iPads seem to raise classroom math scores in charter school study
Earlier this year the folks who created the YourTeacher math tutoring and test prep system teamed up with KIPP Academy to gauge how well the iPad performs in the classroom. As noted by Jim Dalrymple of The Loop, the results are overwhelmingly in favor of the iPad.
Between February 2012 and May 2012, a group of 8th grade math students in Houston used the YourTeacher Algebra 1 iBooks instead of their hardcover counterparts. The teachers used the iPads to create a flipped classroom in which students spent most of their learning time on the iPad (80 percent) while they were at home. This let teachers use the classroom time for advanced, one-on-one instruction.
When compared to the control group that received traditional classroom instruction, the iPad group showed significant improvement in their math scores. The summary report on the pilot program says,
Overall, the percentage of students who rated either proficient or advanced (the 'passing' rate) was 49% percent higher in the 'flipped classrooms' using the iPads than in the traditional classrooms with no iPads. The difference was most pronounced in the percentage of students rated as 'advanced,' which was 150% higher in the 'flipped classrooms.'
This may be a small-scale study, but it is one of many recent results that suggest the iPad could benefit school-aged children as young as kindergarten.
[Via The Loop]
