Lord knows that I don't, but I want to share some llama love by rating the sites that I have had some firsthand experience using. I'm not paid (darn) and by no means are these reviews "official" but hey, who says they can't still be useful.
Today I'm covering a K-2 educational site - ABCmouse!
Price Point
*drum roll please* Free for teachers!
I was skeptical at first that there would be an "up-sell" after an account is created, but it truly is the full site for free. It is not free if parents want their students to have access outside of school, but for a computer lab/free time/mouse skills activity, the price point of free is a-okay!
Practicality
Nothing negative to say for practicality of the site.
Once you have logged into each computer, they stay logged in indefinitely. I am sure you know how nice it is not to have to worry about log in and password problems when it comes to your littles.
For me, ABCmouse has a nice shortcut at the top of our web browser and the students have access when they finish other activities early.
The site also provides a very extensive dashboard with great features.
You can assign specific activities or groups of activities, track progress, change difficulty levels... I know I personally could take advantage of more than I have up until this point.
Student Engagement
ABCmouse has a "ticket" system within the games that keep students more than happy. They can spend the digital tickets they earn within a shopping center where they can put custom outfits on their avatars, buy exotic pets (I have a few kids saving up to buy a pet dragon), decorate their room, and more. The tickets are easy to earn and my students LOVE the ability to show off their finest purchases and upgrades.
A word of caution though - some students are not very careful about making sure they are logged in as themselves before going to town with the tickets. I often reiterate that they need to ensure their name and face are in the top left corner. Fortunately, it is often the teacher account tickets that get spent because the default person logged in is the teacher.
Reliability
I was skeptical at first that there would be an "up-sell" after an account is created, but it truly is the full site for free. It is not free if parents want their students to have access outside of school, but for a computer lab/free time/mouse skills activity, the price point of free is a-okay!
Practicality
Nothing negative to say for practicality of the site.
Once you have logged into each computer, they stay logged in indefinitely. I am sure you know how nice it is not to have to worry about log in and password problems when it comes to your littles.
For me, ABCmouse has a nice shortcut at the top of our web browser and the students have access when they finish other activities early.
The site also provides a very extensive dashboard with great features.
Student Engagement
ABCmouse has a "ticket" system within the games that keep students more than happy. They can spend the digital tickets they earn within a shopping center where they can put custom outfits on their avatars, buy exotic pets (I have a few kids saving up to buy a pet dragon), decorate their room, and more. The tickets are easy to earn and my students LOVE the ability to show off their finest purchases and upgrades.
Reliability
Overall reliability of logging in, etc...great. I haven't experienced any days where the site was down.
Reliability within each of the games and activities...slightly less impressive. There are a few videos and activities that have gotten "stuck." To be fair, the puzzles get stuck because a student has it just a hair off of the target area, but it is not easy to recognize which puzzle piece is the problem. I have also had videos end and then get stuck. I have to pull the progress bar back a few seconds and let the end of the video play.
Now I know the problems I cited can be from things as simple as web browser updates/compatibility issues, so it's not something I would dock points from on ABCmouse's overall review. Just know that the site isn't completely "set it and forget it" when it comes to managing student use.
Academic Value
It has great academic value in a general sort of way. Each activity is designed to increase students' math, language arts, and reading skills.
From a STEM/technology teacher, it does not overtly teach the concepts that we desire. Concepts such as digital citizenship and computer terminology are not present. Indirectly, it also teaches decision making, hand/eye coordination, and mouse skills.
That being said, you can't realistically fault a site like this on academic value because of the overall value it does offer.
Final Score
What type of llama lover would I be if my scoring wasn't llamarific!!
With little negative feedback on each rating in each category, it may not come as a surprise that this site gets a score of...
Reliability within each of the games and activities...slightly less impressive. There are a few videos and activities that have gotten "stuck." To be fair, the puzzles get stuck because a student has it just a hair off of the target area, but it is not easy to recognize which puzzle piece is the problem. I have also had videos end and then get stuck. I have to pull the progress bar back a few seconds and let the end of the video play.
Now I know the problems I cited can be from things as simple as web browser updates/compatibility issues, so it's not something I would dock points from on ABCmouse's overall review. Just know that the site isn't completely "set it and forget it" when it comes to managing student use.
Academic Value
It has great academic value in a general sort of way. Each activity is designed to increase students' math, language arts, and reading skills.
From a STEM/technology teacher, it does not overtly teach the concepts that we desire. Concepts such as digital citizenship and computer terminology are not present. Indirectly, it also teaches decision making, hand/eye coordination, and mouse skills.
That being said, you can't realistically fault a site like this on academic value because of the overall value it does offer.
Final Score
What type of llama lover would I be if my scoring wasn't llamarific!!
With little negative feedback on each rating in each category, it may not come as a surprise that this site gets a score of...
5 out of 5 Lovely Llamas!
I'd love to hear from you! Have you had personal experience with ABCmouse? Like it, love it, or want to try it?
Llama love,
Sam
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