Today, a new, free tool for K-12 educators has launched that is designed to make personalized learning a whole lot easier.

The tool, called Knewton, has been in development since 2008 and the company has spent seven years acquiring content that is now being made to educators for free.

How does it work?

"Let’s say a math teacher is getting ready to teach her students the pythagorean theorem. The teacher could invite his students to join Knewton, and assign them all a lesson about the pythagorean theorem. Instead of serving each student the same video, though, the system would conduct an initial assessment to determine that student’s skill level down to the percentile," according to Wired.com.

After the system determines the students skill level, it will then mine through its content to determine the best resources for the student to learn from that point forward, making the teacher's job easier in that regard.

But the partnership between Knewton and teachers is not a one-way street. Teachers are able to upload their own assignments and content onto the network, and after the system analyzes it, will be available for all students using the tool.

"That’s good for the kids, but it’s also good for Knewton, whose technology grows more sophisticated and precise the more data it consumes," the article said.

While companies in the past have tried to sell technology based on a similar concept and have failed, Knewton is different because it offers the tool for free and allows teachers to control the curriculum, recognizing the importance of the human touch.

"For [creator Jose] Ferreira, who started off his career as a Kaplan tutor, before eventually becoming one of the company’s managing directors, the goal is to ensure that any student, no matter their skill level, or their family’s income level, has access to the personal assistance they need."

Read the full article here and comment with your thoughts below.

Article by Nicole Gorman, Education World Contributor

08/26/2015