Study Island Help Please

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Permalink Reply by Mary Henton on February 22, 2010 at 10:42am

Hi, Ella,
Can you tell me a little bit about why you like Study Island? What needs, goals, student outcomes are you trying to meet with Study Island?

Also...perhaps a little bit more about your classes and students. For example--
- what ages/grades
- strengths
- learning challenges
- existing curriculum

Thanks. This will help with focusing the feedback.

M

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Permalink Reply by Ella Rogers on February 23, 2010 at 8:57am

Hi Mary,

Well I was trying to bring the use of technology, since we have it with our school. I think the idea of using some of the technology might help those kids who lose focus easily in the classroom to be a bit more engaged. I am teaching middle school kids, we are half way through the year and some of the kids are still struggling a bit with math tests, so I thought if I could bring something in that is fun and really helps the kids focus more, it might help with scores. So Study Island came up on my google search and it seems the content fits what I am teaching in class now. Do you have experience with Study Island? Do you use it in the class? any feedback anyone would not mind sharing I would love to hear.

Thanks,
Ella

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Permalink Reply by Tom Jenkins on February 23, 2010 at 10:36am

Likes
- Its aligned to state standards (at least in Ohio). You can even pick and choose which standards to cover.
- You can create a question bank and present them in the form games or quizzes
- Record keeping- It did a great job of tracking progress and noting weaknesses

Dislikes
- Make sure that you have plenty of access to a lab or a majority of your kids have internet at home. Our students
that needed it the most didnt have access to it other than limited lab time.
- COST, it became waaay to expensive to keep. It got to the point whereas our district could only afford it for the
lowest students. It didn't take long before it became obvious to the other students that only the "low" or "special"
students had accounts and then it didnt get used as much because of the stigma attached to it.

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Permalink Reply by Mary Henton on March 4, 2010 at 2:52pm

Hi, Ella,

No, I'm not familiar with Study Island. I was just on their website and did only a surface look. The one thing that comes to mind is whether or not the program can assess gaps in understanding rather than just "cycling a student down to lower levels" of practice. I'm not a math teacher, but I worked with a online math instruction group some time ago. And one thing that struck me was the need to evaluate why a student made the mistake and provide the appropriate instruction. What it simply misunderstanding the concept? Was there a gap in knowledge upon which the problematic concept was built?

I'd encourage you to check with colleagues in your school or district as you assess the product.

M

Ella Rogers said:

Hi Mary,

Well I was trying to bring the use of technology, since we have it with our school. I think the idea of using some of the technology might help those kids who lose focus easily in the classroom to be a bit more engaged. I am teaching middle school kids, we are half way through the year and some of the kids are still struggling a bit with math tests, so I thought if I could bring something in that is fun and really helps the kids focus more, it might help with scores. So Study Island came up on my google search and it seems the content fits what I am teaching in class now. Do you have experience with Study Island? Do you use it in the class? any feedback anyone would not mind sharing I would love to hear.

Thanks,
Ella

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Permalink Reply by Doug Darfus on March 4, 2010 at 3:10pm

I have never used it, but my son's school does. He attends WInchester Trail Elementary in Canal WInchester. They might be able to help you. Their staff web site is http://www.canalwin.k12.oh.us/wt/direct.php

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