CK12 Biology-good/bad? Hard to use in online format?

[Garga]

I'm about 6 hours into researching various biology texts for my son for 9th grade.  My head is spinning. 

 

I keep running into references on various threads to CK12 Biology.  I haven't yet found reviews. People type things like, "We used CK12 biology last year."  I know a bunch of people use it, but they don't say how happy they are with it. But it's free.  Free is good.  Maybe.

 

My first concern is that it's an online book. 

 

Pro:  it has all those videos embedded into the text.  That looks really nice. 

 

Con: I think it would be very frustrating to want to look something up in the 'book' and have to scroll and scroll and scroll to find something.  In a paper book, you can highlight things and see at one glance two full pages, maybe 4 if you hold up the page as you're turning it.

 

Question 1:

Was it terribly frustrating to study from an online book where you couldn't highlight things and easily see 2-4 pages at a single glance?  That might just be a deal breaker.  Talk to me about that, pleeeeease!  Was it an issue?  Or did it turn out not to be an issue at all?  That part of it is very important to me.

 

Question 2:

What did you think of the content?  Was it good?  Was it bad?  Was it boring to your kids?  Engaging?  Hard to understand?  Easy?  Too easy?  Colleges will think it's great?  Colleges will snicker at it?  What is your review of it?

 

I see that Guest Hollow has a schedule of how to use it, complete with suggestions of what labs to use when.  That seems nice, but I would put the evolution stuff back in. 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 17, 2016 by Garga_

[Carrie12345]

I'm almost fully decided on CK12 Bio, but I've been running into the same issue with a lack of full reviews!!!  I'm left going with my gut, which is to have dd use the online text and getting the teacher resources printed, because I don't do well with digital.  I'm still going back and forth on "regular" vs. "advanced", only because "advanced" doesn't have its own work/quiz/test books.

[GoVanGogh]

We are using ck12 physics right now for an outsourced lab.

 

My DS hates to read online, so we have had to print out everything! We print and out in three ring binder and he reads with his tablet on hand for videos. He does like the videos.

 

The content of the physics book has been good, though we wish they had more review built in to the book. They introduce concepts and move on quickly. (Not sure if that is more an issue with the book or the lab or both.)

[prairiewindmomma]

I tried to find a way to make CK12 bio work. I like the content and videos, but the navigability and ease of use factors killed our using the text next year.

 

Ds and I went through a number of biology books this spring. I bought used copies of Miller Levine and Campbell and we went through ck12.  To my surprise, ds chose Apologia. He wanted a textbook with a supporting workbook for review and videos.

[shawthorne44]

Never used CH12, but I just had an idea.  Could you use CK12, with another physical textbook as a reference book?  Any old used textbook should have the same information.  Might even be better than a physical version of the CK12 book, since another book would have its own way of explaining the concept. 

[MarkT]

there is a PDF available

http://www.ck12.org/book/CK-12-Biology/

 

Can your student deal with that?
The younger generation is more used to "soft" versions of books.

Much easier to search.
I, of course, prefer hard copy but I am "older" - be sure it is just not your bias

 

My son uses this text at his B&M charter school - he likes it ok

Hey it's Biology which isn't that exciting anyways IMHO

 

 

[freeindeed]

My dd15 is using it along with Guest Hollow's schedule. I'm keeping the evolution portions. It's working well for us. There is a search option in the online book, and that helps. Also, my dd15 reads it on the Kindle app on my iPad. That works best for her.

[SkateLeft]

My 14 year old son is using it this year as part of a co-op biology class. My older girls used Miller-Levine, so that's my comparison. They did biology completely at home though, while my son is partially doing biology at co-op, so I'm not as familiar with his text and I am with M-L.

 

I asked him about looking things up, and he says he doesn't really have any issues with that. His instructor has the chapters linked in the syllabus, so he can go directly to a chapter and finding what he needs is fairly quick. He also doesn't have any problem with reading from the computer, though I know that would probably have bothered my oldest, who prefers hardcopy texts. A lot of college classes now use online texts, and it drives her nuts sometimes. My son tends to take a lot of notes as a result of having the textbook on the computer, which was a nice side benefit. He was never really a note taker before. I think it just depends on the kid.

 

We've been happy with CK-12. Each week, his instructor assigns work from the text. They do some labs in class, and are required to complete some labs at home. I supplement with labs outside of class. The text seems pretty thorough though, and covers the same content that my girls covered using M-L.

 

As far as what colleges will think, I don't think that will be an issue at all. We used a variety of stuff for my girls, and none of the engineering schools they applied to seemed to care what texts they used as long as the course content was comparable to what they would expect. Besides, plenty of traditional high schools use CK-12 texts.

 

Here's a sample from my son's class syllabus. His teacher has a master syllabus on her website:

 

Due February 12 –

Readings: Cell Membranes

                Phospholipid Bilayers – read, watch video, and do PLIX including the “Challenge Meâ€

                Membrane Proteins

                Plasma Membrane

                Fluid Mosaic Model

                Passive Transport

                Diffusion – do PLIX

                Osmosis – do PLIX

                Facilitated Diffusion – watch the videos

                Active Transport – read and watch video

                Electrochemical Gradient

 

[foxbridgeacademy]

I couldn't make CK12 work for us(page layout was weird ).  I ended us buying M/L on the ipad because of the embedded videos and quizzes, also very easy to read. 

[alsoelizabeth]

We used CK12 biology this year for 9th grade biology. Dd, who is not a big science fan, wasn't going to embrace a big, thick textbook so we went with free. Her assessment goal is to get a decent score on the SAT biology subject test. I set up an account at CK12, making a "group" for our classroom. There was a learning curve to using the site but after 31 weeks of posting, I'm almost there! Each week I post an assignment pulled from the online material. When choosing sub-topic areas under Biology, you can choose "All Concepts" or "With Practice." The first is more comprehensive while the latter are only those concepts where CK12 offers practice questions at the end of the section. (CK12 also has an app where the student can practice knowledge and even read text and watch videos that correspond to that section.) One can also create a quiz; I did a few and then decided to make my life easier and just let her use the practice questions that come at the end of each section. I also put the CK12 biology book on my Kindle for quick reference. The CK12 site is a bit annoying in that the Kindle text uses traditional chapters headings (1.1, 1.2, etc.) but the site does not. Overall, I'd say the content is simply presented and thorough for a basic 9th grade class. (I picked up a cheap copy of Biology by Campbell & Reese on the internet not knowing what I was in for--it is definitely an AP-level text and way more than we wanted.) CK12 did have an Honors Biology text at one point. Dd used it for a few sections and said it went into more detail.

 

I also created a Google Group for us where I post the comprehensive assignment for that week that includes the CK12 portion plus lab (if any) plus supplemental reading (if any) AND the chapter of the Kaplan SAT biology study guide she should be working through. Dd says the study guide is at a higher reading level than CK12 but that rarely does she come across something that is brand new. I pulled together about 16-18 labs using several resources: (1) Illustrated Guide to Home Biology Experiments (highly recommended; their website also offers a guide for linking labs with CK12 text); (2) Experiences in Biology by Homeschool Science Press (purchased primarily for dissection but mini-guides that come with specimens from Home Science Tools would have largely sufficed); (3) HHMI website with virtual labs. Supplemental reading on evolution came from Exploring the Way Life Works and The Nature of Life: Readings in Biology. I had planned to use these last two texts more heavily but there is a lot of material to cover for the subject test so we sacrificed depth for breadth. Finally, I also purchased Biology Inquiries by Martin Shields. We used it for one or two exercises; I like the variety of exercises and the emphasis on inquiry (rather than just concepts) but do think it is better suited for the classroom or a co-op rather than one student.

 

Karin

Edited April 18, 2016 by alsoelizabeth