4 comments

• Reply Michael Niles 18 September 2010, 11:27am

  Iris,
  
  Thank you for raising the distinction. We could have been clearer on making this point. We are distinguishing between initial learning of a new concept, which is more about teaching technique than actual retention of information. Some teachers uses shorter session that focus on small building blocks of information and some teachers use the longer session immersion technique. The approach used is very subject dependent and immersion does not work for all types of information. But, in terms of study AFTER the initial learning, the shorter sessions have shown to be reinforce better, if for no other reason, the brain has, while asleep at night, multiple chances to "write" similar information to memory. Therefore, allowing for the correction of errors than may have occurred in previous study sessions.
  
  Michael Niles
  Niles Technology Group, Inc.

  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
  
• Reply Michael Niles 18 September 2010, 11:25am

  Kevin,
  
  Thank you for your comment. I looked at your website and product; excellent idea. The reward aspect of the software is a good one for students to understand that education has its benefits. Later on (as the students get older), the playing should translate into connecting better jobs and opportunity to education level attained. For this is to occur though, I assume the reward will change over time to align with the users expectations of what is fun or useful to them. Let me know when the mobile app comes out. This is something I can see my company promoting.
  
  Michael Niles
  Niles Technology Group, Inc.

  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
  
• Reply iris 14 September 2010, 19:24pm

  Depends on what you mean by the word 'study'. If you mean learning something for the first time, then I would disagree; extended periods of study, particularly in practical subjects or languages tend to be more effective. This is why some schools are collapsing several lesson, which would otherwise be taught over several days, into one, whole morning session.
  If, by study, you mean revising some previously learned material, then I would agree that, e.g, three 20 minute sessions are better that one whole hour session. However, do I need an iPhone app to do that when I have, for example, an excellent, free web based resource such as BBC Bitesize??(http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/bitesize/) Which I can access via my iPhone anyway? I have, in the past, allowed pupils to video some of my more spectacular chemistry demonstrations on their mobile phones; ostensibly for revision purposes but in reality for them to post on YouTube! If you could trust pupils not to use their phone to video up the teacher's skirt, then mobile technology could have a place in the classroom; but unless teenagers stop being teenagers, it won't be any time soon.
  @kevin:
  "47% of the parents were certain that their child's subject mastery had improved" So, purely subjective then? Where's the data?

  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
  
• Reply Kevin Bannwolf 14 September 2010, 01:11am

  Michael....not to promote my company too much, but I think we have found a way. We all have seen the results from studies that discuss how much retention a child loses during the summer months (10-40% depending on which study). My company just recently conducted a Beta test with a local school district and Pearson Educatoin which addressed this particular issue. Needless to say, our findings were quite extraordinary.
  Our patented product, Pass2Play, actually requires students who use a computer or the Internet to earn their playtime through completing academic tasks. In the case of our Beta test with Pearson, we took elementary age children (1st - 5th grades) and had them earn their playtime by completing Pearson's enVisoinMATH digital content. As the child would sign on to their computer, our software application would take control of the child's desktop and redirect them directly to Pearson. There, the child would be required to complete math exercises that were age appropriate before being allowed access to the Internet to play with friends. Once on the Internet our program would, at selected intervals, remove the child from their playtime and take them back to Pearson to earn additional time. This process would continue for as long as the child elected to play on their computer. For the sake of the Beta test, the ration was 1:1 - for each minute of earned academic time the child would be allowed one minute of play. In our next software release, this ratio can be adjusted in either direction by the child's parent.
  During the nine week Beta test, 47% of the parents were certain that their child's subject mastery had improved, while the other 53% couldn't say for sure. No one felt that their child regressed while participating in the summer Beta test.
  As for the mobile devices, this application would work the same way. It can be adapted to iPads, iPods, phones or any other electronic device.
  The most surprising finding of the Beta test and subsequent data....the kids actually enjoyed the application and had a since of accomplishment after earning their time.
  For more information about some selected preliminary results, visit our website. From what we have determined from our users and partners, we have found a solution to this problem.

  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it