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Private Lesson for Everyone:
DreamBox Learning

Though he's now a long way from the classroom, Netflix founder Reed Hastings has not forgotten his days as a 9th-grade math teacher—and the nights he spent devising lesson plans that would appeal to all of his classes. "I never knew what lesson to present to which group of kids," he recently told the Seattle Times.

To help teachers who still face that question, Hastings acquired a software company called DreamBox Learning. It provides an online math game that gives students individually tailored instruction. "What this software does is adapt to put the right lesson in front of each kid at their level," said Hastings.

What this software does is adapt to put the right lesson in front of each kid at their level.

When playing DreamBox, students explore an adventure park, earning tokens along the way by completing math challenges. The game keeps track of the student's responses – which questions they got right, which ones they just missed – and then analyzes the data to determine the most appropriate question to ask next.

Transforming Education

If a student is flying through the game, the questions will immediately get harder. If the student is struggling, the program will offer hints and easier questions. The concept is similar to how Amazon's recommendation engine works, suggesting new books and music based on your previous purchases.

"I think we're on the edge of a real inflection point where the hardware becomes so cheap that Web learning is really throughout the schools," Hastings told The New York Times.

In spite of the efforts of pioneers like Hastings, there are still many hurdles to bringing innovative technology to schools. But educators are determined to push forward. They understand that technology must play a role if we are to enhance the classroom experience and transform education for the better.