LessonPaths

Collect multimedia resources and create engaging, self-paced lessons

Learning rating

Community rating

Based on 2 reviews

Privacy rating

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Expert evaluation by Common Sense

Grades

7–12

Subjects & Skills

Character & SEL, College & Career Prep, Critical Thinking

Great for

Instructional Design, Lesson Planning

Price: Free
Platforms: Web

Pros: Intuitive interface has appealing graphics, and it wraps around the novel concept of teacher-designed lessons being "playlists."

Cons: The platform suffers slightly from instability and occasional glitches.

Bottom Line: This self-paced learning tool is a genuinely exciting way to blend teacher-created and online resources.

LessonPaths is a blank slate, and can host content from any subject area. Though the site encourages a linear flow of resources, the structure is likely to work best for older kids in middle or high school. For teachers interested in flipping their instruction, this is an excellent place to host the lessons you want kids to study at home.

A surprisingly robust set of analytical tools lets you monitor student progress and see the amount of time students spend on specific resources or activities. The level of information may be overkill for some, but those using LessonPaths to flip their classrooms or develop blended learning courses will appreciate the ability to closely monitor student use.

LessonPaths (formerly MentorMob University) lets teachers create "learning playlists" to lead students through a series of online lessons. Teachers can add text, videos, and files, merging the best of the web with teacher-prepared documents. Each activity or resource is called a "step," and it proceeds in a linear way. Teachers can set up classes and student accounts and monitor progress and assessment results from the teacher dashboard. Though it's not technically blended learning, this exciting hybrid model keeps learning relevant and expands teachers' toolkits.

Assessment is built right in, as teachers can inject quizzes after any resource and collect data about student mastery at that point. This provides a great way to encourage reflection and also keeps students from haphazardly skipping through a playlist. Students completely control the pacing, and they can pause or rewind videos that need a second look or review resources before taking an assessment.

Some of the navigation of the site is less than obvious, but the publishers go to great lengths to provide support, even sending encouraging emails as you build your classes. 

Learning Rating

Overall Rating
Engagement

Kids will like the modern look of the site and the ease with which they can navigate between resources and assessments. The variety of multimedia will appeal to nearly all middle and high school students.

Pedagogy

Including assessments throughout the "learning playlists" is a powerful way to check understanding during lessons. Students benefit from being able to move at their own pace and revisit difficult concepts.

Support

Students and teachers alike can find helpful tutorials throughout the tool. They can view example playlists and learn how the system works.

Common Sense reviewer

Community Rating

Fantastic way to assemble resources for students to use.

The content is dependent on what you put in, put in poor content and that's what you see. It's a platform only to gather content for your students and others to use. It also made my work much easier when my district changed learning management systems because I had one link to transfer instead of 5-15 for each day. It also allows you to upload your own work but be careful of copyright issues. I emailed with some questions when I first started and heard back immediately with a very helpful response.

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Privacy Rating

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