Adaptive Education

"The single most important cognitive argument for using computers, from an intellectual standpoint, is the detailed and deep accommodation to individual differences in student learning."  Patrick Suppes

When I was a kid my parents bought us a set of World Book encyclopedias, I just loved them.  But they also bought a thing that the World Book people called a "Teaching Machine".  I loved it too.  I could pick from a variety of modules including language arts, handwriting, math, science, etc. that would in essence tutor me at my own pace at the level I chose.  I would get immediate feedback and I could also learn from my errors. Did it replace school?  No, it certainly could not provide all of the breadth, depth nor the extremely vital benefits of learning from my peers socially as well as academically. 

The current technology can also provide some of the same features I enjoyed as a kid with my "Teaching Machine".  I talked about one of these current technologies the other night at curriculum night.  It is called IXL Math.  It allows your child (with your supervision) to pick from a virtually unlimited amount of practice problems at all levels; Pr-K to Algebra. It provides immediate feedback and most importantly immediate tutorials for errors.  The teacher also gets reports which will help as I plan lessons and interventions to foster student learning.

So far I have heard back from about 1/2 of my students/parents that they are interested. I feel in order to make this feasible for funding I would like to see about 20 students interested in using IXL.  Of course this is supplemental and is not required.  However, I truly feel that it is an excellent opportunity to help meet my student's needs in math.

Another avenue for adaptive learning is housed at Stanford University.  Here is the link:  EPGY

Great News!  I just received notification that IXL has accepted my request to grant us a 30 day free trial.  

  Send me an email requesting your daughter's or son's username and password and I will send it to you. Please try it and give me your feedback. If you have already expressed interest, I will send you your child's username and password so that they can start trying this right away.