TextSurfer

TextSurfer, brought to you by Data Driven Innovation, leverages the time students spend Internet
surfing, instead of reading. The app comes pre-loaded with a list of SAT-level words. The app also
allows a teacher of any age group or class to load onto the students’ computers a database of “target
words.” The teacher may also suggest a list of websites for students to surf that include material that
is pertinent to the topic being taught (or pick from a list of web-sites related to the topic). Optionally,
the teacher may also access a data base of cartoons, sample sentence usage, pop-up questions or
other supplementary material related to those words.
When one of these target words (e.g., ‘domicile’) or its simpler synonym (e.g., ‘home,’ ‘residence’
or ‘digs’) appears on the computer monitor in the course of a student’s Internet usage, the program
highlights that word, alerting the student to its special status as “must-know.” When the student
places her cursor on the word, the definition and related material for that word becomes immediately
available.
Learning is integrated into the textual context. Feedback will be given to students and teachers,
periodically. Once a word is encountered the word can be repeated via multiple exposures arranged
according to a schedule chosen by the teacher and/or student. Teachers will be able to access the
class’s collective (or individual) data for dynamic lesson planning and assessment.