It’s evident that everyone in the tech world is obsessed with data: it is the fuel behind the ad you just saw and the email you just received. It’s how Facebook knows who your friends might be or how Amazon knows the shampoo you like. It can be creepy, but data is powerful.

In Part 1 of our two-part series on BenchPrep’s adaptive learning technology, I explained how we rank our content based on importance and difficulty using the data we collect using a process we call Learning Engine Optimization (LEO).

About 10 years ago, there was an educational program called “Fizz and Martina’s Math Adventures” shown in many elementary schools. The show followed Fizz (who resembles an alien) and Martina (an ant) through four engaging adventures. Students worked in collaborative groups to solve the problems posed throughout the show. Rather than just write down answers, students were forced to actually explain the reasoning behind their solutions. If they did well enough, teams could earn “award cards” with pictures of the characters on them. And let me tell you, students loved it. In fact, they loved it so much that you’d often hear students asking their teachers to stay in for recess so they could keep playing. Now that’s what we'd call innovative education.