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Redbird Mathematics
Pros: Excellent adaptive technology, some digital manipulatives to build conceptual understanding, great design, and cross-platform compatibility.
Cons: Most learning is a passive experience, and kids could use more hands-on or discovery work.
Bottom Line: If you're looking for courseware for your classroom, this is based on solid research and proven technology.
Redbird Mathematics fits well with blended or flipped classrooms. Flipped learning is where students use online courseware at home and then work on projects in class, whereas blended learning gives over some instructional time to using courseware in a computer lab or with a set of laptops. In either case, students will mostly have an easy time self-pacing through Redbird, but the teacher will need to be available to pull students for targeted instruction and to provide intellectual pushes.
If students are really lost, Redbird won't do much for them except kick them into a loop: working through an exercise, then practicing, then going back into learning after missing enough questions, then going back into practice, and so on. These kids will need more hands-on support with alternative teaching methods and explanations, since Redbird presents most concepts in one or two specific ways.
Redbird Mathematics is a digital curriculum platform (now part of McGraw-Hill Education) for in-class or blended learning use that incorporates robust, research-based adaptive technology. Teachers can assign students to grade-level learning tracks or let them sort themselves with a course placement activity. Students then work through a series of exercises to demonstrate prior mastery (Show What You Know), learn new concepts, and then practice what they learned. Along the way, students unlock math-based games and ultimately finish each section with a project to apply their new understanding.
Redbird keeps a constant tally of student data to tailor the content that each kid sees. Advanced learners will spend less time practicing and more time applying, while kids who struggle will get more direct support and guided practice. Teachers can monitor everything through a robust dashboard that shows a class overview. Teachers can get more granular, seeing specific student activity, including easily finding incorrect answers students gave. This will allow teachers to plan instruction of their own.
While much of Redbird Mathematic's content is still traditional instruction, most lessons have some kind of digital manipulative, multiple solution methods, or multiple representations of math concepts. These research-based additions help students gain procedural fluency and conceptual intuition more than the typical textbook or lecture. The adaptive content is pretty impressive; in testing, most math concepts stayed right in the neighborhood of just-challenging-enough, seldom becoming overwhelming or too easy. Most of the text has an audio option so that students who struggle with reading can fully participate.
Learning games sometimes seem a little unrelated to the concepts at hand, but they're a fun and intellectually stimulating break, if not totally exciting. The end-of-unit projects are really nice, and while not as comprehensive or as tangible as an in-class PBL experience, they're favorable in every way to a summative assessment with tons of multiple-choice questions.
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The go-to resource for learning math concepts in a fun and personalized way!
I think Redbird Mathematics is a great tool for individualized learning. Teachers are able to see the progress that kids are making (whether they're behind, on-track, or ahead) and help students one-on-one with any questions they may have. There's a multitude of fun exercises, games, and activities that go along with each lesson. The STEM projects and activities help keep students focused and interactive with the software. It's really nice how there's a real world connection at the end, because students love seeing how math is applicable to their lives.