| Approach | Pros | Cons |
| Paper-based workbooks |
No computer necessary
|
Teacher spends hours grading papers.
Expensive
Some students will copy off of others.
You might run out of practice problems for a topic.
|
| Computerized with Printer/Scanner |
Students worksheets are personalized.
Students learn at their own pace.
The teacher does not have to grade papers.
The teacher can focus on individual students.
Generates reports on student progress.
|
Problems are multiple choice: This inadvertently encourages guessing.
Mastery of a topic is based on only a few multiple choice questions. Students can master a section without truly knowing it, especially if they guessed correctly.
Inefficient: Most students will complete less than 30 problems in 1 hour. Students have to wait in line to print and grade worksheets.
Ongoing cost in paper and ink alone is more than $30/student/yr
if used daily!
Upfront hardware cost is more than $1000 per classroom.
Substantial training (more time and money)
is required to use a system like this properly.
The teacher must file away all student packets. This takes storage space and time.
These costs don't even take into account the cost of the software itself.
Imagine installing/upgrading/maintaining this type of system with 10+ classrooms...
One hardware failure can be a catastrophe.
|
| MathScore.com |
Personalized problems adapt difficulty based on performance using a
patent-pending algorithm.
Students learn at their own pace.
No paperwork saves lots of time.
The teacher can focus on individual students.
Supplemental - Effective when used as little as
30-60 minutes per week. Therefore,
it does not interfere with a teacher's teaching style.
Instant feedback with step-by-step solution explanations.
Students typically complete hundreds of math problems in less than 30 minutes.
Students can log in from home.
Students develop pride in their accounts because they can see their own
progress.
Levels and rating systems make MathScore fun for most students.
Teachers love the color-coded analysis tools, which are great for parent/teacher conferences.
Students on MathScore very rapidly master their math facts.
Teacher training is minimal. Most schools can successfully launch
MathScore after watching our demo videos in the School Version section.
Quite affordable. Get a quote here.
Free one month trial is available with unlimited school access without
making a financial commitment. School accounts can be given for a free
trial in less than one day.
Internet-based - no installation necessary, instantly available.
No school server required. MathScore.com is professionally managed.
|
Requires Internet access
For good results, requires enough computers to allow
30 minutes of student access per week.
Requires students to learn how to type using a 10-key keypad.
|
| Educational Video Games |
Fun for students.
|
Often noisy. You should get headphones.
Learning is inefficient - lots of distractions impede learning.
The novelty of the fancy animations and graphics usually wears off after
a few sessions.
Imagine installing/upgrading/maintaining this software at a school with
more than 100 computers...
Imagine being required to insert a CD whenever you want to use certain
games...
|
