Teach Middle East Magazine Jan - Mar 2020 Issue 2 Volume 7 | Page 27

LEARNING TO LOVE MATH Finnish digital learning platform Eduten Playground helps students get excited about their math program. In the middle of the hustle and noise of students enjoying their recess during the school day at a school in Dubai, math teacher Niokah explains her experience of teaching using the Eduten Playground platform. "The amount of student engagement experienced while using Eduten was probably the best I've seen in all my 15 years of teaching math!" She explained. She and her class have taken part in the Eduten Playground research pilot, which was conducted in two GEMS schools. Eduten Playground is a digital learning platform, developed in Finland. GEMS Education is one of the world's oldest and largest K- 12 private education providers. Towards a more personalised learning experience The story of the Eduten Playground's story began back when digital learning was still just a distant dream – a bit of a folly some might have thought – but a group of Finnish PhD students doing their research at The University of Turku took the on the task of developing modern-day teaching methods very seriously. They wanted to create a platform, which would motivate children to learn and help with the task of grading assignments and exams automatically, thus freeing teachers time to interact with students. With the data collected while using Eduten Playground, teachers can also prevent problems by automatically identifying students' strengths and weaknesses. Also, this helps to create more personalised learning experiences. Now, 15 years later, Eduten Playground is being used by schools in more than thirty countries – including the UAE. Eye-catching results GEMS World Academy and GEMS United School participated in the study with the Eduten Playground. In these schools, eight classes of 3rd-grade students took part in the research pilot. The students were divided into control and treatment groups. The control groups studied math with teachers using existing teaching methods at the school, and the treatment group used the Eduten Playground for eight weeks during one weekly lesson at school and for homework. Both groups did pre- and post-study tests which measured their mathematical skills. The results were eye-catching. Arithmetic fluency improved over 29% in GEMS United School, and mathematics performance improved more than 51% in GEMS World Academy after using the Eduten Playground compared to more traditional teaching methods. Gamification makes learning fun The main reasons for this accelerated learning were, the hard work, the students, put in, and the improvements brought about by the use of Eduten Playground. With Eduten Playground, the average amount of completed math tasks per week per student was approximately 260. It is important to note that during more traditional math lessons, the amount of calculations usually ranges between 20–60 – and this is the best-case scenario. It is no wonder that the learning results significantly improved. The platform uses gamification to increase students' motivation and engagement with learning. Also, with the Eduten Playground, students get instant feedback on their work, which inspires them to work harder towards achieving trophies and results. With Eduten Playground, students feel safe to learn, to fail and to try harder next time. To learn more about the pilot contact: [email protected]