Educational iPad platform offers interactive field trip tasks and feedback

New technologies are being applied with increasing success in the world of education, and the latest generation of touch-screen devices offers a wealth of opportunities. Case in point? SquareCrumbs, a Singapore platform that focuses on the iPad in its efforts to improve education. Created by Staircase 2 Productions, SquareCrumbs is a learning platform designed specifically for use on Apple’s iPad. Leveraging technology built into that device, SquareCrumbs gives students and teachers instant access to information, answers, feedback and collaboration, wherever they may be. Using the compass built into the iPad, for instance, students might be asked to determine the direction in which something is moving. Updates for instructors, meanwhile, keep them informed as to students’ progress. Teachers can send feedback to students in real-time, thereby shortening the feedback loop and promoting retention of knowledge, while collaboration features help students share and build upon what they have learned. In an interview on SGEntrepreneurs, SquareCrumbs cofounder Ruiwen Chua explains: “Essentially, we’ve taken the paper and pen worksheets students use while on excursions and field trips, and brought the entire process online and mobile, using tablet devices. So instead of scribbling their answers out in the field and waiting a week or so for the teach to discuss them, they can simply key in their answers into the app and have their teachers send them feedback immediately.” SquareCrumbs has already benefited from a pilot-testing effort at a local secondary school. Educators around the globe: one to get involved with? Spotted by: Eric Tan