Learner Apps Try Darnell's app

For adult educators

Five answers about a learner. One app made just for them.

No code, no learner logins, nothing to install. Tested and answer-checked before your learner ever sees it.

Try Darnell's app
See it for
Darnell is invented, but you know him.Ready when you are.

Who it's for

Built for adult learners.

Most AI tools for teachers are made for children's classrooms. This one is made for yours: grown-ups studying around shifts, kids and bus rides, often coming back to school with a lot riding on it.

  • GED prep

    Math and reading practice set in their own world: a kitchen, a warehouse floor, a care visit.

  • High-school diploma

    Practice on the exact skill they keep missing, at their own pace, on their own phone.

  • ESL

    Plain wording, read-aloud on every screen, and English, Spanish or both, with a one-tap switch.

  • Workforce

    Built around the job they have now, or the one they want next.

Three learners you'll meet on this page

  • Darnell, 34Line cook in Federal Hill. Working toward his GED; fractions are his wall.
  • Keisha, 41Home health aide. Working toward her diploma; medication labels are her wall.
  • Marisol
    Marisol, 36Front desk at a family auto shop in Highlandtown. Spanish first. GED math; percentages on invoices are her wall.

All three are invented, but you know all three.

It talks to learners as adults. Never childish, never shaming, never on a clock.

How it works

Every app starts with a SPARK.

You answer five plain questions about one learner. No prompts to write, no settings to learn. Here they are for Darnell, who is invented, but you know him.

  1. S · Student

    Who are they, and where does their day go?

    A first name, their work, when and where they study.

    For DarnellDarnell, 34. Line cook in Federal Hill. Studies on his phone, on the bus.

  2. P · Purpose

    What are they working toward?

    GED math, a reading level, a certificate, a better job.

    For DarnellHis GED. The math test is the one thing standing in his way.

  3. A · Area of struggle

    What's the one thing they keep missing?

    The wall they hit every time. You already know it.

    For DarnellFractions and word problems. Freezes when a timer starts.

  4. R · Real-life interests

    What do they love?

    Their job, their team, their music, their family. The app is built out of it.

    For DarnellThe Ravens. His kitchen: crab cakes, Old Bay, batch sizes.

  5. K · Keep and avoid

    How do they learn best, and what should it never do?

    Short or long, pictures or words, and anything that shuts them down.

    For DarnellShort bursts, real examples, hints that explain why. Never timers or red X's.

Five answers in. An app made for Darnell comes out.

The engine plans it, builds it, tests it and checks every answer. You open it on your phone, try it as your learner, then share it with a link or a QR code.

Teaching a whole class? Answer the same five about the room instead, and get one practice app with levels for everyone, shared with one QR code.

The teaching model

How every app teaches.

Every app follows the same five beats, built on established research about how adults learn.

  1. WorkedHalfYours ?

    1Teach

    Show one, then fade it.

    It opens with why this skill matters for their goal, then works one example in their world. The help fades as they get it.

  2. 1¼ tsp 1½ tsp ⅜ tsp

    2Practice

    Pull it from memory.

    Every screen asks them to do something. Wrong choices are built from real, common mistakes, so a miss tells you something.

  3. TodayLaterNext time ¾+¾ ¾+¾ ¾+¾

    3Reinforce

    Bring it back later.

    Anything missed comes back later in the session and again next time. Once two skills are taught, they get mixed, the way a real test mixes them.

  4. FractionsSolid Word problemsGetting there

    4Measure

    Against their own past.

    Getting started, getting there, solid. No percentages, grades or leaderboards. A skill counts as solid when it holds up on another day.

  5. 5Clarity

    One idea per screen.

    No clock on the math. Any screen can be read aloud or simplified, and the learner can always flag it, skip it or stop.

It doesn't just quiz Darnell. It teaches him.

In every app

Always on, in every app.

You don't switch these on. Every app the engine builds has them.

  • Saved progress + a resume code

    Refresh-proof. A short code picks up where they left off, on another device.

  • Simplify this

    Rewords the screen to a 5th-grade reading level. Same meaning, plainer words.

  • Read it to me

    One tap, and the screen is read aloud.

  • Picture it

    See the question as a picture: fraction bars, number lines, the line on the label.

  • Hints that explain why

    A hint, a bigger hint, then "show me how." Always with the reason.

  • Flag and come back

    Mark a question, keep going, and find it again in one list.

  • Kind feedback

    No red X's, no shaming scores. It talks about the work, never the person.

  • Works on an old phone

    Big tap targets, readable type, and light enough for a weak signal.

  • A checked answer key

    Every answer is checked before a learner ever sees the app.

Before you share

The Learner Test.

Before you publish, walk through the app as your learner would. Seven checks.

  1. Open it on your phone, as your learner.
  2. Answer two right and two wrong.Are the hints helpful? Is the feedback kind?
  3. Check three answers yourself.
  4. Tap Simplify and Read it to me.
  5. Refresh halfway through.Did it remember where you were?
  6. Flag one question and find it again.
  7. Ask yourself: would anything here frustrate them?

Then share it with one learner first.

The tech should never be the hard part.

If they struggle, it should be with fractions, not with the app.

Privacy

Privacy, plainly.

  • A first name only, or an invented one.
  • Never last names, phone numbers, addresses, birthdates or ID numbers.
  • Learners never sign in, so we never hold learner data.

For centers

Bring it to your whole team.

One place for every instructor at your center to build for their own learners.

  • Team seats

    Every instructor gets a seat. Everyone builds for their own learners, under one account.

  • A director dashboard

    See what your team has built, and where learners get stuck, without a single learner's name.

  • Your own address

    Apps live at yourcenter.learnerapps.org, so every link and QR code looks like your own.

Bring it to your center

Start with one learner.

Five answers. One app. On any phone.