Middle school students are testing a program built by Facebook engineers, tracking levels of work they have completed in core subjects and progress related to grade level.
Summit Basecamp is provided free to schools, and offers three main components: personalized learning time, project time, and mentoring.Â “I like it because you can go at your own pace,” said sixth grader Zach Ferree. “Last year, in math, I would always be way – well, not way ahead – but I would always be done with stuff and I would never really have to study for the math tests and I would still pass it at 100 percent. So now I can just go ahead. My mid-year goal is just to pass all the sixth-grade math.”
Summit Basecamp was designed as part of Mark Zuckerberg’s education initiative by Facebook engineers, in partnership with charter school network Summit Public Schools, to enhance personalized learning.
“It’s the closest I’ve ever got to really personalizing learning for them in a meaningful way. It’s something we wanted to do before,” said teacher Jane Webby. She also said thatÂ the academic skills the sixth graders are developing now will benefit them in high school and college.