At Prodigy, we believe all students should have an enjoyable learning experience. With this in mind, Prodigy Math and English have been designed to support variation among learners.
This includes features, experiences, and tools like characters and question help to support students on our platform. Check out how Prodigy can support variable learners below!
Character selection is started as soon as students get started with Prodigy. They are able to have their character reflect themselves or anyone they choose to be in-game. Selections include hair, skin and eye colors, hairstyles, name, etc. Throughout the game, students are able to update or change their character and can choose to express themselves with additional items such as outfits, shoes, accessories, hats and pets.
As students immerse themselves in their role, they not only engage more deeply in learning, but Turkle (2005) also speaks to virtual environments allowing users to experiment in safe, non-threatening environments. It allows players to explore and reflect on themselves through this play.
Prodigy Education’s mission is to help every student in the world to love learning. Therefore, every student - regardless of background, socioeconomic status, or ability - should feel safe using our platform to learn and love learning.
A study by Tukachinsky, Mastro, & Yarchi (2017) showed that a lack of representation in media can lead to negative psychological outcomes for students who are underrepresented or negatively portrayed. Therefore, within the game, students are able to encounter characters with various genders, backgrounds, and abilities that help to guide them along their adventure.
Prodigy also features characters in our math question interface that are diverse. In addition, Prodigy Education has developed a roadmap of additional characters that will be introduced over time as new features and areas of play appear in the game.
Text-to-speech features are embedded in Prodigy Math and English. Students are able to access the text-to-speech button at any time when answering a question in-game. This enables students to have the question and responses read aloud to them.
Having questions read aloud benefits reluctant readers, students with visual impairments, English Language Learners, students with IEPs, and students with some behavioral needs.
Virtual manipulatives are embedded in Prodigy Math Game via the question interface. Students can access virtual manipulatives at any time while answering math questions by selecting them from a tab on the right side of their screen. Students can choose from various options that best suit their purpose, such as counters, base-ten blocks, fraction strips, rulers, coins, etc.
Embedded within Prodigy Math and English is Prodigy’s adaptive algorithm. Prodigy's algorithm uses Placement Test results alongside students' question progress in-game to align students within their Zone of Proximal Development - moving students up to more challenging skills or reinforcing concepts within prerequisite skills along the way, as needed.
Prodigy Math Game prioritizes positive interactions with other students within the game. This includes limiting what students can say to each other to a list of pre-determined sayings or speech that students can choose from a drop-down menu in-game.
Pre-determined phrase availability helps students to build trusting relationships in-game with their peers instead of fostering a negative learning environment. Students are able to use speech bubbles to communicate with others inside the game when they are navigating around the various worlds within the platform. For more information on this feature, please see this article.
With Prodigy Math Game, students can express themselves and what they are feeling at the moment through their ability to change the facial expression of their character. Prodigy Math offers twenty different facial expressions to choose from.
References:
Tukachinsky, R., Mastro, D., & Yarchi, M. (2017). The Effect of Prime Time Television Ethnic/Racial Stereotypes on Latino and Black Americans: A Longitudinal National Level Study. Journal of Broadcasting & Electronic Media, 61(3), 538–556. https://doi.org/10.1080/08838151.2017.1344669
Turkle, S. (2005). The second self: Computers and the human spirit. MIT Press.