Making Progress Visible: The Pedagogical Power of the Dots and Skills Progress Page

Every child learns at their own pace and in their own way. But understanding and supporting this growth requires a well-designed, intuitive, and meaningful tracking system. The Progress page in Dots and Skills serves exactly this purpose. It offers a clear, structured overview of a child’s development across all skill areas—combining performance data, motivational achievements, and learner choice.

At the top of the Progress page, each child sees their overall score and global percentile ranking. These metrics are based on the child’s accumulated dot scores and reflect their holistic performance within the app. The percentile indicator shows how the child compares globally, but not in a competitive way—instead, it supports growth-focused motivationrather than outcome-based comparison.

This structure relies on criterion-referenced evaluation, not norm-based grading. Children are not measured against one another, but against their own previous performance and growth. This aligns with Self-Determination Theory (Deci & Ryan, 1985), which emphasizes autonomy and intrinsic motivation over external rewards.

The result: children feel encouraged to improve themselves, not to outperform peers. The score becomes a mirror, not a scoreboard.

The “Skills by Category” section offers a detailed view of the child’s development across multiple intelligence domains—such as Creative Mind, Problem Solving, Science and Tech, Math, and more. Each skill category displays:

This feature is a direct reflection of Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences (1983), which suggests that children excel in different domains, and education should reflect this diversity. By visualizing performance per category, children and parents can identify strengths, track improvement in emerging skills, and adjust priorities accordingly.

It also empowers the child: instead of feeling “good at school” or “bad at school,” they can see exactly where they are growing—and how. Progress is leveled and cumulative, giving children a clear sense of direction and reward.

The Progress section is not only about looking back—it’s also about shaping the child’s future learning path. The “Manage Priorities” feature allows users to select which skill areas should receive more focus. This influences the frequency and type of tasks assigned by the app’s AI algorithms.

This design supports the development of learner agency—the child begins to make informed decisions about their own learning, which is a critical step toward self-regulated learning and metacognitive growth. Choosing priorities creates buy-in, and buy-in builds commitment.

Meanwhile, the “Badges Collected” section celebrates key achievements through creative, themed awards like “Artist,” “Genius,” “Champion,” or “Big Heart.” These aren’t just rewards for points; they highlight personal growth, perseverance, creativity, and kindness. This multidimensional recognition supports a values-based motivation system, helping children understand that learning is not only about performance, but also about character.

The Progress page in Dots and Skills is more than a dashboard—it’s a full-featured learning ecosystem. By combining overall tracking, category-specific insights, child-driven prioritization, and symbolic rewards, it helps children and families understand progress not just as numbers, but as a narrative of growth.

Here, every dot tells a story—of effort, curiosity, creativity, and resilience. And every badge, every level, every percentile shift reinforces the most important message: you are growing, and it matters.