Learner Apps

Workshop 2

From Chatbot to Co-Teacher, Part 2

Justin Brown · Makers Media LLCPowered by · in partnership with Linda C. Brown & Associates

Before 10:10. In Zoom: Share Screen → choose the Chrome tab with this deck (not the whole screen). Turn on Share sound and Optimize for video clip, bottom-left of the share picker. Then press F for full screen.

Welcome everyone. "A year ago in Workshop 1 we asked AI questions. Today we're going to watch it build something: a small learning app made for one learner, in about the time it takes to make coffee."

One button does it all: Space, the clicker's forward button, or a tap on the right side goes through every step, then to the next slide. On video slides it plays, pauses, and moves on once the video ends. ← (or clicker back) goes back. → jumps to the next slide fully built. The small mark in the bottom-right corner tells you what's next: dots = steps left, arrow = next slide.

Set expectations: no accounts needed today, nothing to install. Just watch, then ask. There are three planned question stops.

Last time

AI answered questions.

Today, it builds.

Chat

Can you make me ten fraction practice problems?

Sure! Here are ten problems:

Thanks. I'll print them.

Why practice like this works

Most practice looks like this.

The same page for every learner.
Printed. Silent.

1 of 4 · Interactive

Doing beats watching.

1.5×more likely to fail
when they only watch

Practiced recalling61%

Reread40%

remembered a week later

When learners do the work instead of watching it, fewer fail, and more of it sticks.

Freeman et al. 2014, PNAS: 225 studies of college science and math classes. Roediger & Karpicke 2006: college students.

2 of 4 · Personal

Make it about their life.

51.6% vs 42.6%

About their world51.6%

Standard problem42.6%

got the hardest step right on the first try

When the problem is about their world, more of them get the hardest step right on the first try.

Walkington & Sherman 2012 / Walkington 2013: 145 ninth-grade algebra students, randomized, one unit, hardest skill only.

Watch the words: the train problem rewrites itself into Darnell's crab-cake batch. Same math. Space for the finding.

Researchers took an algebra unit and randomly gave half the students the normal story problems. The other half got the same math rewritten around their own interests, like sports, music and movies. On the hardest step, turning a story into an equation, the personalised group got it right first time 51.6% of the time against 42.6%, and asked for hints less often. The students who were struggling gained the most, and they kept the edge on ordinary problems afterwards. That's Darnell: the same fractions, but it's his crab-cake recipe to scale and a Ravens first down when he gets it right.

Say "the hardest step". Don't generalise it to every problem; a follow-up study found interest and speed went up but accuracy inside the units didn't.

3 of 4 · Adaptive

Practice that responds
to every step.

50th → 75thpercentile

When practice responds to every step they take, the typical learner moves from the middle of the class to the top quarter.

Kulik & Fletcher 2016: 50 studies of tutoring software, mostly school and college; results varied by test used.

Watch the card: a wrong answer gets a hint instead of a red X, and the next question gets easier, then harder. It adjusts. Space for the finding.

Tutoring software checks each step the learner takes and gives feedback right there, instead of only marking the final answer. Across 50 controlled studies, it raised the typical student from the 50th to the 75th percentile. Another review found it nearly matches a human tutor (0.76 against 0.79), and a third found it beat textbooks and workbooks, which is exactly the worksheet we're replacing. Our apps borrow the core moves: a hint for each step, reworded help after a miss, missed items coming back, and examples that step aside when the learner is ready. These studies were with school and college students, and our apps are simpler than these systems.

Don't say "as good as a human tutor": that research is about intelligent tutoring systems, not our apps.

4 of 4 · Words, pictures, sound

See it. Hear it. Do it.

13 experimentsWords + pictures beat words alone

When they can see it as well as read it, and hear it read aloud, they understand it and use it on new problems.

Mayer 2023, 13 lab experiments, mostly college students. Read-aloud: Wood et al. 2018, 22 studies, reading disabilities.

A picture of the fractions joins the card, and "Read it to me" starts speaking. Space for the finding.

Mayer's experiments compared the same lesson with words alone and with words and pictures together. Adding the pictures gave a very large gain on solving new problems. For hearing it, a review of 22 studies found read-aloud tools improved reading comprehension for students with reading disabilities. For doing it, that's the first finding: recall beats rereading. This is words, pictures and sound together for everyone. It isn't "visual learners," and it isn't a branded method: the What Works Clearinghouse couldn't find qualifying studies of one. So every screen has a labelled picture next to the words, a "Read it to me" button, and something to do.

If someone asks about learning styles: we say "personalised to each person's life, level and pace" instead, because the major review of learning styles (Pashler et al., 2008) found no adequate evidence that matching teaching to a preferred style improves learning.

All four, in one app

Interactive.

Personal.

Adaptive.

See it, hear it, do it.

Every learner deserves practice like this.

No teacher has time to build it for every learner.

We built every app on these findings. We'll measure our own results with you.

The card that started as a worksheet is now an app on a phone. Read the four words as they appear: "Interactive. Personal. Adaptive. See it, hear it, do it."

Space: "Every learner deserves practice like this. No teacher has time to build it for every learner." Then, plainly: "We built every app on these findings. We'll measure our own results with you." Then on to Darnell.

Backup, only if asked: The National Research Council found "a surprising lack of rigorous research on effective approaches to adult literacy instruction" and judged it "reasonable to apply findings" from other groups, with adaptations. That's what we did (NRC 2012, Improving Adult Literacy Instruction). Spacing: spaced practice beats cramming (Cepeda et al. 2006, 317 experiments). Timed tests: for math-anxious learners, timed high-stakes scores underestimate true ability (Ashcraft & Moore 2009). I-BEST (adult ed, basic skills taught inside job training): WWC rates it "positive effects" on credential completion; it's team teaching, not an app.

MeetDarnell, 34

Line cook in Federal Hill

Working toward his GED

Lives for the Ravens

His wall: fractions and word problems

When a timer starts, he freezes.

Darnell is invented, but you know him.

The old way

Worksheet 7BTime: 20:00

1. 3/4 + 2/3 = ______

2. 5/8 − 1/4 = ______

3. A train travels 2/3...

4. Simplify 18/24 ______

5. 7/12 ÷ 1/3 = ______

4/10

Darnell's way

Same math. A different door.

The need

What Darnell actually needs.

Practice made for his life

On his phone, on the bus

Picks up where he left off

Never makes him feel stupid

No worksheet does that. A chatbot almost can.

The do-it-yourself way

You could build it yourself. Here's what it takes.

1Make an account with an AI company · free teacher plans are K-12 only

2Write a long, careful prompt

3Get back code, and fix what breaks

4Find somewhere to host it, and make a link

5Make sure the answers are actually right

6Make it save progress without a login

7Keep his information private

8Test it on a real phone

9Do it all again for the next learner

Possible. Just not on a Tuesday night
after teaching three classes.

What if the hard part was already done?

You bring what you know about Darnell.
The engine does the rest.

SPARK

Every app starts with a

SStudent

PPurpose

AArea of
struggle

RReal-life
interests

KKeep
and avoid

Five answers about one learner. That's the whole recipe.

SPARKDarnell's SPARK

S

S · Student

Who is your learner? Where does their day go?

Darnell

Darnell, 34. Line cook in Federal Hill.Long shifts in a hot kitchen. He studieson his phone, on the bus.

SPARKDarnell's SPARK

P

P · Purpose

What are they working toward?

Darnell

His GED.The math test is the one standingin his way.

SPARKDarnell's SPARK

A

A · Area of struggle

What's the one thing they keep missing?

Darnell

Fractions and word problems.He knows more than he shows,but he freezes on timed tests.

SPARKDarnell's SPARK

R

R · Real-life interests

What do they love?

Darnell

The Ravens.His kitchen, and real recipes:crab cakes, Old Bay, batch sizes.

SPARKDarnell's SPARK

K

K · Keep and avoid

How do they learn best? What should it never do?

Darnell

Keep: short bursts, real examples,hints that explain why.Avoid: timers. Red X's.

Five answers in. One app out.

SSDarnell, 34

PPHis GED

AAFractions

RRRavens, recipes

KKNo timers

Darnell's Kitchen Math

Recorded demo 1

Five answers, Publish, and it opens on a phone.

Recording goes here

deck/media/demo1.mp4

The SPARK form for Darnell → Build → Publish → the app opening on a phone.

Your questions

About anything in the build you just watched.

Unmute and ask·or type it in the chat

Always on

Built into every app.

Nothing to set up. Nothing to switch on.

Remembers their place

“Simplify this”

“Read it to me”

Hints that explain why

Flag it, come back

Kind feedback, no red X's

Works on an old phone

A checked answer key

You choose:PicturesMotionColorsEnglish / Spanish5, 10 or 20 min“Push it further”

The teaching contract

How every app teaches.

1Teach

A clear example from their world, first

2Practice

They work it out, not just pick

3Reinforce

Misses come back later, mixed in

4Measure

Progress per skill, shown kindly

5Clear

One idea per screen, reworded on a miss

It doesn't just quiz Darnell. It teaches him.

Now, change the answers.

Same engine. A different learner.

Darnell, 34

Keisha, 41

S

Darnell, line cookKeisha, home health aide

P

His GEDHer high-school diploma

A

Fractions, word problemsReading medication labels

R

The Ravens, recipesGospel music

K

Short bursts, no timersReal labels, read aloud

Darnell's Kitchen MathKeisha's Label Reader

Recorded demo 2

Keisha's app, then one app for a whole room.

Recording goes here

deck/media/demo2.mp4

Keisha's Label Reader, then the GED Math Level 2 room app with three levels and one QR code.

Your questions

About Keisha's app, or the one for a whole room.

Unmute and ask·or type it in the chat

One QR code. A whole room.

GED Math, Level 2 · twelve learners · Baltimore

Scan to join the class

Level 1

Which is bigger: ½ or ⅓?

1Warm upFractions you can see

Level 2

½ + ¼ = ?

2On trackAdd and compare fractions

Level 3

A recipe for 4 needs ⅔ cup. How much for 6?

3StretchRecipes and word problems

The Learner Test

Before you share it, be your learner for five minutes.

1 Open it on your phone, as them.

5 Refresh halfway. Did it remember?

2 Two right, two wrong. Kind? Helpful?

6 Flag one. Can you find it again?

3 Check three answers yourself.

7 Would anything frustrate them?

4 Tap “Simplify” and “Read it to me.”

Then share it with one learner first.

The tech should never be the hard part.

If they struggle, it should be with fractions, not with the app.

The privacy rule

First names only. Or make one up.

Fine to use

Hello, my name isDarnell Hello, my name isD. Hello, my name isLearner 3

Darnell and Keisha? Both made up.

Never

Last namesPhone numbersHome addressesBirthdatesID numbers

Learners never sign in, so we never hold learner data.

Your turn.

Start free, today.

1Scan the code, or type the link

2Answer five SPARK questions

3Test it, then share with one learner

Free for SBLC educators
through December.

Open Q&A

Anything at all: your learners, your classes, your worries.

Unmute and ask·or type it in the chat

One minute:
tell us how it went.

Scan the code, or type the link.

Thank you

Justin BrownMakers Media LLC

Start with one learner

Powered by · in partnership with Linda C. Brown & Associates

AI answered questions.

Today, it builds.

Most practice looks like this.

Doing beats watching.

Make it about their life.

Practice that respondsto every step.

See it. Hear it. Do it.

What Darnell actually needs.

You could build it yourself. Here's what it takes.

What if the hard part was already done?

Who is your learner? Where does their day go?

What are they working toward?

What's the one thing they keep missing?

What do they love?

How do they learn best? What should it never do?

Five answers in. One app out.

Five answers, Publish, and it opens on a phone.

Your questions

Built into every app.

How every app teaches.

Now, change the answers.

Same engine. A different learner.

Keisha's app, then one app for a whole room.

Your questions

One QR code. A whole room.

The Learner Test

The tech should never be the hard part.

First names only. Or make one up.

Your turn.

Open Q&A

One minute:tell us how it went.

Thank you

Practice that responds
to every step.

One minute:
tell us how it went.