This is School

This is School is an interactive video platform that shows potential for effective learning through peer-led instruction, though it is still pending a full evaluation by The Learning Standard. The platform replaces traditional teacher-led lectures with unscripted videos of students explaining concepts in subjects like science, geography, and languages. This approach grounds the material in social learning theory, as middle and high school students often engage more deeply with peer modeling. For your child, this means they will watch relatable videos and answer interactive assessment questions designed to verify their understanding. The integration of questions directly into the video flow forces retrieval practice, requiring your child to actively recall information rather than passively watch a screen. However, parents should monitor how their child interacts with the gamified elements of the platform. Often, points and leaderboards encourage rushing through material rather than focusing on mastery. Because this tool is primarily sold directly to schools at $6 per student, you will likely encounter it as a required classroom supplement rather than a standalone app you purchase for home use.

This is School uses a mastery-based progression model built around interactive multimedia instruction. The platform presents students with short, unscripted videos of their peers explaining academic concepts in STEM, humanities, and languages. During and after these videos, the system pauses to administer interactive assessments that test immediate comprehension. This forces active processing of the material, a core requirement of effective multimedia learning. If a student answers incorrectly, the platform uses personalized learning algorithms to adjust the difficulty and provide targeted practice until competency is achieved. Gamification elements, such as earning points for correct answers, are layered over the core curriculum to drive sustained engagement. By integrating assessment directly into the instructional delivery, the platform prevents students from passively skimming the content and ensures they achieve a baseline level of understanding before moving on to more complex topics.

The biggest strength of This is School is its use of peer modeling to deliver content, while its biggest weakness is the potential for gamification to overshadow deep cognitive processing. Peer-led video instruction capitalizes on social cognitive theory, making complex subjects like physics and foreign languages more approachable for adolescents. When students see peers explaining concepts, it builds self-efficacy and reduces the perceived difficulty of the material. Additionally, the platform employs embedded retrieval practice by inserting assessment questions directly into the video flow. This interrupts the forgetting curve and forces learners to recall information immediately. On the downside, the platform relies heavily on gamified reward systems to maintain engagement. Learning science shows that extrinsic motivators like points and badges can sometimes decrease intrinsic motivation and encourage students to guess answers rapidly just to earn rewards. Furthermore, because the platform attempts to cover a massive range of subjects from ESL to biology, the depth of personalized feedback may vary significantly between disciplines. The Learning Standard is currently evaluating whether the corrective feedback provided is robust enough to correct deep-seated misconceptions.

This is School is best for middle and high school students who struggle with traditional teacher-led lectures and benefit from peer-to-peer explanations. Because it targets grades 6 through 12, the content is specifically tailored to adolescent social dynamics and cognitive development. It is an excellent fit for classrooms implementing flipped learning models, where students consume instructional videos independently and use class time for application. Parents will find it most useful as a school-provided intervention for students who need multimedia engagement and frequent, low-stakes testing to retain complex information.