KinderTek / 2014
An assessment system for Kindergartners learning math
An evidence-based learning and assessment system to help Kindergartners master common core math skills independently.
What I did.
Helping bring educational research to market.
While at Concentric Sky (now part of Instructure) I led design and strategy for an innovative math platform for kindergartners called KTEK. This was a project with the Center for Teaching & Learning (CTL) at the University of Oregon, funded by an Education Department grant.
Roles
- Product Design
- Art Direction
- Game design
- Research
- Go-to market strategy
Design for engagement and remediation
Since we were designing for young children, KTEK had to feel more like a game. We employed game design practices including a beautiful safari-based theme, intermittent rewards, audio instruction, and a head-up display for users to track their reward progress.
Model, Lead, Test
We integrated the research from CTL to build a sequenced and recursive workflow that adapted to a students’ exhibited mastery of common core standards so they learned at a pace just right for them.
A rewards system to keep students motivated
I designed a rewards system algorithm and UI/UX based on time to answer, learning stage, accuracy, and a built-in attempt handicap that progressively diminished as users engaged more and more with the app. The result was an intermittent reward experience for students that makes KTEK enjoyable and challenging.
A fully functioning Teacher app
I designed a native iPad OS app for teachers (and a web-based portal for schools and districts). One interesting problem to solve working with young students was how to handle passwords. We tried a lot of things, but ended up auto-generating passcodes for users based on the fun characters inside KTEK.
