IXL is a self directed but highly engaging math (and now English!) tool!
Community Review for IXL
My Take
IXL is a great math (and now English) tool which provides students with a variety of questions based on topic/standard to practice. I like it for two big reasons 1) the teachers gain a great deal of assessment feedback which is presented in graphs, numerical data etc for the whole class and for individual students. It is easy for teachers to drill into what a student has practices and help them with specific problems after viewing the assessment data. 2) The students earn badges as they progress, these badges and mini-awards are a great motivating factor for students to continue to practice their math skills.
How I Use It
I have done a whole school implementation of IXL for math. It works beautifully on a laptop browser but a little less functional on an iPad (although it is still workable). Students can read or listen to the math problem, try to answer it and they get instant feedback plus an explanation. I have always encouraged students to have a paper and pencil ready before putting in their answer to IXL so that they can check their work - great skill to incorporate into their online program.