The first "Oh snap" moment I had was during a presentation involving a tool called "Datasketch"
Behind that simple interface lies a beast of a tool. Students can upload .csv files (From Excel or Google Sheets), draw sketches or animations via a tablet, and then click on individual elements of that drawing. When they click, they can link elements of the drawing to parts of the spreadsheet. This tool can be used for middle school to college if the need be. The project is available through the above link via Github, and the documentation is clear.
There was a researcher from Teacher's College (Douglas Ready) who measured the effects of a program called Teach to one math.
During a recent TED talk, the cofounder of Air Bnb said something about design that has resonated with me throughout my first year back in school. "Any time you see duct tape, there is an opportunity for design." As a teacher in a 1:1 school I consistently used 4-5 separate technological tools in the classroom. Teach to one ties the functionality of several systems in to one. The picture above is of a student generated concept map that teachers might have used Lucidcharts for in the past. The program also includes assessments, online tutorials and skill building programs, and extensive teacher dashboards to monitor student learning. They currently only do Middle school products, but hopefully more grades will come soon. It seems as if many of these systems are based on the work being done by Rocketship and Summit prep schools in the Bay Area. Also of note: to implement this system to fidelity a school must have 2-3 math teachers and additional par educators free each period to handle the movement of students and small groups, which might focus on building skills or group problem solving. This is a definite administrative hurdle, but it holds promise. The initial research results have been encouraging.
