iPads in the Rutgers Prep Kindergarten

RPS kindergarten students spent time this past fall working on IPads and using a new app called vBlocks to improve their mathematical skills.  The app allows them to work with patterns. 

These lessons are part of the math program at Rutgers Prep, based on educational research that shows pattern lessons build computational skills.  RPS math teacher, Dr. Kevin Merges worked with Dr. Anoop Ahluwalia of Brookdale Community College to design the program.  These apps facilitate student exploration of patterns.  vBlocks, is now available in the iTunes app store, and several other apps are in production. 

The vBlocks app was created, developed, and distributed through Walia Technologies, Dr. Anoop Ahluwalia’s company.  Ahluwalia and Merges met while studying together at Rutgers University Graduate School of Education.  The two have continued their research and collaborate on this project to build students reasoning and critical thinking skills in the early stages of education.  Kindergarten teacher Lenore Kaufman remarked, “The students are very good at creating, naming, identifying and recognizing patterns.”