Michael Horn, coauthor of Disrupting Class: How Disruptive Innovation Will Change the Way the World Learns, blogged about a friendly debate he had with Jose at a conference.
The question at hand: Can an innovation come along that is both demonstrably lower in cost and higher in quality?
We think so, and it seems like Jose did a good job of starting to persuade Michael.
This post comes to us from our friend Mike Johnson, Founder of @PlaygroundDad.
By definition, a Playground Dad is a guy always looking for ways to spend the best time with his kids. During the early years of fatherhood, this is relatively easy. You can find cool things to do at places like your local museums, zoos and science centers: Once you manage to drag the kids out, you’ll be in for lots of fun and memories.
As kids get older, it gets tougher. Instead of looking for fun activities to do on weekends, the Playground Dad’s role changes. The kids now have their friends and all their activities filling up an increasingly busy schedule. The older they get, the harder it is to stay connected. As a dad, your role changes from the fun event-coordinator to more of a background facilitator. You try to instill smart, thoughtful decision-making skills in your kids. The key is to quietly guide and never to preach—always easier said than done.
This post is from our friend Caroline Romano @ VocabVideos.com, where you learn the SAT vocabulary you need to know. Vocab Videos uses really funny short vocabulary videos to illustrate the meanings of 500 of the most frequently appearing SAT vocabulary words, making them easy to learn and remember.
When it comes to vocabulary, the rich get richer. On standardized tests like the SAT and ACT, knowing your vocabulary quite literally pays off when it comes to points. And on college entrance exams like these, points are your priority! But what’s wonderful about a good vocabulary is that it will serve you long after you take these critical exams. Words are the ingredients of language, and all students stand to benefit from an improved vocabulary, in high school, in college, and beyond.
At Vocab Videos, we’re passionate about vocabulary, so if you’re not already convinced of its importance, here are a few reasons to find that definitive sat vocabulary list and get your study on:
High school sometimes feels like it hinges on two tests: the driving test and the SAT. And though you’re probably more excited to start driving than you are to start applying to college, there’s at least one respect in which the SAT is nicer than the driving test: It doesn’t penalize you for guessing!
“Now waaaaaaait a minute,” you say. “I know a thing or two about this SAT. If I guess on a question and get it wrong, I lose a quarter of a point. So how does it make sense to say there’s no penalty for guessing?”
Let’s work through it. For every multiple-choice question on the test, there are five answers choices. So if you take a random guess, you have a 1 in 5 chance of guessing correctly.
Alex Sarlin, Knewton’s resident Archangel, is also the Lead Verbal Developer for our SAT course, where he helps good triumph over evil, one SAT score at a time.
The SAT is not evil. It is a normal multiple-choice test that you take in a normal classroom with a normal #2 pencil. The questions all have five answers, and one is always right. They only keep you for a few hours, and they just want to know a few things about your math, writing and reading skills, if you don’t mind. The people who make the SAT live and work in a very pretty, green college town–Princeton, New Jersey. For all we know, they are loving mothers and fathers, giving brothers and sisters, kind friends and all-around pleasant people. They’re nerds who spend a lot of time thinking about gerund antecedents and the annuli of circles. We at Knewton can certainly relate to that.
However, some of the tricks that these otherwise nice people use to trap test-takers are… well, evil. Growling, snarling, howling, with bloodshot eyes and fangs. Straight out of h-e-double hockey sticks. Mean.
Happily, if you’re one of the lucky few taking the test this spring, you’re not alone. Extra happily, we at Knewton are here to help point out these evil traps, so that you can sidestep them every time. However, we’re only going to give you one each week; for more, you’ll just have to head over to www.knewton.com and become a full-time student. Go for it.
Emily Holleman is a Content Developer at Knewton, where she helps students with their LSAT prep.
In a perfect world, you’d give yourself months–heck, years–to study for the LSAT.
But, of course, it’s not a perfect world. We’re not perfect people.
If you’ve been telling yourself for too long that you’re going to start studying hard-core for the LSAT (tomorrow), you’re not alone. And if you’re wondering which part of the LSAT is most important, we’re here to help.
Surprisingly, the answer isn’t necessarily Logic Games. The Analytical Reasoning (or Logic Games) section may be the most (in)famous part of the LSAT, but score-wise, it’s not the most important. The section is much talked about largely because it is very distinctive: Few tests (standardized or otherwise) actually bother to measure this particular skill, so LG gets a lot of attention. However, when it comes down to it, the section that has the biggest influence on your score is Logical Reasoning. There’s a straightforward explanation for this: LR makes up a larger proportion of the test. There are two LR sections as opposed to one Reading Comprehension and one Logic Games section, respectively.
David Yourdon, a Content Dev @Knewton, proves we’re not just obsessed with the GMAT, LSAT, and SAT.
The academics team at Knewton has been buzzing about a video that one of our expert teachers, Chris Wu, sent around this morning. It’s a TEDx talk by Dan Meyer, a high school math instructor in Santa Cruz. The talk focuses on the virtues of what Meyer calls “patient problem solving” — where fewer formulas and inputs are fed to students and more active problem formulation is required of students.
For example, rather than giving students a train’s average speed and the distance the train needs to travel and asking them what time the train will arrive, why not ask them for the train’s arrival time and let them, in a group conversation, determine what information is needed to solve the problem? When they realize they need some kind of distance measurement, make them consult maps to find the distance in question; when they need a rate, let them research a train’s average speed. Students will learn to manipulate equations in the process, but more importantly, they’ll learn to think creatively about the real world. The result, as Meyer says, is that “the math serves the conversation; the conversation doesn’t serve the math.”
Emily Holleman is a Content Developer at Knewton, where she helps students with their LSAT prep.
For students in our GMAT course, the benefits of online learning are pretty obvious—the GMAT is a computer-based test, after all, so it’s only logical to want to prepare using the same interface. The LSAT, by comparison, remains stuck in the Dark Ages—it’s a pencil and paper test, administered just 4 times a year by a draconian set of proctors.
So, why not stick your head in the sand, ignore the online and interactive learning possibilities, and stick to those traditional stalwarts of test preparation (in other words, buy some generic printed guide to the LSAT and sign up for your standard classroom course)? Read the rest of this entry »
Knewton’s lead SAT Teacher, Sir David Ingber, decided it was time to disabuse (great vocab word — meaning to free a person from deception or error!) students of a few myths about the test. What time of day should you study for the SAT? When should you panic? What should you eat before the exam? After? Can you get a new seat on SAT exam day if the person next to you has onion-based body odour? Listen in and find out!
New York, NY (April 19, 2010) — Knewton, a leading educational technology company announced today that it has completed a $12.5 million round of funding led by FirstMark Capital, a New York City-based venture capital firm with a strong foothold in the City’s tech and entrepreneurial communities. Returning investors include Accel Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, First Round Capital, and angel investor Reid Hoffman. Knewton’s new financing will accelerate expansion to meet the surging demand for its adaptive learning engine, which uses proprietary algorithms to identify and address each student’s unique needs.
