PeerLearning Collaborative Learning Platform for Classrooms

before

Education innovation research team with a proven method for improving learning outcomes through peer-to-peer instruction

Classroom studies revealed that effort and complexity were barriers to teachers implementing learning model with regularity

Needed an automated system for directing students through lesson structure (and grant funding to support its development)

after

A flexible platform able to direct students through four types of peer-to-peer lesson structures, with minimal teacher assistance

A lesson library hosting universal, premium, and custom content aligned with widely used curricula and grade-specific SEL goals

Research team was awarded two successful SBIRs, fully funding MVP launch, feature scaling, and efficacy studies

Challenge

Delivering proven SEL support at-scale

What educators teach is important, but how they teach it is essential. That’s the thesis that sparked Peer Learning, a research-backed social and emotional learning (SEL) pedagogy for delivering collaborative classroom learning experiences that shape positive behaviors for middle and high schoolers. Studies by the University of Oregon’s Center on Human Development proved that cooperative formats like “jigsaw” learning, peer tutoring, group projects, and peer inquiry significantly improved student outcomes, if used correctly. So the team asked us to create a platform that could facilitate these activities with advanced automation.

process

Designing a peer-to-peer autopilot

In the peer learning model, students work together to acquire new knowledge, combining partner research with peer-to-peer instruction to build expertise on a given topic. The process involves moving students through several rounds of small groups and pairings, with allotted durations for each activity stage. Many teachers found these student shuffles challenging to coordinate, so a top goal with the PeerLearning platform was to remove the guesswork by automating these matchups. We also needed to make the platform’s content and structure work within teachers’ existing curricula and digital learning tools.

solution

Shuffling students seamlessly

We worked with the research team to understand the goals and requirements for matching up students at each jigsaw activity stage. We then developed an algorithm designed to group students according to peer learning parameters, both for a given round and throughout the course of the exercise. We paired this dynamic organization engine with a focused, elegant UI designed to guide teachers and students through the lesson step-by-step, with automatic time tracking to keep learning on-pace. Students use tablet devices to navigate themselves through different pairings during the lesson, freeing the teacher to observe, guide, and moderate group interactions where needed.

solution

Automation with oversight

The PeerLearning platform gives teachers full visibility and control over the learning experience, enabling them to review or edit student matchups before launching an activity, or while it is in progress. The PeerLearning system also allows teachers to create their own activity groups, then checks them for potential matching issues and gives teachers the option to make manual corrections, or have the system fix the groupings for them.

solution

Supporting social skills

The structure of PeerLearning activities promotes not only subject matter acquisition, but social and emotional learning as well (in alignment with the criteria defined by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning, or CASEL). For each lesson, teachers select a curriculum-aligned topic, and a SEL skill to target. Once the activity has been launched, the platform provides students with a description and examples of the target social skills. With Peer Learning directing the students through the activity stages, the teacher is able to move through the classroom to observe and reinforce the target skills in action.

solution

Enabling virtual collaboration

When the PeerLearning pilot study intersected with the COVID-19 pandemic, teachers using the prototype needed a way to administer the cooperative lessons remotely. We implemented a new real-time voice groups feature that allows students to have the same kinds of open, interactive discussions they would have enjoyed in a classroom setting, keeping them engaged and promoting high-quality hybrid learning.

solution

Building a learning library

Peer-to-peer activities can be used to teach a wide array of academic and SEL skills. We designed PeerLearning’s activity library to support the full range of the model’s flexibility. We worked with the research team and its pilot schools to compile hundreds of pre-programmed lessons, including general topics available to all users and specialized topics available to schools subscribing to an elevated user tier. PeerLearning also allows teachers to create their own custom lessons using any of the platform’s supported activity formats as a template.

solution

Google Classroom integration

Teachers don’t have much time to learn new tech tools, so working within their existing systems is essential for widespread adoption. We developed the PeerLearning platform to integrate with top learning management system Google Classroom, giving millions of teachers the option to sign in using their existing Google credentials, import their existing class rosters, and allow simplified student login through Google.

`Praise` from our clients

Twenty Ideas was an invaluable partner in making PeerLearning possible, both through its technical development and throughout the SBIR grant application process. The platform they built has been found to have even more powerful effects on students than implementing small-group instruction manually, and has the additional benefits of reducing teacher stress and burnout. Their work is exceptional!

Mark Van Ryzin, PhD

Principal Researcher at the Center on Human Development, University of Oregon, Developer of PeerLearning

I love how the software frees me up to really focus on how the kids are interacting, and I’ve seen a huge improvements in how they are able to work with one another. I don’t think I have ever seen the kids so engaged!

Middle School Social Studies Teacher

Participant in the PeerLearning pilot study