tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544661968326910027.post5226157378670594638..comments2024-02-05T02:24:14.386-08:00Comments on Three J's Learning: Beast Academy and Dreambox (reviews)JGR314http://www.blogger.com/profile/11702319994021721608noreply@blogger.comBlogger1125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5544661968326910027.post-43593577642902955822016-08-14T23:03:02.520-07:002016-08-14T23:03:02.520-07:00Further update: Dreambox allows teachers (or paren...Further update: Dreambox allows teachers (or parents, with the subscription we have) to assign particular tasks to the students. We have started making extensive use of this in several ways:<br />(1) It allows the kids agency over what they are learning. I go through the selection of the assignments with the kids, they choose what they want to try, and we talk about the experience (easy/hard, interesting/dull, want to do more like it/not). I really like being able to give them a view of the curriculum and putting them at the center of their learning.<br /><br />(2) passing through easy material. As I'd noted, the assignments weren't adapting to our kids' understanding, so this let's us quickly spot check concepts and move ahead.<br /><br />(3) Reviewing: in some cases, Dreambox moved on from an activity even though the kid's understanding was still very tentative and moved them to something we felt was too large a leap. This let's us go back and practice the earlier material again.<br /><br />I'd note that this usage is a kludge, the system clearly isn't intended to be used like this. The user interface makes it somewhat awkward: we have to go back and forth between the family dashboard and the student play view and only 2 topics can be "assigned" at a time. I guess this would make it hard for a classroom teacher to talk one-on-one with their students and do the kind of student-led customization we are doing, but it is ok for us.JGR314https://www.blogger.com/profile/11702319994021721608noreply@blogger.com