Name of Tech Tool: Khan Academy's Area 1
Brief Description of Tech Tool: User answers a series of questions about area of figures.
Link to Tech Tool or Tool homepage: https://www.khanacademy.org/math/cc-third-grade-math/cc-third-grade-measurement/cc-third-grade-area/e/area_1
Evaluation (by Number Ninjas)
The Khan Academy’s Area tool was our favorite of the three area tools we evaluated. This tech tool has both instructional help and practice for students to master finding area of rectangles and irregular shapes. The irregular shapes use grids, where the rectangles give dimensions and have students apply the area formula (lengh x width). This tool also moves students forward through the unit and problems continue to gain in difficulty as students prove mastery. This website is very helpful at scaffolding learning, it has a quick You Tube video lesson that explains area. The videos explain the concept in an easy way with visuals. During the practice problems, it allows students to click for up to three hints per problem, which breaks the problem into simpler steps, such as explaining the formula, adding grids, or showing how to count the grids to find area. This differentiation could make this tech tool helpful for all learners.Some other positive features of this tech tool is that it has many different topics that were broken down by grade level and then math content strand. Each strand started with a basic lesson and built up to a more advanced skill. However, sometimes the topic only had video lessons and not any practice problems. Students can create a log-in to track their progress, this provides extrinsic motivation for students to do well because it has a built in point system. This would be a great resource for parents for at home support. In the classroom it could be used as a whole group, small group, or independent activity for practice, review, or intervention.
One issue that could develop with using the Kahn tool is the availability of internet access for both parents and students. For this tool to be used students would need access to an individual computer with internet access at school or have internet access (as well as a reliable, compatible computer) at home. Many lower students would need to watch the videos and practice skills multiple times to master the skill of area and perimeter. Using the Kahn site often would result in using a lot of data on internet service which may be difficult for some parents (and schools) to afford.This would also be an issue for parents at home who needed the support resource. Another small issue with using this as an independent tool is the simple interface does allow for students to easily get off task and on to other skills. Teachers will have to be sure to practice expectations with students and plan a management system of students before using this tool in their classroom. Jessica Thimm brought up a valid concern that the grids might cause future misconceptions. During the practice each grid block represents a square foot, she worried this would confuse her students since they work on visualizing measurement and these squares usually correlate with a square centimeter. Even with these few cons of the Kahn tool, all teammates agreed that the Kahn tool is a very useful tool for any upper elementary classroom and higher in a multiple of ways.
Brief Description of Tech Tool: User answers a series of questions about area of figures.
Link to Tech Tool or Tool homepage: https://www.khanacademy.org/math/cc-third-grade-math/cc-third-grade-measurement/cc-third-grade-area/e/area_1
Evaluation (by Number Ninjas)
The Khan Academy’s Area tool was our favorite of the three area tools we evaluated. This tech tool has both instructional help and practice for students to master finding area of rectangles and irregular shapes. The irregular shapes use grids, where the rectangles give dimensions and have students apply the area formula (lengh x width). This tool also moves students forward through the unit and problems continue to gain in difficulty as students prove mastery. This website is very helpful at scaffolding learning, it has a quick You Tube video lesson that explains area. The videos explain the concept in an easy way with visuals. During the practice problems, it allows students to click for up to three hints per problem, which breaks the problem into simpler steps, such as explaining the formula, adding grids, or showing how to count the grids to find area. This differentiation could make this tech tool helpful for all learners.Some other positive features of this tech tool is that it has many different topics that were broken down by grade level and then math content strand. Each strand started with a basic lesson and built up to a more advanced skill. However, sometimes the topic only had video lessons and not any practice problems. Students can create a log-in to track their progress, this provides extrinsic motivation for students to do well because it has a built in point system. This would be a great resource for parents for at home support. In the classroom it could be used as a whole group, small group, or independent activity for practice, review, or intervention.
One issue that could develop with using the Kahn tool is the availability of internet access for both parents and students. For this tool to be used students would need access to an individual computer with internet access at school or have internet access (as well as a reliable, compatible computer) at home. Many lower students would need to watch the videos and practice skills multiple times to master the skill of area and perimeter. Using the Kahn site often would result in using a lot of data on internet service which may be difficult for some parents (and schools) to afford.This would also be an issue for parents at home who needed the support resource. Another small issue with using this as an independent tool is the simple interface does allow for students to easily get off task and on to other skills. Teachers will have to be sure to practice expectations with students and plan a management system of students before using this tool in their classroom. Jessica Thimm brought up a valid concern that the grids might cause future misconceptions. During the practice each grid block represents a square foot, she worried this would confuse her students since they work on visualizing measurement and these squares usually correlate with a square centimeter. Even with these few cons of the Kahn tool, all teammates agreed that the Kahn tool is a very useful tool for any upper elementary classroom and higher in a multiple of ways.