DreamBox Learning®» Public Education

The "Hole In The Wall" Project

Neal M — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 18:07:14 +0000

There is a quote from Thomas Carruthers that I had for years attached to my e-mail signature. He said, "A teacher is one who makes himself progressively unnecessary." Just as teachers need to guide and shape learning for our students, we also need to embrace a shift in our locus of control to our students. It is in this shift that we will empower students to take ownership of their learning and to take control of their individual academic journey. I find this shift essential in intermediate grades especially, as empowered students are more successful upon entering Middle School and beyond. There exists also a debate in education as to the balance between an educator-driven experience, versus the students taking ownership over their learning. I recently found particularly interesting the work of Sugata Mitra and his Hole in the Wall Project over the past nine years. In short, Hole in the Wall project began with a Learning Station consisting of a computer system setup with no instruction manual or teacher involvement. Mitra and his team found that the residents, especially the children, were able to teach themselves and one another how to use not only the computer hardware, but the basic software included as well. Mitra's team expanded this concept throughout India, with Learning Stations set up in impoverished neighborhoods as a minimally invasive academic tool. If you are interested in learning more about Sugata Mitra, I recommend these videos from TED on "How Kids Teach Themselves" and from PBS's show Frontline: World. How can we apply the findings of Hole in the Wall to our own classrooms and schools? Should we as teachers drop off learning materials, computer systems, and leave our students to handle the learning on their own? Of course not. However, there is a time and place for a teacher to know when we stop advancing learning, and are instead inhibiting academic growth. Sometimes it is appropriate and preferred to pose a question, provide materials, and take a step back to see what happens. You may be surprised at the ability of your students to self-organize and seize their learning.

A Charter School Success Story

Laura — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 21:14:53 +0000

Recently a friend sent me this inspiring link to a story about a Charter school in Chicago. Urban Prep Academy for Young Men had a goal to have every student accepted to college -- and they did it! It seems one of the strengths of successful charter schools is being able to identify clear goals and then putting all their energy and resources into making it happen. Many charter schools have the same goal as Urban Prep: to get every student into college. By making college acceptance the goal they ensure that goals in literacy, math, science, etc. will be in place. College may not be the path for everyone but it should be a realistic option.

Which Comes First: Education or Assessment?

Nigel — Wed, 10 Jun 2009 05:06:05 +0000

Recently an article in the Washington Post (46 States, D.C. Plan to Draft Common Education Standards) got my attention. No, I’m not going to get into the contentious issue of whether national standards are a good thing or not, because enough is written about that already. Instead I want to focus on educating students as individuals and how the article raised a number of questions for me. The following three paragraphs, in particular, got my attention:

"Led by the National Governors Association and the Council of Chief State School Officers, the states, including Maryland and Virginia, are aiming to define a framework of content and skills that meet an overarching goal. When students get their high school diplomas, the coalition says, they should be ready to tackle college or a job. The benchmarks would be "internationally competitive."

Once the organizers of the effort agree to a proposal, each state would decide individually whether to adopt it. …

[U.S Education Secretary Arne] Duncan and others also said that even the highest goals lose their punch if there's not an accurate way to gauge whether students measure up. That means revamping state tests -- a cumbersome and expensive process. So far, the states have committed only to working to develop the standards."

Does the assessment portion of this plan strike anyone else as being “too little, too late”? Darn it, if only there were a way to accurately assess a student’s knowledge and understanding at a very fine grained level that actually integrated with what and how they learned while they learned it! Then assessment would be neither cumbersome nor expensive. And the students might just be taught - and when necessary, retaught - what they needed to know when they needed to know it.

The DreamBox Learning K-2 Approach

Those of you familiar with DreamBox Learning K-2 Math know that our approach is to continually assess each student and individually adapt how we then present not just portions of the curriculum or individual lessons, but individual questions within those lessons. While DreamBox is based upon existing national standards, it teaches each student as an individual with their own strengths and weaknesses. In other words we continually assess then teach. Which is what good teachers have been doing for hundreds – perhaps thousands – of years. Children aren’t screws or widgets. Each one is uniquely different and may require specifically individualized teaching. While the debate about national standards goes on, let’s not forget that no matter which “standard” you adopt, if you consider assessment as an afterthought rather than an integral part of teaching, then you are forcing some students to continually play catch up. As I wrote in a recent blog (Sometimes Things Just Don’t Compute…): If you don’t know a student is having a problem, how can you address it in a timely manner? The success with which DreamBox Learning addresses students with widely varying skill levels has reinforced for me a variation of that old Chicago saying: If you want to provide a successfully individualized learning experience for a student, “assess early and assess often”! Let’s hope our politicians can be taught that as well.

Does Mandating Higher Academic Standards Work?

Sue — Sat, 21 Mar 2009 20:15:21 +0000

There’s no question that a strong foundation in algebra is one key to raising academic standards, increasing the competitiveness of our future workforce and opening doors to broader career choices for students. But my attention was caught recently by the study of the effects of mandating algebra in 9th grade.

The Effects of Mandating Algebra in School Math Programs:

In 1997 the Chicago school district was one of the first to require that 9th graders take algebra to help ensure that its high school graduates would be ready for college. And many districts have followed—Minnesota and California even requiring it in 8th grade, assuming the California policy is implemented. However, researchers found rising failure rates, and the algebra mandate “did not seem to lead to any significant test-score gains for students in math or in sizeable increases in the percentages of students who went on to take higher-level math courses later on in high school.” (You can read the Edweek article I’m quoting here.) But isn’t it obvious that if algebra is the needed foundation for their future, kids need the right early foundation to be successful in algebra? All of which reinforces my belief in the importance of what we’re doing at DreamBox: helping more kids develop conceptual understanding and fluency with basics—like number sense and computation—and giving them engaging ways to develop problem solving skills. We're helping kids to be confident and well prepared for success with algebra.

An Inauguration of a Different Sort

Lou — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 17:23:01 +0000

Dear Mr. President, A week ago you stood in front of the nation and spoke the following words: “That we are in the midst of crisis is now well understood . . . our schools fail too many . . . [But] we will transform our schools and colleges and universities to meet the demands of a new age. All this we can do. And all this we will do.” We at DreamBox Learning welcome your words. In fact, DreamBox Learning exists to be a key agent of transformative change in education, such that every student enjoys an individually-tailored, world class learning experience. We are doing our part by providing a web-based curriculum that is incredibly effective, fun, and highly individualized to a student’s particular learning needs. Our product will first be offered in the homes of some students, later in the schools for all students. In order to achieve that latter goal, we need your help. By ensuring that every student has access to a quality computer, thick broadband connectivity, a teacher that is trained to use technology, and a school system that embraces the power of software both in spirit and in budget, we are certain a difference can be made. In short Mr. President, if you provide the infrastructure and access, we will do our level best to bring innovation and entrepreneurship to meet the “demands of the new age.” Mr. President, you also stated: “In reaffirming the greatness of our nation, we understand that greatness is never a given. It must be earned. Our journey has never been one of short-cuts or settling for less. It has not been the path for the faint-hearted - for those who prefer leisure over work, or seek only the pleasures of riches and fame. Rather, it has been the risk-takers, the doers, the makers of things - some celebrated but more often men and women obscure in their labor, who have carried us up the long, rugged path towards prosperity and freedom." Again, those words resonated for the DreamBox team. Today we celebrate the inaugural launch of our first product – DreamBox Learning K-2 Math. After three demanding and determined years, we stand ready to take our first step, not our last, in delivering on our promise so that children can take hold of theirs. We were humbled by the challenge but no less deterred. It was a simple recognition that someone had to; why not us? But as the hard charging and willful team here knows, any far-reaching goal needs to be grounded in bare-knuckled execution and a united ethos. We hope that these are the hallmarks of yours and our journey to success. Lou Gray CEO, DreamBox Learning, Inc.

Edu-tainment as You Know It Is Dead

Lou — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 18:31:06 +0000

Edu-tainment was initially envisioned to be the perfect hybrid between education and entertainment. In the abstract, the idea that educational software could be equally effective and engaging remains a good one. Most edu-tainment companies, however, got the mixture wrong and thus never fully realized this promise. This is because of the natural tension / difficulty that exists in trying to serve both parts of the hybrid well. The products that rarely caught on were hardly entertaining and somewhat educational. The ones that got traction were decently entertaining but barely educational. Initially, parents felt good about the edu-speak they were hearing and seeing in an entertaining product. But as time went on, parents got wise to the fact that these same products had defaulted to a basic model of practice-based lessons, rather than differentiating themselves with real instruction that leads to effective learning. Consequently, parents and children didn’t know what to make of edu-tainment software, so they started to lump it together with pure entertainment software, to which edu-tainment didn’t hold a candle.

Edu-tainment is Subsumed into Entertainment

Caught in the sloppy middle, edu-tainment companies either died or began to refocus their efforts toward more entertainment and even less education (if at all) under the theory that twitchy eye candy makes for an easier attractant. One only has to look at recent strategic shifts in products and corresponding messaging from the likes of JumpStart World to see this. This means that edu-tainment, like analog, is dead, but not before leaving behind a noisy marketplace full of confusion, an underserved generation of customers, and misleading promises (e.g., please don’t get me started on how the words “individualized” and “adapted” have been debased!).

Individualized eLearning is Born

It has also left a white space of opportunity. In addition to timing (for more on this, please see my blog on “DreamBox: eLearning Comes Home"), the promising news is that the current, web-savvier generation of parents still wants effective educational products that are engaging. Thankfully, they are also starting to see the beginnings of a better-segmented marketplace on the web, the results of which I believe are starting to shakeout as follows.

Market Shakeout of Edu-tainment and Individualized eLearning

If correct,

Edu-tainment will be engulfed by Web-based Entertainment;
eLearning will be replaced with the more potent Individualized eLearning;
Virtual Schools will grow to serve students that otherwise lack access;
eTutoring will dwindle over time as Individualized eLearning and Virtual Schools render them unnecessary;
eTextbooks will creep forward incrementally as the digital textbook counterpart to the entrenched paper version of itself.

In Pursuit of the Right Kind of Homework

Lou — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 18:41:36 +0000

Let me begin by encouraging you to read this Washington Post article on the failings of homework. For those who want the CliffsNotes, the net is that rote, unimaginative, repetitive, grinding and brutally boring homework doesn’t help. To the contrary, it actually hurts students across several fronts. This is not to say that all homework is bad. In fact, of the following varieties of homework, only the first presents the real problem:

Traditional homework (aka busy work).
Supplemental learning.
Longer-term / self-directed projects.
Direct test preparation (not to be confused with yearly WASL-like testing).

Is Homework Simply a Tradition for Elementary School Kids?

My oldest son goes to a school with some pretty incredible teachers. They make learning fun and it shows because he LOVES and works hard at school. As is the norm, however, a fair mixture of his homework is lengthy and of the traditional variety. Despite his natural desire to do well, he is already complaining about these homework assignments -- he views them as both a chore and infringement on his family / personal time. My wife and I completely appreciate his position (as does his ever-watchful younger brother). As a 2nd grader, is he already burning out? Will he lose his affinity for school, or worse, learning? Is it worth the household tension it creates? Does it come at the expense of other meaningful activities? Or is it all just an acclimating phase? We really can’t blame the teachers or the administration for providing traditional homework -- they are responding to well-meaning, but otherwise misguided, parents clamoring for more for the sake of more (and, of course, for the varietal of homework these parents received as children). That said, my wife and I wish his school were able to educate (read: convince) other parents about the homework big picture and how it relates to their child’s education. Until then, school assignments of any variety must get done in our household . . . even though I can always feel the BTUs generating from my wife as she prepares to do battle with my son to get it done on time and with bona fide effort.

Voting With the Teachers on the Standardized Curriculum

Sue — Thu, 02 Oct 2008 23:09:36 +0000

The Bellevue, Washington teachers have thankfully settled their strike and are back in their classrooms. At DreamBox we followed their issues with heightened interest, not only as parents of elementary kids and educators, but as citizens of a society that badly needs children who grow up to be smart, serious, and engaged problem-solvers. A key issue for teachers was the curriculum instituted in the past decade. The district is considered one of the best in the state, as measured by test scores and a high level of college attendance, and four of its schools are in the top 100 high schools in the country according to Newsweek’s 2008 ranking. So what’s the problem? Teachers objected to the scripted curriculum mandated by the district -- a top-down approach that required teachers to stick to the daily curriculum, which teachers claimed doesn't take into account individual student needs.

Standardized Curriculum Ignores Individual Needs for Learning

In some districts, standardization is being taken to extremes. I know of engaged, creative teachers who are leaving the profession in frustration as individualization is being mandated out of their approach to teaching a diverse group of learners. One fantastic elementary teacher I know has successfully taught hundreds of young elementary kids of various skill levels to read, by working in small groups and giving lots of individual attention. But now she’s being told to stand in front of the room reading a book, while every child in the room sits in a chair and follows silently along. I’m with the good teachers on this. There must be a balance between having consistent standards across the district, and across the country, based on curricula that are shown to improve student outcomes. But we must also train, motivate and hire smart, passionate teachers, support them with sufficient resources, and then let them do their creative best to educate our children.

A Four Day School Week?

Lou — Tue, 09 Sep 2008 04:52:56 +0000

Because of rising fuel costs, some rural schools with long bus routes are considering shortening the school week to stay on budget. I remember a similar discussion when I was a kid during the 70's oil embargo. I dreaded the thought of my Mom (the omnipresent teacher) loading me to the gills with rote exercises and makeshift homework while all my friends would be outside playing (can’t you just envision them waving their tongues and moose-horn hands at me).

Homeschooling with Dreambox

Today, if my sons’ schools instituted a four day school week, I’m reminded how lucky they’d be to use DreamBox at home. So lucky in fact, I actually think I’ll recount it for them -- along with stories about my ill-fitting hand-me-down paisley polyester shirts, shoveling snow with a 40 lb rusty spade, and grandpa’s insistence that milk expiration dates were a conspiracy to get you to buy more milk. It’s no wonder I dislike cottage cheese.