Early Years Education

Tracking one's own progress makes learning visible. A special task in early education is to establish the foundation for students' positive perception of themselves as learners and school students, as well as to develop skills for later work and learning. Already in the first grades, students are guided to collaborate, be independent, and take responsibility for school tasks. Careful monitoring of each student's progress is especially important at the beginning of basic education to ensure that students have the necessary conditions to progress in their studies.

The goal of student assessment is to guide and encourage learning, as well as to describe how well the student has achieved the goals set for growth and learning. The purpose of assessment is to help the student form a realistic picture of their learning and development, thus supporting the growth of their personality. Assessment guides learning, so it should be integrated into the learning process.

Formative assessment, also known as assessment for learning, guides and supports student learning. Assessment encourages students to experiment, correct, and continue their activities based on the feedback they receive, for example, from self-assessment. Self-assessment helps students see and understand their own actions. Teachers also gain valuable information about the student's own experience of the learning process through self-assessments. Learning involves lasting changes in thinking and behavior, and these are made visible through assessment.

The trajectory of the "parrot's flight" and the joyful celebration upon reaching a goal can be a significant milestone on the journey of growing up as a student. As the carriages of the assessment train fill up, the student experiences feelings of success. At the same time, they know what they are supposed to learn next. When browsing through the diary, it is possible to notice interesting things that have been learned during the journey of growing up as a student. Often, students eagerly browse through entries from previous months.

Qridi is highly regarded as a learning and assessment platform among preschool and primary school teachers. It makes the learning process visible to all parties involved and facilitates giving feedback. Each learner knows the learning objectives and their progress towards them.

In Qridi, there are several features that support the needs of early years education. As a teacher, you can choose the most suitable ones for your use or even utilize all of them!

The strength of the Journal lies in the fact that literacy skills are not needed to use it. Instructions can be provided through audio clips, images, and videos. Even preschoolers and early elementary school students can learn to record audio, images, and videos in the Journal. Often, the work of young students is stored in a growth folder, which is eventually taken home at some point. Recording moments in the Journal is easily done throughout the year, and parents can follow their child's recordings as they accumulate.

The Journal feature allows the child to participate in recording their own moments. They can capture shapes from their surroundings, record sounds, and capture videos of processes such as freezing ice crystals. When practicing emotional skills, they can act out emotions like sadness, anger, or happiness on camera. Similarly, they can capture images of seasonal changes during nature walks or traffic signs in the local area.

With the Assessment feature, the basics of self-assessment skills can be practiced. By incorporating a picture into the assessment, even young learners can respond using a developing scale, such as a parrot scale, to express their own experience, for example, how difficult preschool tasks felt or if they remember to include everyone in games. Assessments can draw attention to important themes in growing up as a school student.

The goal of the "Assessment Train" is to make the learning process visible, concrete, and easily trackable, regardless of learners' knowledge and skill levels. With the implementation of the Assessment Train, the student practices learning how to learn, planning their own learning, setting goals, and self-assessment during the learning process with the support of the teacher. Additionally, the aim is to facilitate the transfer of knowledge and transition periods when moving from preschool to the first grade and progressing from the second grade to the third grade.

The Assessment Train is designed for use in preschool and early primary education. The graphical environment and user interface of the Assessment Train are created to be motivating, appealing, and suitable for the child's age and developmental level. The student does not need to know how to read to use the Assessment Train.

The idea of the Assessment Trains adheres to principles regarding student centred education in the Finnish curriculum. The learning paths are divided into clear learning objectives and placed in separate "carriages" of the train. Qridi Library offer ready made Assessment train templates for the most important skills and knowledge of early years education. Subject matter experts have assisted in breaking down, grouping, and arranging the content into these carriages. Teachers/schools/school chains can also create their own trains..

Each train consists of several carriages. Each carriage contains a description of skills for the student. For example, in the Math train, the first carriages might be "I can classify," "I can compare," and "I can sequence and order."

The student can together with the teacher assess their own skills in relation to the skills goal of each carriage. Typically, skills are assessed a few times per semester. It's possible to document the student's skills for each carriage in a clear way using video, pictures, audio recordings, and text. The documentation can be done by the student themselves or by the teacher.

The student's practice, goal-setting, and progress in their studies can be monitored by all those involved in the learning process: the teacher, parents, and the student themselves. A real-time picture of the students' progress is available to the teacher, parents, and students. The student has the opportunity to receive encouraging feedback from both parents and teachers during the learning process.

The color codes in the teacher's interface represent different levels of proficiency. The entire learning process of the class becomes visible to both the teacher and the student.

The Assessment Train is particularly useful in flexible early childhood and primary education, and in classrooms where individualized learning paths are enabled for students. It is also well-suited for supporting students who require additional support in personalized learning paths, both in terms of upward and downward differentiation. The Assessment Train also serves assessment discussions very effectively. For example, it helps parents understand the objectives and content of the curriculum better than before. The Assessment Train is not tied to any specific textbook, making it easy to use with both traditional teacher-led styles and individualized teaching methods.

The teacher can assign simple test-like exercises to students by creating the exercises themselves or using ready-made ones. Depending on the teacher's choice, students can respond to the exercises once or multiple times within the validity period. Images can also be added to the questions. Teachers, students, and guardians receive information about the student's performance. The exercises are mostly self-correcting, saving time and effort for the teacher. Qridi's Library contains plenty of ready-made exercises for primary education.

The teacher can create individual or class-wide goals for students. Students can set personal goals for themselves. Students can assess their own progress towards these goals. Teachers can monitor the progress of students. The goal feature is very useful in discussions between the student, parent, and teacher. It is particularly used in assessment discussions.

Oppilaat voivat kirjautua Qridiin kätevästi QR-koodilla. Yleensä oppilaat käyttävät Qridiä tablet-laitteilla tai puhelimilla.

Oppilaiden tunnukset saa tulostettua opettajan käyttöliittymän takaa. Usein nämä löytyvät laminoituna oppilaan lokerosta tai vihkon välistä. QR-koodi vähentää kirjautumiseen kuluvaa aikaa merkittävästi.

"Qridi on selkeä ja oppilasta innostava oppimisympäristö."
- Alakoulun opettaja

"Qridin ulkoasu ja toiminnot hyvät 1-2 luokille, joiden kanssa olen Qridiä käyttänyt."
- Luokanopettaja

"Qridissä hyvää on lapsiystävällisyys, selkeys, tukee aidosti koulutyötä eikä ole vain jotain "extraa"."
- Alakoulun opettaja