Rosati-Kain High School
4389 Lindell Boulevard
St. Louis, MO 63108
Phone: (314) 533-8513
Fax: (314) 533-1618
Academics
Virtual Nerd Pilot at Rosati-Kain
This December, R-K freshmen had the opportunity to work with the pilot program for Virtual Nerd for schools. The program ran November 30 through December 31 and provided students the opportunity to use Virtual Nerd to help study for semester exams. Virtual Nerd offers interactive Algebra and Physics tutorials designed for high school students, and topics are accessed by keyword search, a subject index, and equation type.
Through interactive, online tutorials, Virtual Nerd provides assistance for students who are struggling with Algebra and Physics concepts and equations. This format enables students to work through understanding concepts at their own pace. As students interact with the website, Virtual Nerd compiles the data to track both individual and collective learning trends. R-K instructors will also have the option of creating an exam review packet, from which Virtual Nerd creates a specialized search interface to help students find tutorials related to each question in the review packet.
Virtual Nerd was developed by Leo Shmuylovich and Josh Salcman, and was awarded the 2008 Olin Cup by the Olin Business School and the Skandalaris Center for Entrepreneurial Studies at Washington University. As this year's winner, Virtual Nerd was offered $70,000 in start-up capital for its entrepreneurial concept. Virtual Nerd was chosen over 38 entrants by a team of 27 judges through a series of business planning challenges.
"Virtual Nerd gives students a new option when they need help," said co-founder Salcman. "For a fraction of the cost of private tutoring, students have access to hundreds of interactive step-by-step video tutorials that match up with the practice problems in their textbook. Our system anticipates students' questions, so they can easily drill down to related tutorials if they get confused."
Virtual Nerd was created by expert tutor Leo Shmuylovich and designer Josh Salcman. The idea for an interactive, multi-media tutorial website to help students in math and science came to sixth year MD/PhD WashU student Shmuylovich while he was tutoring students one-on-one.
Shmuylovich wanted to be able to offer more students the advantage of tutoring by making it more affordable. With his business partner Salcman, the two created the interactive site that tracks students' questions and progress and can be shared with parents and teachers to improve the learning process.
Salcman adds that Virtual Nerd's patent-pending system has several critical innovations that set it apart from other tutorials including an interactive system that allows students to ask questions as they go, without losing their focus; built-in reporting features so that parents and teachers can stay involved, plus anytime, anywhere convenience.
Virtual Nerd tested its concept at Chaminade Preparatory School in St. Louis earlier this year with much success. Ninth-grade students had access to a beta version of the site for three weeks leading up to a final exam in physics. Students used the site often, including a dramatic spike in usage in the days right before their exam, and a post-pilot survey found that 90% of the students said they would recommend Virtual Nerd to a friend and over 70% of the students indicated they thought Virtual Nerd would be just as effective and more convenient than working with a private tutor.
Chaminade physics teacher Sudesh Shah, whose ninth-grade Physics class was part of the pilot program, said the Virtual Nerd tutoring system was helpful for students: "I was amazed to see how a large number of my students used the Virtual Nerd website to their benefit. I was also glad that we pioneered this great program, and I would encourage all students to use it." One of the students who participated in the program wrote, "I could see this as a HUGE breakthrough for future students and classes."
As a college preparatory school, Rosati-Kain seeks out innovative ways to incorporate technology into the learning process to better prepare students for postsecondary studies. Working with a program like Virtual Nerd helps individual students learn to work with the opportunities provided by interactive, online tutorials and study guides.
"This is an exciting project, and we're pleased to be able to participate in the pilot," states Judy Mohan, principal. "At R-K, we're committed to challenging and supporting our students. We're looking forward to using this as a support tool for our instructors, particularily during the end-of semester exams."
Once the pilot program is complete, Virtual Nerd will work with Rosati-Kain to analyze participation data, collect faculty and student feedback and continue improving the Virtual Nerd for Schools program.
For more information, reviews, and links, check out the Virtual Nerd website.