Progress Tracking Made Simple: Wavio Pulse in the Modern Classroom
Welcome to the Modern Classrooms Project Podcast. Each week we bring you discussions with educators on how they use blended, self-paced, and mastery-based learning to better serve their learners. In this episode, guest host Aimee Yocom welcomes Dana Kravchick from Wavio, a platform designed to support self-paced, mastery-based learning.
Dana, a former neuroscientist, was inspired by her children's experience at Khan Lab School and aims to bring the "magical feeling" of independent learning to all classrooms. She shared more about a new tool for teachers call Wavio Pulse. This virtual progress tracker, developed in partnership with Modern Classroom educators, provides teachers with data visualizations and students with a clear path to track their progress, fostering a sense of accomplishment.
Here are three key takeaways from this podcast episode:
Wavio Pulse is a progress tracker designed specifically for self-paced, mastery-based learning environments. Aimee says the tool "is so sustainable, it is so easy to use, so user-friendly, and Wavio completely adapted to what our needs were and made it happen.”
The platform aims to enhance teacher efficiency in tracking student progress and empower students with a clear understanding of their learning journey. Students enjoy the "sense of accomplishment when they check off things."
Teacher and student feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, emphasizing ease of use and the motivational aspect of visualizing progress. As one teacher noted, it allowed them, "for the first time in a very long time, I could take a personal day and not worry about leaving my kids with some fluff."
Discussion questions for PLC and PD:
Empowering Student Agency: The podcast episode highlights how Wavio aims to give students a greater sense of control and visibility over their learning progress. In what ways do you currently foster student agency in tracking their learning, and what potential benefits or challenges do you see in utilizing a platform like Wavio to further enhance this?
Teacher Workflow and Sustainability: Teacher users emphasized Wavio's ease of use and its contribution to a more sustainable teaching practice. How does your current method of tracking student progress impact your workload and planning? What features in a progress tracking tool would be most beneficial in streamlining your workflow and promoting sustainability in your teaching?
Scaling Modern Classroom Practices: Dana's motivation for developing Wavio stems from a desire to see self-paced, mastery-based learning adopted more widely. What are some of the biggest barriers you see to implementing or scaling Modern Classroom practices in your context, and how might tools like progress trackers help or hinder these efforts?
Our Host
Aimee Yocom is an 8th grade US History teacher in Antelope, California. She has been using Modern Classrooms Project in her classroom since 2021. She has been a DMCE and Mentor since 2022.
Our Guest: Dana Kravchick
Dana holds a doctoral degree in Neuroscience and is deeply interested in student learning. She was previously a scientist at Bristol-Myers Squibb and SanBio, as well as a Research Fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Over the past three years, she has transitioned from her full-time role as a Neuroscientist in biotech to pursue her passion for education as a founder and CEO.
As the founder of Wavio, an edtech company, her team developed software to make mastery-based learning sustainable and scalable for teachers globally. Most recently, they partnered with Modern Classrooms Project to build Wavio Pulse - an innovative progress tracker to help educators implement and track students' progress.
She firmly believes in the boundless potential of every individual to shape a better world. It is her dream to enhance students' agency by providing students, teachers and families with the best tools available. With a relentless commitment to creating a brighter future, she is committed to equipping educators with the resources they need to unlock their students' potential.
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