The Achievery, a completely free digital learning platform created by AT&T, brings together entertainment and education in a way that truly engages K-12 students and reshapes how they learn! This innovative digital space connects your students to exciting educational content through captivating stories and videos that naturally weave in meaningful learning experiences.
What It Offers
With over 1,000 videos spanning seven comprehensive subject categories—Digital Arts, Digital Literacy, Math, Science, English/Language Arts, Social Emotional Learning, and Technology/Engineering—each paired with interactive learning activities, The Achievery offers flexible resources that work seamlessly whether you’re teaching online or in the classroom. The platform is available in both English and Spanish, and you can search for resources by subject, grade, standards, activity type, and more.
Why It Stands Out
Activity types include Interactive, Instructor-Led, and Self-Paced, making this a versatile resource for whole-class instruction or personalized learning adventures. With trusted content partners like Khan Academy, Scratch, Young Storytellers, Girls Who Code, The Achievery continues to grow—regularly adding new videos and activities to ensure fresh, relevant learning experiences for every student.
Applying the Triple E Framework
The Triple E Framework, created by Dr. Liz Kolb, states that “effective technology integration begins with good instructional strategies and not fancy tools” (tripleeframework.com). Dr. Kolb wrote a book, Learning First, Technology Second (ISTE, 2017), which discusses the Triple E Framework and lays out the three main uses of technology in education: to Engage, Enhance, or Extend learning goals. We can use this framework to decipher why we use specific classroom tools. We must understand why we are using technology, not just incorporating it as a time-filler, but rather as a partner in achieving our learning goals. Here is a rubric based on the Triple E Framework you can use to evaluate whether The Achievery (or any other technology) is a good fit with your learning goals and whether you should use it in your lesson.
- Engage in learning goals: There are no advertisements to distract students’ focus from the videos and interactives. In addition, The Achievery allows students to be active rather than passive learners as the lessons provide personalized and self-paced learning (or teacher-led). Students are actively engaged rather than just reading a text or listening to a lecture. The Achievery also offers various ways to differentiate for your students’ learning needs, levels, and language.
- Enhance learning goals: The Achievery aids students in developing and understanding the content by using scaffolds. For example, each unit has several specific topics that students can explore at their own pace to gain a deeper understanding of the material. The use of technology enables students to locate topics and collections more efficiently. For example, students in a language arts class may need additional support in different areas. Students can individually view videos and interactives to learn more about areas they may struggle with, such as metaphors, central ideas, and numerous other topics. Groups of students can instantly find issues related to many areas of math content for additional support or even enrichment/advancement for students who may finish the unit work early.
- Extend learning goals: Dr. Kolb describes extended learning as an opportunity for students to learn, connect, and collaborate outside the regular school day and as a way to create a bridge between school learning and everyday life experiences. This resource would be well-suited for virtual learning days, allowing students to complete it at home. The Achievery was initially created for remote learning, but it is also beneficial in traditional brick-and-mortar classrooms. The Achievery also allows students to practice skills that they will use in their future classes, careers, and lives. Many students will search for videos on YouTube and other video sites to learn more about the content or to learn how to perform a specific skill or complete a project.
SAMR Connection
The SAMR Model, by Dr. Ruben Puentedura, suggests that technology implementation has four levels. Therefore, we can use this model as a guideline to analyze how integrating technology into our instructional plans can create an instructional shift in our lessons. Before selecting classroom technology, continually evaluate your purpose: What specific learning goal will the activity using this tool address? How does it fit your student’s needs? The Achievery is used mainly at the Substitution and Augmentation levels of SAMR. Let’s discuss why.
- Substitution: The substitution level is the most basic level of SAMR, referring to a situation where technology acts as a direct substitute without any functional improvements. The Achievery replaces traditional worksheets and texts with interactive digital activities that enhance learning through multimedia, videos, and interactives. Using technology rather than books or worksheets allows the technology to replace the papers, but the core activity remains the same.
- Augmentation: At the level of augmentation, the technology acts as a direct substitute, while also incorporating some functional improvements. The Achievery allows for instant differentiation, as students can pick different topics to explore based on their needs. Another functional improvement is the ability to play back videos for additional understanding, as well as slow the video’s pace by using the wheel icon (similar to slowing down a YouTube video).
Come back and join us for Part 2 of the Tech Tool of the Month: The Achievery, where we’ll discuss using the tool and classroom ideas. In the meantime, please let us know how you have utilized The Achievery in your educational setting in the comment section below.