Every day, students around the world log in to a Learning Management System (LMS) to find out what school work they need to complete, when it is due, and what grade they received on their assignments and tests. The system was designed so that students could check the status of their homework at any time; and so teachers could send graded work back to the students in a digital, always-accessible format.
Put another way, modern Learning Management Systems focus on the “management” of curriculum– which certainly is a valuable service. However, the current selection of LMS solutions do very little to help the students with “learning”.
This seems like a missed opportunity. Given that students utilize their LMS to figure out what work needs to be done and by when, why can’t that same system be used to scaffold development of the essential skills required to be successful in school?
This was exactly the opportunity that Ella’s founders came together to address. They theorized that the best way to help students build their executive functioning skills was to build a new kind of Learning Management System that trains students to develop the skills needed to succeed in school and in life, including:
- Planning and prioritizing their study time and personal time;
- Completing their work based on a schedule;
- Staying focused on achieving goals;
- Avoiding distractions while working on schoolwork;
- Breaking down large projects into smaller tasks and scheduling them over multiple days;
- Setting goals to improve their grades and then identifying opportunities to complete late work, to redo work when allowed, and to take advantage of extra credit assignments.
Conclusion
To reiterate, Ella Learning believes that:
- There is an urgent need for a product or service that can help students with their executive functioning.
- By reimagining the role and functionality of a Learning Management System, Ella can train and scaffold students as they are developing their EFS.
- Improving EFS is likely to improve academic performance and hone the skills necessary to thrive in today’s information economy.
Ella Learn