Recently some of the engineers from our mobile team went on a field trip—back to school! Corey Zilli, an IXL Educational Sales Consultant, went along with them and is here to report the story.
A few weeks ago, I went with two engineers from the IXL mobile team to visit John Kelley Elementary School in Thermal, CA. The school graciously allowed us to come observe how their students use the IXL iPad app. John Kelley Elementary is a 1:1 iPad school and integrates IXL into their daily math practice. We were able to spend a couple of hours with Mr. Elizondo’s and Mr. Gutierrez’s fourth-grade students. And what we saw was amazing!
Each teacher taught the day’s lesson by using their document camera to project it on a screen while the students took notes. After the lesson, the class worked together on IXL, and then, each student took out their iPad to begin practicing. All of the IXL lessons that students were supposed to practice that day were written on the whiteboard under a section marked “Assignments.” In fact, every day the lessons are written in the same spot so every student can easily see the work for the day.
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Meanwhile, the engineers and I walked around the classroom to observe how each student interacted with the app. As a former teacher, I was very impressed with the behavior of these students in both classrooms. The students quietly took out their iPads and notepaper and began working independently. Not only were the students using the IXL app to practice, but they were also learning to organize their work. Each student first had to show their work on the problem before submitting their answer. Once they mastered a skill, they took a screenshot and sent it to their teacher to view. Both teachers really embraced IXL in their classroom and used it as an integral part of their math curriculum.
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One highlight for me was when I showed Mr. Elizondo how to enable the audio feature for grades 2–5. He and the students were both so excited. John Kelley Elementary has a high population of ELL and ELD students, so this feature is extremely helpful. Mr. Elizondo then explained how to use the feature to the students, and right away, they all reached into their desks to grab headphones, plug them in, and continue to work—so impressive.
As we spent time with the students, we heard their feedback on the app, including their likes and dislikes. Our engineers were able to take the students’ feedback to the rest of the mobile team and are using it to help make upgrades and changes.
Overall, we had a wonderful experience. The students and school staff were so welcoming and invited us to come back any time to visit. The students couldn’t believe that we were the “ones who made IXL” and asked us tons of questions. The mobile team had a great time seeing their hard work in action!
