Solution: Kindergarten Readiness Assessment
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Kindergarten Entry Assessment in Maryland and OhioKindergarten Readiness Assessment (KRA)

No.Inc partnered with Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Technology in Education to plan, design, and develop the technology to support the Kindergarten Readiness Assessment for Maryland and Ohio. Administered to about 400,000 kindergarteners in multiple states, the assessment is used daily by more than 11,000 teachers and administrators. A combination of hands on mobile apps, teacher assisted activities, and observations are used to administer 50 items.

The Challenges

  • Accommodate many concurrent users; currently 11,000 users and 400,000 students
  • Rapidly implement nine cross-platform user interfaces including mobile iOS and Android
  • Decentralize data management to respect school district autonomy
  • Address wide range of audience technical familiarity
  • Support an entirely new process without precedent

Our Approach

  • Gather requirements from multiple states and create a single system
  • Pilot a prototype and collect user feedback
  • Create scalable system using the Amazon Cloud
  • Include interactive games developed for young children
  • Provide sophisticated data management tools for loading and managing data by district
  • Build a system flexible enough to adapt as the process evolves
  • Utilize the Electronic Learning Community to provide integrated professional development

The Results

  • Successful completion in multiple states in 2014 and 2015
  • Baseline results reported in each state by subgroups

 

Screenshot of KRA Screenshot of KRA Screenshot of KRA

Solution: Early Learning Assessment
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Formative Assessment for Early Care & Education in Maryland and OhioEarly Learning Assessment

No.Inc partnered with Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Technology in Education to plan, design, and develop the technology to support the statewide Early Learning Assessment in Maryland and Ohio. The formative assessment will be administered to about 1,000,000 early learners across both states and will be used daily by over 20,000 teachers and administrators. Teachers plan, score, and collect artifacts on any combination of up to 50 items in a special activity workspace built into the solution.

The Challenges

  • Collaborate with content experts, stakeholders, and decision makers
  • Accommodate many concurrent users; 120,000 users and 1,000,000 students
  • Meet special education requirements regarding Child Outcomes Summary
  • Decentralize data management to respect school district autonomy

Our Approach

  • Develop a cross-platform mobile app
  • Integrate with existing classroom process and flow using activity planner approach
  • Speed data entry using recognizable browser based spreadsheet style data entry
  • Build on platform developed for Kindergarten Readiness Assessment
  • Gather requirements from both states and create one system
  • Create scalable system using the Amazon Cloud
  • Provide sophisticated data management tools for loading and managing data by district

The Results

  • Targeted implementation in both states for 2016
  • An extremely useful and widely used tool for teachers that is useful in the classroom as well as at local and state agency levels

 

Screenshot of ELA iPad App Screenshot of ELA iPad App

Solution: Digital Portfolio
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Portfolio Based AssessmentSpecial Education Transition Portfolio

No.Inc partnered with Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Technology in Education to plan, design, and develop a portfolio system for special education students.  The Transition Portfolio is a learning tool that outlines a pathway toward the completion of student transition goals.  Students submit artifacts (media, images, written work, etc.) in response to teacher assignments, and then work on those artifacts by collecting and responding to feedback from teachers, parents, and peers.  Once the artifacts have been refined, students assemble public portfolios to share with others.

The Challenges

  • Create a flexible online space for student use and curriculum delivery
  • Accommodate students with disabilities
  • Support various curriculum and transition pathways depending on learner type
  • Provide easy-to-use interface to encourage teacher driven management

Our Approach

  • Take a universal design approach to make the system accessible by students with disabilities
  • Implement responsive design for maximum usability on mobile devices
  • Enhance student control by separating public portfolio from curricular work

The Results

  • Pilot launch fall 2015
  • Special Education Transition Portfolio system available to all Maryland transition students beginning 2016

 

Screenshot of Transition Portfolio Screenshot of Transition Portfolio Screenshot of Transition PortfolioScreenshot of Transition Portfolio

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Solution: Bone Ninja
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Orthopedic Analysis and Deformity Correction Teaching ToolBone Ninja

No.Inc partnered with Sinai Hospital and the Rubin Institute of Advanced Orthopedics to create a mobile app to train orthopedic surgeons on procedures for correcting bone deformity.

The old teaching method still uses paper cutouts, scotch tape, and pencils. Expensive desktop-only versions are not viable for learning environments or planning when the user is away from a computer.

The app, Bone Ninja, comes with several lessons that can be used to train doctors. More lessons can be added and downloaded to the app. Users can capture x-rays and other images and import them into the app. After an image is imported, a calibration tool can be used on the x-ray to ensure that bone lengths are measured accurately. It also allows doctors to learn treatment strategies by measuring angles and simulating how to correct “crooked” bones on x-rays.

The Challenges

  • Ensure accuracy
  • Build in performance and usability

Our Approach

  • Hold planning sessions with doctors and medical illustrators
  • Build upon current traditional and digital planning methods

The Results

  • Widely used by orthopedic surgeons around the world
  • Application extended to such areas as clinical evaluation of clubfoot

 

Screenshot of Bone Ninja App Bone Ninja Logo

Solution: Electronic Learning Community
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Professional Development Learning PlatformElectronic Learning Community (ELC)

No.Inc partnered with Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Technology in Education to expand and redevelop its innovative Electronic Learning Community (ELC).  Originally envisioned as a community platform for educators, the system evolved into a full Learning Management System for higher education and professional development. Instructional designers are able to create a collection of courses, interactive experiences, assessments, and resources to deliver a professional development initiative. Additionally, a public site can be created as an entry point and marketing vehicle for the program.

The Challenges

  • Design single system to support many and varied users
  • Accommodate output course websites and public facing websites
  • Authenticate with single sign-on systems including JHED (Shibboleth)

Our Approach

  • Create a flexible system that balances robust content creation tools with administrative needs

The Results

  • Tens of thousands of users have earned higher education degrees and professional development certifications

 

Screenshot of Maryland Learning Links - Powered by the ELC

 

Solution: Classroom Scenario Simulator
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Customizable Professional Development Assessment ToolCTE Classroom Scenario Simulator

No.Inc partnered with Johns Hopkins University’s Center for Technology in Education to plan, design, and develop the CTE Classroom Scenario Simulator. Teachers are trained on a variety of topics using this interactive, online tool. The tool can be easily configured by an instructional designer using photos, graphics, icons, video, and audio. Interactive, panoramic scenes make up each simulation. A user can click on hotspots to navigate from scene to scene or to view details of a scene. Users are assessed in the tool by answering multiple choice questions about the scenario they are viewing.

The Challenges

  • Provide an immersive user experience combining imagery, photos, panoramas, audio, and video created by educators
  • Capture data and score users on questions answered about the simulation
  • Measure inter-rater reliability among evaluators of classroom quality standards

Our Approach

  • Modeled after early video games based on exploration
  • Paired an assessment form with the interactive UI for capturing user input
  • Browser based, universal access

The Results

  • Professional development certifications issued for training programs

 

Screenshot of Simulator Screenshot of Simulator Screenshot of Simulator