For instance, a variety of diagnostic and prescriptive software records patterns of student interaction with information and designs questions, learning modules, and performance reports that respond to those patterns. Computer-based tests assess whether students have grasped particular concepts and then prescribe supplementary learning activities based on those findings. As artificial intelligence improves, we can envision software environments that record, report, and design learning environments based on previous student learning and inputs. These programs will help students, parents, and teachers identify and monitor a student's unique capabilities and learning needs. In Beaufort, South Carolina, where every sixth, seventh and eighth-grade classroom has laptop computers, interactive and collaborative learning are the norm.
Students emulate the world of work, with student teams each handling different aspects of a project.
A research team provides data to the data team, which analyzes and graphs the information for the critical thinking team. The critical thinking team draws conclusions from the analysis, and then together students review their findings and present a final project. Student work can be presented in print, on disk or online. In only five months, students using reading development software in the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District in southern California out-performed other students by an average of 15 percent in all eight characteristics of early reading skills. Students with limited English proficiency gained, on average, twice as much as their English-speaking classmates.