A team of students are currently in the process of developing a browser-delivered application called Ticklo which is an App that can be used both in the classroom and at home, by schools, parents and tutors. It challenges each student with questions and provides help if needed. Most importantly, it tracks their progress and their level of learning in real time, so the teacher can view how difficult pupils are finding the questions; which will be generated to suit each pupil individually.
The admin (e.g. teacher) will experience easy lesson planning, minimum marking and easy homework setting. They will be able to view infographics for each pupil, to see where they may be struggling and where they are excelling. From this, mentoring systems and pupil reports can be created and teachers will be able to give more ticks to their students.
The basic concept is that students can undertake questions specifically tailored to their personal ability thereby attaining better competency overall and not progressing to new, more difficult topics until they have a full grasp of the previous topics. In terms of homework setting teachers are able to provide customised homeworks for each student specifically giving them practise in the areas where they need it. This would massively reduce time wasted marking as detailed infographics on students' performances, both in school and at home, can give staff a complete breakdown of questions and responses at both an individual and class level to quickly see where students are struggling. For example, if in a class test most students took 5 seconds longer to answer multiplication questions with a 7 in then staff can structure their lesson plans to correct this and help the class progress.
The project is still in its early stages so any thoughts and/or feedback would be very much appreciated. The team just came second nationally in the Microsoft Imagine Cup competition with this application and came top of the World Citizenship category. For more information visit the website www.ticklo.com