Personalized Learning Mission Statement

Personalized Learning Tools (PLT) offers software tools specifically designed to enable educators to use a personalized learning approach in their schools.

A History Lesson

Educators Darren Ellwein and Ryan Rollinger at the Harrisburg School District in Harrisburg, South Dakota love personalized learning. So much, in fact, that their schools are frequently visited by other educators seeking to observe how Harrisburg puts personalized learning into practice. However, they experienced a nightmarish scheduling challenge created by the mass personalized learning approach they were trying to implement. They knew that finding a solution to the scheduling problem would remove a major hurdle to success.

Finding nothing suitable on the market, Darren and Ryan, teamed up with Harrisburg Technology Integrationist Travis Lape and software experts Bob Sorensen and Alan Anderson to find a better solution. Recognizing the solution they found would be useful to other schools implementing a personalized learning model, Personalized Learning Tools was formed to support software tools specifically designed for the personalized learning approach.

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Darren Ellwein

Principal at Harrisburg South Middle School

Darren Ellwein is the Principal at the Harrisburg South Middle School in Harrisburg, SD. He has been a teacher and administrator in public education for 22 years. Darren was named SEAP Principal of the Year for South Dakota, was awarded the Risk Taker Award in 2015 and 2016, and is a NAASP National Digital Principal of the Year Award Winner for the 2017 school year. He is a frequent speaker for various workshops and forums regarding educational leadership, instructional strategies, technology, and the use of social media in schools.

Ryan Rollinger

Dean of Students/Assistant Principal at the Harrisburg High School

Ryan Rollinger is the Dean of Students/Assistant Principal at the Harrisburg High School in Harrisburg, SD. He is responsible for student relations, student success, school policies, evaluating staff, and budget creation. Ryan created the school’s Flex-Mod Schedule and implements the Customized Learning Program at the school.

Travis Lape

Technology Integrationist at the Harrisburg South Middle School

Travis Lape is the Technology Integrationist at the Harrisburg South Middle School in Harrisburg, SD. Travis has been both a classroom teacher and technology integrationist in grades K-8 for three years. He is a strong advocate of using new technology to enhance and engage students in learning, recently creating a makerspace in the media center for students to come and tinker. Travis regularly presents at area conferences on technology and student engagement.

Bob Sorensen

General Manager of PLT

Bob Sorensen leads PLT as the General Manager. Bob has over 25 years experience in all levels of management in the software industry. He was president of a joint venture between Microware Systems Corporation and N.V. Phillips. The JV built authoring tools for the multimedia industry. Bob also was Vice President of R&D for Microware where he was responsible for team of 30 plus developers that built an operating system used in industrial control and consumer multimedia. He has provided consulting services to small and medium sized software companies in the area of sales, marketing, and overall business management.