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Mindsets Learning

Victoria EdTech Summit: Meet the exhibitors - Mindsets Learning

Mindsets Learning is the world’s leading digital inquiry and project based platform for math & STEAM education. Here's a Q&A to get to know them better.

Tell us about the company 

Mindsets Learning is the world’s leading digital inquiry and project based platform for math & STEAM education. Mindsets prepare students with the problem solving, creative and collaboration skills to succeed in the global economy.

Mindsets is adopted in the classroom by teachers in all states in USA and in 81 countries around the world. We are fully cloud-based, accessible in 100+ languages, and flexibly designed with teachers & students in mind, for in person teaching in the classroom, in hybrid teaching or fully remote for distance learning from home.

Often students are asking questions on how I will ever use what I am learning and how it is relevant. Mindsets solves the problem of lack of engagement and interest in students by providing real-world problems to be solved using Maths and Science skills and concepts. The solutions are not meant to be right or wrong answers but the focus is on problem-solving approach, critical thinking, collaboration, and communication - all key 21st-century skills which are essential for the future of work. Mindsets has proven to increase student engagement and learning outcomes based on external evaluation studies.

For our outstanding curriculum and instructional platform, Mindsets received a 2020 CODIE award for the Best Emerging Instructional Solution by the US Software Industry Association. In 2020, we were also certified to the highest level for pedagogy and learner engagement by the Education Alliance of Finland.

What initiatives are you working on currently  

Mindsets has a thriving R&D program and our lab is currently focussing on the cutting edge technology to measure wellbeing, social emotional learning and 21st century skills.

What are the benefits for educational establishments using your product/s 

Student lack of engagement can severely impact mathematics learning. At a macro level, it can be impacted by the student’s level of engagement with the topic and the lesson, and at a micro level it is affected by the student’s ability to suppress distractions, engage in problem solving and focus on the learning tasks. Mindsets’ award-winning, cloud-based instructional platform offers authentic, collaborative, project-driven lessons (Mindsets Challenges) aligned to various curriculums and used in classrooms across 81+ countries and in all states in the US.

It promotes effective engagement by bridging the gap between traditional classroom math learning and real-world application by developing inquiry-based Challenges. In the Challenges, students apply problem-solving skills to authentic problems based on socially relevant current events, entrepreneurial situations, and careers.

Based on externally funded evaluation studies in the US, Mindsets has proven to increase student learning outcomes many fold - for example, one study shows students reasoning skills improve by 24 times. one of the most significant is doubling the pass rate of students who fail under the traditional curriculum - all students have the capacity to flourish and thrive, and inquiry based learning is a perfect solution for those who struggle with the “kill and drill” approach to learning. Mindsets serves schools and a wide spectrum of students on the learning curve – including those who struggle with Mathematics, high performing students and schools and  also schools where students are craving for more challenge in learning which is beyond the textbook.

What products/solutions are best suited for teachers/academics (schools or universities)? How will these products/solutions help educators become more effective? 

Mindsets success is rooted in our  ability to blend instruction with real-world storytelling.  The Mindsets Challenges are also flexibly designed to be used by teachers in all manner of teaching approaches.  The core setting is the classroom. The classroom may be in person or remote. The classroom may run synchronously or asynchronously. The classroom may be small groups of students with their teacher, a whole class together or students streamed in some way. Our entire platform serves teachers and classes of all types with a cutting edge curriculum to teach Mathematics and STEAM skills.

Mindsets Bundles are all inclusive plans which include student and teacher licenses, professional development and customer success,  offered at a school or at a whole of district or system level. Mindsets trained educators and experts work closely with schools to help them in implementing and integrating Mindsets into their curriculum.

How has the current pandemic affected how you operate / what have you had to change? What lessons did you learn? 

We released a new suite of products and features over the pandemic.

For teachers, one highlight is the release  of a “Teacher Mode” feature where the teacher controls the pace of students slides on a screen.  In inquiry classrooms, students would typically self manage and pace themselves. However, reality showed us that this was not going to always work for teachers in remote or hybrid classrooms.  We are proud that we are the only company in edtech which provides teachers the ability switch between teacher paced and student paced modes. This means that a teacher can kick off a class together, ensuring all students are focussing on the same content. When the teacher reaches a certain point he or she can switch the class over to student paced mode for students to work with their peers collaboratively or independently to complete the Mindsets Challenge.

For teachers and students, we are excited by the new global Open Challenges.  These are fun challenges which students can work on at home with the family in a community with students across the world. We have discovered many of our ambassador teachers using these too and recommending them to their students! The Open Challenges are now offered to schools as Summer Camps, Extended Learning, Before/After School Clubs to support learning recovery as a result of the pandemic.

For families, we have released a home edition of the Mindsets Challenges library. This means parents can support their learners stay ahead through a rigorous yet engaging inquiry based curriculum.

What do you think the top Edtech trends do you see emerging this year 

  1. Collaborative learning: Students in many countries are tired of sitting at home and attending online lessons. Most eLearning tools are targeted for individual used, are adaptive in nature and have a focus on assessment.  These products often treat students as algorithms, just a number, and isolate students into more practice , more “kill and drill” learning.  The new wave will see instructional technology in the form of collaboration and inquiry based tools and curriculum taking the lead.
  2. Use of AI: It is quite certain that AI will grow bigger in the education space. AI will be used more extensively in classrooms to assist teachers with day-to-day admin activities, grading and feedback. Students will be able to use AI for getting support when teachers are not available or for getting ongoing feedback.
  3. Wellbeing measures: we predict that well being will move from measured through surveys to be embedded and measured in the daily instructional tools and curriculum used in classrooms.
  4. More growth in eLearning - the second wave of eLearning is now just starting.  Whether teachers are teaching class or remotely, more and more tools and resources will continue to be created purposely for teaching and learning or be adapted into the process.