Tracking Progress in Learning: Why Schools Need Their Own Garmin
I’ll confess, I’m obsessed with my Garmin. It tracks everything: steps, heart rate, VO₂ max, recovery time, and even my body battery. And I actually let it guide my day. If my body battery reads lower than my husband’s, I’ll (half-jokingly) declare that he’s the one who needs to be more attentive to the kids. When it flashes a “low stress recovery,” I take that as my cue to go easy on myself. And when I hit the magic 10 minutes of elevated heart rate (which matters far more than the mythical 10,000 steps according to Harvard Health Publishing, 2021), I get that little jolt of satisfaction that I’m on track.
Recently, I bought fitness watches (Huawei/Xiaomi) for my kids. Suddenly, my reluctant swimmers, Mr 10 and Ms 12, swam non-stop for an hour. Not because they had a newfound passion for swimming, but because the watch was counting their strokes. That tiny stream of feedback was enough to keep them going.
So here’s the question: if progress-tracking works this powerfully for fitness, why can’t schools offer the same for learning?
I don’t think this is a wild idea. I mean, come on, we now live in an era where people aren’t just bonding with machines, but romantically attached to them.
I recently learned about a groundbreaking OpenAI + MIT study that found that some heavy ChatGPT users develop emotional or “affective use,” even treating the chatbot like a friend. MIT reports this emotional dependency grows with heavy use and voice interactions (Daniel, 2025). Additionally, Elon Musk’s xAI Grok has launched flirtatious anime companions like “Ani,” and reports surfaced of people wanting to marry their AI companions (The Week, 2025).
Are you kidding me?!
If tech can hook us emotionally, or at least keep kids swimming for an hour, why can’t we design something equally powerful for learning?
What Gets Measured Gets Noticed
Here’s what I know to be true. Children are motivated when progress is visible. Research has been saying this for decades. Hattie (2009) shows that feedback is one of the most powerful influences on achievement. Amabile and Kramer (2011) call it the progress principle—those small, visible wins that keep us moving.
Imagine if your Garmin only gave you feedback once a term. Would you be motivated? Nope.
That’s how most school systems still operate.
What Would a Learning Garmin Track?
So… what if there was a Garmin for learning? A device that could show children their growth, not just once in a blue moon with a grade, but every single day.
And here’s the difference: it wouldn’t just track test scores (surely we have moved away from this). It would make progress visible across four areas:
1. Knowledge “What I Know”
Think of this like memory fitness. The Learning Garmin could:
Show recall streaks: “You remembered your times tables three days in a row.”
Give gentle forgetting alerts: “It’s been a week since you reviewed fractions—time for a refresher.”
Highlight common mix-ups: like confusing area with perimeter.
Compare confidence vs accuracy: helping kids see if they’re over- or under-confident.
2. Skills “What I Can Do”
This is about practice, effort, and performance. The Garmin could:
Track writing stamina: “You wrote for 12 minutes today, up from 8 minutes last week.”
Notice problem-solving moves: Did a child try more than one strategy before asking for help?
Count questions asked: Was it a quick “what is…” or a deeper “why/how” question?
Show discussion balance: Are all voices being heard, or just a few?
3. Understandings “What I Get”
Beyond facts and practice, learning is about connecting the dots. The Garmin could:
Highlight concept links: “You connected multiplication to area in maths.”
Spot clear explanations: when a child uses “because…” to show reasoning.
Celebrate transfer moments: like using a science idea in art or a maths strategy in history.
4. Who We Are as Learners “My Learner Profile”
And here’s the IB twist: the Garmin could spotlight the Learner Profile attributes—the human side of learning. Imagine feedback like this:
Inquirer: “You asked three ‘why’ questions in science.”
Knowledgeable: “You connected today’s history lesson to last week’s discussion in English.”
Thinker: “You tried a second method when the first didn’t work.”
Communicator: “You built on a peer’s idea during discussion.”
Principled: “You gave credit for an idea and admitted when you made a mistake.”
Open-minded: “You listened to two different viewpoints and compared them fairly.”
Caring: “You encouraged a classmate who was stuck.”
Risk-taker (Courageous): “You volunteered to present your group’s idea.”
Balanced: “You managed your time well between maths, art, and sport today.”
Reflective: “You set a goal, noticed what was working, and adjusted your approach.”
How It Could Look
On a student’s wrist, an app, or even a classroom wall, it might show tiles like this:
Today’s Streaks: “Fractions recall = 3 days in a row.”
Skill Zones: “Writing ↑, Problem-Solving →, Inquiry ↓.”
Personal Bests: “Most concept links in one lesson!”
Readiness Score: “Energy low today—start with a quick recap, not a heavy challenge.”
Learner Profile Highlight: Rotating daily: Today you were most a Risk-taker… Tomorrow you might shine as a Reflective.
Teachers could see a quick class heatmap: which attributes showed up most today (lots of Inquirers, not many Reflective). That data could shape tomorrow’s lesson: maybe add a reflection moment, or give space for quiet voices to contribute.
Counting What Really Counts
When my kids swam for an hour, it wasn’t magic. It was strokes counted. That’s it. And that visibility kept them going.
Progress fuels persistence. Data makes effort visible. Feedback drives growth.
Psychologists have been saying this all along. Amabile and Kramer (2011) show that small wins spark motivation. Deci and Ryan (2000) remind us that people thrive when they feel three key things: autonomy (the sense of choice), competence (the confidence that I can do this), and relatedness (the feeling of belonging here). Hattie (2009) shows that feedback, specific, timely, and actionable, is one of the most powerful drivers of learning.
And Daniel Pink (2009) sums it up in Drive: what really motivates us isn’t carrot-and-stick rewards, but autonomy, mastery, and purpose.
So why not track that? Questions asked, strategies tried, courage shown, reflections made.
Because, in the end, it’s not the report card that makes us grow.
It’s the nudges, the tiny wins, the recognition that progress is happening.
And perhaps when we start counting what truly matters, learning becomes unstoppable.
References
Amabile, T., & Kramer, S. (2011). The progress principle: Using small wins to ignite joy, engagement, and creativity at work. Harvard Business Review Press.
Daniel, L. (2025, April 1). ChatGPT is my friend: OpenAI and MIT study reveals who’s most vulnerable to AI attachment. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/larsdaniel/2025/04/01/chatgpt-is-my-friend-openai-and-mit-study-reveals-whos-most-vulnerable-to-ai-attachment
Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (2000). The “what” and “why” of goal pursuits: Human needs and the self-determination of behavior. Psychological Inquiry, 11(4), 227–268.
Harvard Health Publishing. (2021, June). Why the 10,000 steps goal is arbitrary—and what to do instead. Harvard Medical School. https://www.health.harvard.edu/staying-healthy/why-the-10000-steps-goal-is-arbitrary-and-what-to-do-instead
Hattie, J. (2009). Visible learning: A synthesis of over 800 meta-analyses relating to achievement. Routledge.
International Baccalaureate Organization. (2013). IB learner profile. IBO.
Pink, D. H. (2009). Drive: The surprising truth about what motivates us. Riverhead Books.
The Week. (2025, February 17). Would you marry an AI? Gen Z is saying yes. The Week. https://theweek.com/tech/ai-lovers-replacing-humans