individual students, empowering them to take charge of their own learning. For educators, however, transitioning to digital and personalized teaching is immensely challenging, often requiring a fundamental change in mindsets and school culture. Drawing on their extensive experience coaching school leaders across the country, the authors highlight expert principals who have successfully made the transition to customized education through the use of personal pathways, competency- and project-based learning, and other models.

About the Author: Mary Ann Wolf is the Director of Digital Learning Programs at the Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at North Carolina State University. She began her career in education as a fifth-grade teacher and has worked with national, state, district, and school leaders across the country in building capacity for personalized and digital learning. She and her team lead ongoing, job-embedded professional learning to guide superintendents, district teams, and principals, coaches, and teachers. Mary Ann played a lead role in developing and facilitating the Digital Learning Transition MOOC-Ed and the Learning Differences MOOC-Ed. She has written extensively on culture, personalized learning, and digital learning, including Innovate to Educate: Education System [Re]Design for Personalized Learning, an influential report based on a symposium held by SIIA, ASCD, and CCSSO. She also coauthored Culture Shift: Teaching in a Learner-Centered Environment Powered by Digital Learning for the Alliance for Excellent Education and two reports on mobile learning in North America for UNESCO and CoSN. She was previously the executive director of the State Educational Technology Directors Association (SETDA) and spent many years in the nation's capital advocating for the importance of personalized and digital learning to meet the needs of each student. Mary Ann was a member of the NAEP Technology Literacy Assessment steering committee. She also testified before the US House of Representatives Education and Labor Committee; SETDA hosted, with the National Science Foundation, Future of Learning educational technology showcases for members of Congress and staffers in the House and Senate. Connect with Mary Ann on Twitter at @maryannwolfed or by e-mail at wolfed.maryann@gmail.com.

Elizabeth Bobst is a writer, editor, and educator focusing on ESOL and international education. She began her teaching career as a middle/high school English teacher and volleyball coach and has taught in classrooms up and down the east coast. After earning her TESOL certification from NCSU in 2013, Elizabeth now works with adults learning English as a second language and who are using English as a tool to improve their lives. Interested in sharing culture as well as language, Elizabeth has taught in several different countries. Her writing focuses on personalized and digital learning, as well as equity issues in education. Connect with Elizabeth on her website elizabethbobst.com.

Nancy Mangum is the Digital Learning Lead at The Friday Institute for Educational Innovation at North Carolina State University. Nancy is passionate about helping educators create learning environments that empower all students and ignite their passion for learning and teaching. She has developed several comprehensive programs for school leaders including the Leadership in Blended and Digital Learning program that is being run in sixteen organizations and states around the country. Her work at the institute also includes guiding principals and district leaders as they implement digital transitions through leadership development, strategic planning, and coaching.

She leads several projects at the Friday Institute including the Digital Leaders Coaching Network, the Leadership in Blended and Digital Learning Program, and Leading Schools Project. Nancy is a contributor to the National Future Ready Summits sponsored by the US Department of Education and is a content developer and summit facilitator for the Alliance for Excellent Education. She has also been the president of NCTIES. She brings a depth of knowledge about curriculum, pedagogy, and instructional technology, with past experiences as a classroom teacher, technology facilitator, and district leader. Connect with Nancy on Twitter at @nmangum or via e-mail at nkmangum@gmail.com.