I have always struggled in math, but with his wonderfully detailed step by step videos I was able to make a ‘B’ in college algebra, and let me tell you, I had previously took this class twice and dropped both times because I could not understand, and the teachers didn’t have time to show me each step in detail.

I truly believe that Khan academy is one of the best math websites out there for learning.

@Lisa: Did the method work just on the one problem (which can happen with low-tech teaching), or in general (which is a flat-out software bug and the sort of pattern matching that is bad)?

I’ll stay out of this interesting discussion on pattern-matching for now, but I’d like to set the record straight on Summit SJ. Our math model as described as concisely as possible: students spend two hours per day on math; one hour in breakout rooms and one hour in the big room (seen in your picture) where students are working independently. In the breakout rooms, students work on challenging tasks and projects (many of which we can thank you for) that develop the standards of math practice, often in groups and with varying amounts of teacher structure. Development of cognitive skills via frequent exposure to these types of tasks is paramount to our program. It is also in the breakout rooms where students’ independent work — which is mostly procedural practice — is framed and put in context. Students’ know that their work in the big room supports what they do in the seminar rooms and vice versa.

I have no qualms with resources like Khan Academy or textbooks with answer keys that allow students to work relatively independently (although the big room still has 3 teachers available) and most importantly frees up my time to work with students on math practice and cognitive skill development. Like you, we see huge potential in tech that helps students further develop in these areas, either by giving good, actionable feedback to students and/or by giving data to teachers who can then make appropriate instructional decisions. In other words, please keep up your work with Dave Major so we can stop using Google Forms and various other makeshift tools!