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Community Review for IXL
My Take
I just read a long essay here reviewing IXL, but everything in it was false. I had to wonder if they were actually reviewing IXL.
First, I found that students ask for help and engage in a productive struggle. They try hard and then they are satisfied when they see progress. And yes, they complain about that. That's how I know they are working at it. IXL provides lots of examples and even video tutorials. And yes, the score goes down even though you are "just trying to finish." That is the point: that you actually experience some understanding rather than just moving on. Every problem that a student get wrong comes with a detailed explanation.
Second, the question bank, in fact does not repeat. Not only do the questions change nicely but they get more challenging as you go. The score does go up and down, with the level of difficulty, the time it takes to answer, etc. Let's just say, to anyone who thinks it's terrible, try it. You will learn something new.
Third, one of the strengths of IXL is that it IS personalized. My high school students vary from 3rd grade level to pre-calculus, and the IXL diagnostic narrows down specific areas of growth for each student to work on. Again, every question has a step-by-step explanation to peruse. Furthermore, the analytics are comprehensive. The teacher can see every question they work on and whether it was from school or work, how many attempts, etc.
I don't usually write reviews, and I was originally looking for a comparison to Khan Academy, but I just could not let the bad reviews go unaddressed. Obviously, IXL is just a tool and its usefulness varies with the user. For teachers (and schools) who are committed to using it to help students, it can be very effective. There is no advertising and there are a ton of resources to go along with implementation of any kind. Try it.
How I Use It
I've been using IXL for math at the high school level, for at least 3 years. Most of my students come in with a negative attitude about math, so I understand some of the concern. I like to focus on study skills and strategies so that they learn how to learn (any topic).
I use IXL every other day for math practice exercises. Students have unlimited attempts at the practices. In addition, I also have students answer a few questions on the diagnostic as a daily warm up, for a week at a time. Then I alternate with other types of warm ups, like Kahoot.