According to recent research, roughly 20 percent of all current jobs will be automated within 10 years, and half could be automated within 40 years.

According to new researchfrom Ball State University, automation poses a significantly greater threat to jobs in rural communities and those with lower educational attainment. Occupations with incomes of less than $40,000 face even greater risk.

To prepare rural students for the challenges they face, we need to increase engagement in academics and make clearer the connection between high school and their futures. We need to expand horizons and lay bare postsecondary opportunities by forging stronger industry and higher-education partnerships within the community. And we need to cultivate the soft skills students need to adapt to an ever-changing world. Indeed, these are among the very challenges personalized learning systems are designed to address.

Here are the most salient strategies rural districts can adopt to pilot personalized learning:

  1. Individual Academic Plans and One-on-One Mentorship
  2. Flexibility for Competency-Based Education
  3. Blended Learning
  4. Multiple Pathways
  5. Real-World Learning

Read more in depth about how personalized learning will benefit rural areas by Laura Fay at The 74