Gamified, adaptive, and data-drive math app; Great for supplemental practice
Community Review for Freckle
My Take
I was incredibly impressed with how quickly the program adapted to the needs of individual students. The gamificiation was clear and appropriate and kept my students engaged. It even helped my students who were further ahead of their peers continue to engage in the program because they can skip the sections they demonstrate mastery in. I was also impressed to see that the program will recognize whether each student was able to comprehend something quickly (with ease) or if it took a while to master. Mode of entry was also very diverse: students might have multiple choice questions or freely calculated (entered from a calculator-type entry). <br><br> One down side was that much of the app was language heavy and there seemed to be very few simple arithmetic-only questions. Sitting with my lower language students, I had to read much of the problem to them instead of allowing them to maneuver the app on their own. Additionally, there is a list of kindergarten mastery -- I'm interested to see whether kindergarteners can read and comprehend the questions included in the app. This seems to be better geared for grades 3-8.
How I Use It
This is an easy tool to set up and gain direct data about what students know about math concepts. It was a little tricky to get student started in the right area, based on curriculum and current lesson, and took some teacher direction. Once started, students were able to continue on their own. I might use it for targeted practice for CCSS that students are missing, to reinforce concepts, or to help students who are well ahead of their classmates practice harder concepts. Topics match CCSS exactly, so data is pulled to the teacher's page in an easy and direct way. <br><br> We used the iPad app for students, and the teacher used the web interface. Because each question is on its own page, it was easy for students to focus on the concept in front of them before moving on to the next. They earn coins, so the game aspect was also useful to get students excited about learning. Students also utilized the built-in tools to help them solve problems (and even students who were less likely to use pencil and paper for in-class problems used that tool on the iPad).