Resources for personalized competency and project based learning

We have created resources for personalized competency and project based learning in the form of webinars, videos, and ideas. We also have in-depth exclusive information for school and district leaders and their teams.

Recorded Webinars

Take a quick look at how easily you can manage the student work, data and assessments of Standards-based or Competency-based learning.
Transforming your school from a traditional approach to Deeper Learning methodologies like PBL and Personalized Learning is a daunting task! Any school leader approaches this work with lots of questions and knows there are lots of possible answers. But which are the best?
When students are engaged and passionate about projects, their investment in learning discovery and skills growth naturally builds confidence and agency over their own learning. What is the best way to ensure their passion?
This video shows how Durango Big Picture High School uses personalized and project-based learning to engage their students. There are many examples of the students' work and key efficiency advice from the teachers and administrators!
In this recorded webinar, see how the upheaval of pandemic freed Compass Community Collaborative School to take the courage to do what they had always planned: relationship, social-emotional, experiential, project-based, interdisciplinary, and learner-driven learning.

EXCLUSIVE Webinars for Principals, Superintendents and other Educational Leaders

Competency-Based Learning Part I

This in-depth webinar is designed to provide comprehensive details on CBL/CBE for leaders who are considering transforming their schools or district to this type of learning.

Videos

Personalize Learning for Students; Project-based Learning Examples
 

Take a quick peek into the online platform that supports PBL and CBL.

Ideas

Project-based Learning and Problem-based Learning (PBL) Ideas, Examples and Activities

Projects that come out of Project-based Learning or Problem-based Learning classrooms are like snowflakes and fingerprints — no two are ever alike. They may share characteristics, topics, subjects and titles, but they’ll always be different. The proposal will be different. The path the student takes to complete the project will be different. The advice from teacher to student will be different. And, of course, the end result will be different.

Project-based Learning and Problem-based Learning lesson plans are an oxymoron to some degree. At its core, project-based learning is unscripted. There are guides and rubrics and a plethora of other materials to keep both the teacher and student on the right track, but the destination is always unknown, as is the path taken to get there. It truly is an exploration.

On the other hand, most educators — especially those new to Project-based Learning or Problem-based Learning— have always structured their teaching around lesson plans. So it’s natural to seek out project-based learning lesson plans when shifting toward a PBL approach. Thankfully, the Internet is packed with sample plans for eager teachers to peruse. We’ve even included links to some that are freely available below. However, we can’t stress enough the point that we made above — that all projects are unique. Each of the ideas, examples and activities you’ll find below map out how one student (or group of students) chose to tackle one particular topic. Allow them to aid in your planning and brainstorming, but don’t let them become a “must follow” road map.

Think of it as the difference between “can” and “must.” The ideas, examples and activities below are ways in which a classroom can approach and complete a particular project, not how they must do it. Have fun browsing!

Looking for Student Engagement ideas? Check out our Tips o’ the Week!

Testimonials

We’re very proud of the work we do. But what really matters is what the people in these videos think. None of these videos are scripted by us – they are all user-submitted.

Get access to our Exclusive Webinar

Bill Mortimore

CEO, Board Member, and Lead Investor
Bill Mortimore, CEO, Foundry

A self-described entrepreneur, Bill Mortimore is Foundry’s CEO, Board Member, and Lead Investor. Bill is committed to transforming education, so every student has the 21st Century skills for work and life. For the past decade, he has focused on creating the technology that makes Deeper Learning possible and equitably accessible.  

Having been the founder and CEO of Merge Healthcare (acquired by IBM), where his technology was pivotal in getting physicians to switch from reading radiological films to digital viewing, leading to more accurate diagnoses. Bill leveraged that unique perspective and passion to transform traditional classroom education into Deeper Learning, where students learn 21st Century skills such as critical thinking, communication, creativity, problem-solving, perseverance, collaboration, information literacy, technology skills, and digital literacy.

Bob Sanders

Chief Sales Officer

Bob Sanders, Chief Sales Officer of Foundry

Bob Sanders is here to educate our prospective customers and ensure that Foundry is the right solution for them. Bob is a sales leader with 25 years of experience helping educational clients thrive by providing a solution to their problems, an answer to their needs, and a pathway to their goals.

In his work, Bob is consultative in his approach, asks astute questions, and is a great listener. He easily gains trust and builds relationships and has an easy knack for conversation.

We need more Bobs in the world. We hope you have some in yours.

Beth Frost-Johnson

Chief Marketing Officer

Beth Frost-Johnson, Foundry Chief Marketing Officer

Combine strategy, knowledge, creativity, and fun and you have Beth Frost-Johnson. Beth takes on challenging responsibilities such as teaching the educational marketplace what Deeper Learning, Competency-based Learning, Standards-based learning, and Project-based learning are all about.

Prior to Foundry, Beth was Chief Marketing Strategist at Merge Healthcare, where she launched the first radiological software that could be purchased via eCommerce. It became the #1 radiology viewing software in the world, used in over 70 countries. As a consultant to entrepreneurs, Beth has helped 40+ companies to achieve their preferred exit strategies.

Ask Beth for her Spaghetti Sauce recipe. She won’t give it to you.

Scott Veech

Chief Financial Officer

Scott Veech, Chief Financial Officer of Foundry

Scott is passionate about growing Foundry where he partners with Foundry’s business leaders to build metrics to better understand the business drivers and to grow profits organically or through acquisition.

Among his favorite work-related pastimes are capital raising, financing growth initiatives, implementing a flexible budgeting process, financial planning; ensuring the right tax strategies; investor presentations Cost cutting, and everything else that involves numbers. Scott is masterful, professional, and skillful, and always knows how to kindly ask the right questions at the right time.

Camille Mortimore

Chief Learning Officer

Camille Mortimore, Ph.D., Chief Learning Officer of Foundry

Dr. Mortimore is a pioneer and leader in personalized, learner-centered learning, as well as administrative leadership, organizational development, and change management.  She believes that every student has the right to take ownership of his/her education and deserves to be fully engaged in it, with teachers and mentors being their guides.

Camille was the Founder and Head Learner of an expeditionary, project-based public charter school in Milwaukee’s central city. She has served as superintendent and principal for more than two decades and has extensive experience as an elementary, middle, and high school teacher, parent educator, corporate and higher education instructor, and consultant.

She is passionate about transforming education, and her professional values can be summed up as follows: Educational Equity; Teacher Value and Worth; and Uncapped Student Potential. Camille has earned a Ph.D. in Education Policy and Leadership and an M.Ed.in Administration and Supervision from Marquette University.

Anton van Kimmenade

Chief Technology Officer

Anton Van Kimmenade, Foundry Chief Architect

Mr. van Kimmenade is responsible for overseeing Foundry’s product strategy and development.  His primary goal is to make Deeper Learning accessible from anywhere at any time and to be intuitive in its use. Anton has been a 9-year investor in Foundry. Prior to that, he was chief software architect and development leader for 13 years as a senior technology executive at Merge Healthcare, where he established Merge’s European branch. Anton also was a member of Philips Medical systems in Europe and in the U.S., where he directed QA and software management.

He strongly believes that there is one way to develop technological solutions – the RIGHT way.