Welcome to the Karel assessment application! 'Karel', a turtle-shaped robotic agent, needs help to navigate this grid-like ‘world’ and complete a few missions. To ensure Karel can achieve its goals, students will learn and apply computational problem-solving concepts and skills in a simple, accessible block-based programming environment.

Karel the Turtle

PILA | Karel the turtle

Students learn and demonstrate computational problem solving skills by building computational solutions that achieve specific goals and self-regulated learning skills by accessing and using automated feedback and information found in learning resources.

While we work on Betty's Brain, you can...

Help Betty do well on her test! Learn about complex phenomena, uncover and graphically represent the interaction among different variables and teach Betty about it all.

Betty's Brain

Students develop the ability to reason about causal relationships, learn about scientific topics and apply self-regulated learning strategies.

Students learn and demonstrate causal reasoning skills by reading about complex phenomena and mapping how concepts are causally linked and self-regulated learning skills by accessing and using feedback thanks to Betty taking quizzes or in conversations with virtual agents. 

Students learn and demonstrate 1) computational problem solving skills by using an event-based visual programming language to build solutions to increasingly complex problems, 2) creative thinking skills by developing novel and creative ways of designing a playable game, and 3) self-regulated learning skills by accessing and using hints and automated feedback to develop productive strategies for regulating their own learning in open problems.

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PILA is a not-for-profit, international initiative that provides research-based learning experiences of 21st-century skills that embed next-generation assessment. Serving educators and researchers alike, PILA offers customisable learning and assessment material and gathers valuable data to report on what students know and how they learn.

Continuous Learning & Assessment

PILA is a not-for-profit, international initiative that provides research-based learning experiences that embed next-generation assessment. Serving educators, students and researchers alike, PILA gathers valuable data to report on what students know, what they can do and how they learn.

The OECD Platform for Innovative Learning Assessments (PILA)

Free, research-based tools for learning and assessment

Platform for Innovative Learning Assessments (PILA)

Free, open-source learning and assessment tools that foster 21st Century skills

Gautam Biswas

Jérôme Brender

Engin Bumbacher

Grayson Cordell

Richard Lee Davis

Jason Ford

Stéphane Magnenat

Matthew McClain

David Moores

Fonzy Nils

Bonaventura Pacileo

Marian Rushdy

Hannes Sommer

David Weintrop

Celestine Akpanoko

Mario Piacentini

Emma Linsenmayer

Marta Cignetti

Sruthi Ranjani Vinjamuri

Alexandra Selee

Anna Becker

PILA is a not-for-profit initiative that provides free, open-source assessment tools for use in the classroom and is managed by the PISA innovative assessments team in the Directorate for Education and Skills at the OECD in collaboration with Know Learning. Teacher-focused and research-based, PILA aims at innovating assessment and teaching of 21st century competence and at contributing to a more joyous EdTech development.

About PILA

Supporting the use of technology-enhanced learning assessments in the classroom

With the goal of contributing to EdTech and education-related research, PILA commits to making the codes it uses publicly available and to the data it collects fully accessible in an anonymized form. If you are a developer or a researcher, we invite you to join PILA!

PILA for Research

Empowering research and EdTech development

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What skills are taught and assessed in Betty's Brain?

In this application, students teach a virtual agent, Betty, about complex phenomena by using resources and causal mapping tools.

In this application, students adopt a teaching role to help a virtual agent, Betty, learn about a complex phenomenon, such as climate change and thermoregulation. Students read about cause-and-effect relationships in a resource book and build a causal map to represent how different variables are related. Students receive feedback on their progress by asking Betty to take quizzes and chatting with the mentor agent, Mr. Davis. 

The Betty's Brain application aims to develop and assess students' causal reasoning, systems thinking and self-regulated learning skills. Students create a causal map based on learning resources to teach a virtual agent, Betty, about complex phenomena.

Betty's Brain Application

BettysBrain_AppGuide_Part I.pptx

What skills are taught and assessed in Karel the Turtle?

In this application, students program instructions to help a robotic turtle to navigate and complete tasks in a grid-like world. 

In this application, students are asked to build programs to instruct a robotic turtle, Karel, to navigate and complete tasks in a grid-like world. Within the block-based programming environment, students can iteratively build solutions, test them and receive automated feedback. Covering a wide range of complexity, Karel the Turtle tasks can challenge students at every level of ability!

The Karel the Turtle application aims to develop and assess students' computational problem solving and self-regulated learning skills. Students are asked to build programs to instruct a robotic turtle, Karel, to navigate and complete tasks in a grid-like world.

Karel the Turtle Application

KareltheTurtle_AppGuide_Part I.pptx

What skills are taught and assessed in the Game Creator by Cand.li?

In this application, students program game elements and design environments to create video games.

Interested in using the Game Creator by Cand.li?

In this application, students learn to design, program and test games. Using an event-based programming environment, students can make game elements come to life, create complex game behaviours and receive automated feedback. They must also design the game "world" by combining and placing sprites (e.g. platform, tree) in an open environment. The Game Creator gives students the opportunity to create video games rather than just play them for a change!

The Game Creator powered by Cand.li application aims to develop and assess students' computational problem solving, creative thinking and self-regulated learning skills. Students create video games by designing environments and programming each element.

Game Creator powered by Cand.li

Game Creator by Candli_AppGuide_Part I.pptx

PILA publication_Final.pdf

Read the new OECD publication on supporting teachers to use digital tools for developing and assessing 21st century competences. 

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Contents

Explore the PILA platform

Contents

Explore the PILA platform

Contents

Explore the PILA platform

Find out more about our privacy commitments

Find out more about our privacy commitments

Find out more about our privacy commitments