Defined Learning

On our Defined Learning platform, educators can easily search our library of projects by standards, specific topics, or core curriculum areas including ELA, math, science, and social studies.

Once a subject is selected, educators can see the available library broken up by grade band. This allows teachers to find courses for students and differentiate instruction when assigning.

When instructors select a grade band, there are a few helpful resources located in the course introduction. The course playbook and task plan are tools for instructors containing information about the topics taught in the course and projects, skills, estimated grouping, timing, and more. A book catalog is provided for elementary courses, aligning commonly used books with projects.

Within each course, there is a clickable unit outline on the righthand side so educators can select projects based on specific areas of focus or standards. Each unit contains multiple projects to choose from, with the titles of the projects aligning with the careers students are embarking on.

All of our projects contain an interactive slideshow where the majority of the project is housed. The videos within the slideshow contain English and Spanish subtitles.

Below the slideshow, there are tabs with helpful resources for the facilitator. Our projects contain a brief overview, description, and the ability to assign projects directly to students through your learning management system.

The first step in our projects is the introduction video. This video is 30 to 40 seconds long and walks students through the role of the career professional the course is about.

Next, we provide students with a real-world connections video showing students how they would apply what they are learning in an actual career.

After the video, students pause for some check-in questions. These questions are pre-made, however, teachers can customize these questions and more using the "Customize Project" button. Educators can add a question, remove a question, add a slide, etc.

All of our projects follow the GRASP model from the Understanding by Design framework created by Jay McTighe and Grant Wiggins.

Our projects are scaffolded based on grade band. For elementary projects, there are constructed response options housed within the platform. For middle and high school projects, we provide students with research resources taking them outside of the platform.

Each project offers 1-3 product options to provide voice and choice in the classroom. Students can select options that best align with their interests and learning styles, while educators can customize products to match their instructional goals. This flexibility empowers students to demonstrate their understanding in ways that are meaningful to them and helps teachers integrate projects seamlessly into their curriculum.

Our design process video walks students through the processes of brainstorming, creating, editing, and revising their work.

Below the slideshow is our "Products" tab. The products within the slideshow can be found in this tab with ready-made, printable, exportable, and scorable rubrics attached. Teachers can edit these rubrics and they are further customizable to track specific skills and competencies through Defined Goals.

The "Resources" tab houses helpful resources for teachers. Links, rubrics, book suggestions, optional resources, suggested materials, and more can be found here.