Ontario News from ExploreLearning

My broken leg...and the road to recovery.

Well, as the year is wrapping up I am reflecting on this years challenges and successes so to start framing my goals and direction for 2012. Of course, I am hoping 2012 brings fewer challenges than I faced in 2011. When I was engaging in this process at this time last year, I never would have imagined I would face orthopedic surgery to mend a shattered tibial plateau (left leg for the non-scientists reading this). It has not been an easy road to recovery but looking back now I can certainly see the blessings. Without a doubt, I am a much stronger person because I overcame the great challenge a little bit at a time.

In conversation with my new friend, CJ Calvert, he shared with me this:

"The doors to success swing on the tiny hinges of daily discipline.The biggest challenges that we face are overcome with the smallest of daily actions.

For me, I was dedicated to consistent small efforts toward a full recovery and that has made a big difference in getting this far. 

So, resolve to be commited to something for 2012 and work at it a little bit at a time. You will be amazed how quickly you can overcome.

Happy New Year!

 

 

 

Reflex exceeds 1 million logins in 7 months!

ExploreLearning announced today that Reflex, our new program helping students develop math fact fluency, has reached one million student logins. In that time, students have solved over 125 million math facts. These milestones have been achieved in the seven months since the product was launched in April 2011.

“Math fact fluency is a central pillar of elementary mathematics education,” says David Shuster, Ph.D., Founder and Publisher of ExploreLearning. “With over 125 million facts solved in one million Reflex student sessions to date, Reflex is helping a lot of kids gain confidence in their abilities as they learn their math facts.  The fact that they are doing it by playing games and having fun is the icing on the cake.”

Check out the comments and results from our Ontario pilot schools:  Download Reflex Ontario Flyer

Recently published success stories in The Sault Star and Huron Superior Catholic DSB website.

Looking for more info on the importance of math facts to student success? Have a look at this article written by Marian Small in the Ontario Math Gazette:  Download Miriam Small (Math Facts)

Looking for more evidence? Check out the results we have had in Arkansas and Texas!

 

 

 

 

Generation G

Check out this TED Talk on Generation "G"amification: 

 

Now, if you are at all intrigued, sign up for a free trial to Reflex and experience exactly what Gabe Zichermann is talking about..."Games produce intrinsic reinforcement thru dopamine responses in the brain." You can actually see this in my son's body language in this video. 

I also challenge you to get in the game!

 

Having said that, I do not agree that the days of curling up with a book are over and that "Generation G" will no longer choose this learning tool. In fact, I think the opposite. I believe collectively on the brink of a change in how we value learning (long time in coming, I know). A book is still fantasitc technology becasue the paper is right there for you to begin interacting with the ideas the author is trying to convey. I love my Kobo e-reader but it is not as effective a medium for me to be actively learning. In my opinion, E-readers are fantastic technology for consuming books but mediocre technology for digesting them.

Books are the carriers of civilization. Without books, history is silent, literature dumb, science crippled, thought and spectulation at a stand still.     - Henry David Thoreau

I feel the same way about math. Reflex is fantastic at building math fact fluency for learners of all ages. The important thing is the transfer of the skill to other contexts and situations. The age old technology of paper and pencil is still perfectly suited for situations like having to calculate how much material you need to purchase from the hardware store for the project you are working on.