In Real Life

In Real Life is a digital resource that tackles the age-old question, ‘Why do I need to learn this?’ by teaching high school mathematics through real-world contexts that connect what students are learning in class to real life and future careers, facilitating 21st Century skills like critical thinking and problem-solving.

While the need for 21st Century skills like problem-solving and critical thinking is increasing, the proportion of students studying subjects like maths that build these skills is declining.

Traditional resources focus on rote learning and memorisation, and lack the real-world context to engage students in why learning these concepts is valuable for their future.

Further, 40% of Australian maths teachers are untrained in the field, resulting in low-confidence and knowledge to make connections between content and real life 

While these issues are true for all young people, data shows they’re even greater for students from low socio-economic and regional backgrounds.

The overarching purpose of this project is to advance access to critical STEM and 21st Century skills for young people from all backgrounds.

Our TOC is based on our understanding of two key points, reached through leading research and authorities.

1. That teaching mathematics through real world contexts improves motivation, which leads to increased engagement and improved outcomes
2. That learning mathematical thinking leads to 21st Century skills like critical thinking and problem-solving.

IRL scenarios are informed by a series of major educational and psychological theories, and combine real-world examples, authentic learning pedagogy and growth-mindset approaches to reach students.

In Real Life is targeted towards two key audiences.

• Middle school students (ages 13 to 16) discover WHY they’re learning maths by learning through real-world context, and gain the 21st Century skills they need for future careers; resulting in workers who can create innovative solutions to the world’s toughest challenges
• Teachers gain confidence and time, through access to ready-made, contextualised resources. Additionally, by observing students’ real-time progress, they can understand the learning, see common mistakes and improve and adapt their instruction.

This solution can be accessed on any device that has an internet connection. 

Tracking statistical enrolment data from state-based curriculum and assessment authorities in Australia e.g. QCAA, VCAA, BOSTES - An increase in the proportion of Australian high school students choosing to study intermediate or advanced maths in senior years, from 36% at present to over 50% by 2024

In-product tracking via: time engaged in tasks, student ratings (of quests), in-product surveys - An increase in student engagement in middle school maths classes

Self-reporting by teachers through survey and interview mechanisms - Reported increase in teacher confidence around teaching maths in a way that adequately prepares students for future careers

• Uses technology to provide contextualised maths content to audiences that may not otherwise have access to them e.g. those in regional and remote areas in Australia, and other regions
• Editable content means that teachers can modify scenarios to suit their local context
• Real-time data allows teachers to understand and adapt instruction to students’ learning needs
• Adaptive learning pathways respond to individual student’s level of knowledge, tailoring the display of questions based on previous responses i.e. fast-tracking students when they successfully grasp a concept or directing them to additional resources in order to remediate a misconception.

The concept for IRL came from teacher need. After attending events designed to engage their students in STEM, teachers started asking how they could continue to engage their students in maths and science throughout the school year.

Starting with a hypothesis that real-world resources would help, we first sought to understand the challenges teachers face engaging student’s in their maths classes through surveys and interviews.

Throughout the development process, we have continued to engage in the users’ experience, through conversations with teachers, observing students using the resources and user surveys. New insights are then fed back into the development cycle.

IRL can be accessed on any device with internet connectivity. As almost 90% of the global population now has access to mobile networks, there’s an unprecedented opportunity for learners and teachers from most regions to access locally and globally relevant content. 

Financially: The resource is currently sold to high-socioeconomic schools in Australia at $50/user/year. For low-socioeconomic and regional schools, the cost is supplemented through an existing program where companies with an interest in the pipeline of STEM and 21st Century skills purchase user licenses for these regions.

Revenue from high-SES sales will be used to fund resources in developing regions.

The initial IRL product, for Year 9 Australian students was launched in February.

We intend to fund the development of the Year 7, 8 and 10 resources through a combination of grants and revenue from sales. Once the resource is fully developed, we forecast sufficient annual recurring revenue to operate profitably and support the expansion of the product into new and emerging markets. There are three key channels for revenue generation.

1. High-SES schools – purchase the resource at $50/user/year
2. Corporate partners (CSR funds) – fund use by low-SES and regional schools
3. Individuals – direct sales to parents, tutoring and adult education organisations.

Following development of this product, we plan to scale through three levers.

1. Geographically: beyond Australia to emerging Asia, developed APAC and other English-speaking countries
2. Vertically: beyond Years 7-10 to all year levels/abilities
3. Laterally: beyond Mathematics to all of STEM.

Cultural differences. The resource developed to-date has been built to suit an Australian context. As we scale this solution for use in various regions, with different cultures and economies, the needs, challenges and use-cases will vary. 

Funding to build out the remainder of the middle-school (Year 7, 8, 10) resources.

We don’t own the platform our solution sits on, instead partnering with a platform provider. The team identified that it was more important to validate the content and approach first, then build out our own technology. At some point, this work will require a significant investment of capital.

http://www.linkedin.com/company/machinam

http://www.twitter.com/machinamedu

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Being a purpose-driven organisation, our core driver is to make a positive and measurable impact in our space. We are applying to SOLVE as we believe being part of this community will enable us to:

• Build out and continuing to refine the remainder of our solution
• Expand our impact to regions beyond Australia, in a sustainable manner
• Connect with, learn from and contribute to other people and organisations working in the STEM skills space.

Power of Engineering Inc, WorleyParsons, ACAC Innovation, myEd

Maths Pathway, Mathspace, Mathletics, Traditional textbooks e.g. Pearson, Macmillan, Cambridge