Dive Brief:

• The MobileFirst iPad application allows teachers in Texas’ Coppell ISD to see data on any student, including test scores, homework, grades, disciplinary actions, extracurricular activities and learning preferences, logged by other teachers.
• District Administration reports the district is also piloting Watson Element for Educators with 5,000 students to take advantage of artificial intelligence in the quest for personalized learning.
• The program analyzes student strengths and weaknesses to tailor a sequenced curriculum to the needs and capacities of that student, skipping or deviating from the original plan based on what the student already knows.

Dive Insight:

Using the cloud means harnessing data from all of the devices that exist in a school. Many schools collect far more data than they use meaningfully, based on systems that they already have. Technology has become an important way to personalize learning, moving the concept of differentiation to a new level.

The Internet of Things — which utilizes data gathered by all devices in a school — has also been used to improve the operational side of the organization. In Connecticut, for example, one district cut its electricity bill by 84% by changing its light bulbs to more energy efficient options and using sensors and cloud-based servers to control brightness and turn off lights when no one needs them.