Top Tips – Getting the Best Out of Your Learning Journey

Outnumber embraces mistakes as part of the learning process, encouraging children to learn from their errors and take charge of their own learning journey. We want children to feel empowered and confident in their abilities. With this in mind, we’ve put together a helpful guide to getting the most out of Outnumber, to maximise success and minimise frustrations. We’ve gathered this information from early adopters and focus groups, so you can be sure our advice is tried and tested. We’ve structured this via key questions posed by our initial testers. We hope it helps!

1. Which level should I start with?

The first port of call for assessing which level to begin with is our starting guide below. This will help give you a rough gauge of where you (or your child!) are currently working at, based on your age and typical school year. Once you have an idea of what level to start with, head to ‘Lessons’. From here, scan through the learning outcomes available to you to get an idea of what this level expects of you. We always recommend starting on the first unit, as each lesson is progressive, building on the learnings from the previous one. You may find, based on your knowledge, you can move through initial lessons quickly. If you find a particular level too challenging, you can return to a previous level and solidify your understanding before moving on.

2. How do I track progress?

All our lessons are colour-coded to track progress. You can view recommendations for follow-up from our ‘feedback’ engine, which automatically provides updates on your progress after each completed lesson. Every learner is different. You may find some lessons more challenging than others. Persevere! You have the opportunity to return to lessons as many times as you need to to feel confident in your new skills.

3. What if I get stuck?

Getting stuck is part of your learning journey - at Outnumber we embrace mistakes! If you’re confused or unsure about a particular problem, we always advise writing down the information you do know and understand, first. For example, a longer division problem might be straightforward for you up to a particular point, at which you lose your way a little. Work out exactly where you’ve got stuck by writing down what you do know. Reach out to an adult you know and explain where you’ve got to, and what you need help with. This process supports your own learning, and is as useful for your brain as finding the solution itself! If you’re stuck on a multiple choice problem, we also have some helpful hints and tips within the lessons, so take a look at those too.

4. What tools are available to support me with solving problems?

Alongside our set lessons, we also provide you with interactive tools to support your learning. The app frequently provides hints on how to approach a problem and detailed explanations on how to solve a problem. Sometimes you will see examples at the beginning of a lesson. Read the examples and explanations as many times as you need to before answering the questions. You could even work through the examples yourself and see if you get the same answer as the one given. If not, look back to see where you went wrong.

5. How can I review the previous lessons?

Once you’ve finished a level or made significant progress, you can use Onyx to review the previous lessons you’ve completed. Onyx will give you an overview of your progress by picking a few questions from each unit to quiz you on your overall knowledge. If you get them right, you’ll be prompted to move onto the next unit. If you found it tricky, it would be worth reviewing earlier materials from previous units.

6. Can I see the materials in my first language which is not English?

We want to support learners with English as a second language, and our long-term ambition is to make the app available in multiple languages. At this early stage of development, we’ve provided translations for the main problem statements. To access these, head to settings, and select your target language to activate translation options. Please note that while our early adopters found this feature to be a great help, it’s still in beta - so translations are not guaranteed to be 100% accurate.

7. How can I overcome my fear of making mistakes?

We love mistakes - so please don’t worry! By analysing your mistakes, you become a better learner. Making errors, unpicking them and learning from them is one of the best ways to solidify your learning, and it’s the normal process by which humans grow.

Outnumber helps develop flexible learners and non-linear thinkers. With Outnumber children can have easy-to-follow learning roadmaps, user-friendly progress trackers and interactive microlessons that provide instant feedback, making learning more engaging.