DeltaMath and DESMOS are the ONLY *MUST-HAVE* technologies for Algebra-Calculus!
Community Review for DeltaMath
My Take
DeltaMath and DESMOS are the ONLY technologies that would leave me with no equally effective alternative if they disappeared. The operative term is equally effective. Students - many of them - request that I use it.
DeltaMath FREE version is a game changer. DeltaMath paid version ($95/year)adds videos and some fine-tuning of assignments and creating your own questions. You can implement this in class in 5 minutes by signing up and picking a question and creating a class, then hitting assign. Then you can review student work AS IT HAPPENS with the group... so they actually raise their hand to ask for help!! So cool and useful.
Every teacher will find SOMETHING they don't like. For me, it's a few questions that are a bit arcane or poorly expressed IMO, but I skip those. 95% of what I need is there and well-explained... and more are coming every month.
How I Use It
Look, your review missed some POWERFUL and aspects of DeltaMath and DeltaMath Plus. Here is verbatim (with privacy excisions) what I sent to my principal in my request for funding.
Here’s why I use DeltaMath:
1) randomized problem banks for every common core standard k-12,
2) excellent problems that require attention to detail,
3) fully worked solutions to *every* problem,
4) timed drill problems for multiplication tables, algebra 1 skills like completing the square, etc.,
5) highly customizable grading schemes that encourage students to keep trying,
6) it lets me see every attempt at every problem in real time, so we can have full-class session where I help students on their current problem on the display and everyone can learn,
6) smart grading that recognizes equally valid alternative responses besides the official correct answer, and
7) consistent notation that is right out of any calculus book. This is important esp. for dual credit students.
For those familiar with iXL, it’s similar to that, but iXL classroom licenses start at $299 for 25 students, while DeltaMath is about 1/10th of the cost when you consider I have 5 classes using it, that would be $1500 for iXL. NOTE: I have extensively used EdPuzzle, Quizlet, Quizizz, Kahoot, Khan Academy, and several other tech tools. The only “must-have” technologies for math for me are DESMOS (which thankfully is free and we use in lieu of a graphing calculator, but it’s so much more than that with a huge library of concept-oriented activities) and DeltaMath (which is also mostly free!).
The biggest reason for requesting the paid version is the worked videos that become available for every problem. This would be a boon to some of students. I’m requesting $95 each for myself and ****** to be able to use the paid version for 12 months. This will provide not only videos but greater control over specific problem sets and custom creation of our own problems. Note it also allows sharing of created problems and assignments, so we can quickly share a one-time code with others in the district who are teaching the same course.