Adaptive Curriculum, anyone?

[eternallytired]

Has anyone used Adaptive Curriculum for math or science?  Someone somewhere once mentioned using and liking it and I jotted it down in my MS/HS resource list, but I can hardly find any mentions of it now that I'm looking.  I can find a few mentions of Uzinggo, which (from what I gather) was what they used to call the home-use version of their materials about a decade ago, but no one lately has mentioned AC that I can find.  It's reasonably priced and looks engaging and independent, but I'm not sure of the thoroughness or rigor.  Any reviews?

[Green Bean]

I’m curious, too.

[Dmmetler]

L loved Uzzingo, and it was a good way to give a younger kid high school level science content in a managable form, with digital labs beyond what would have been physically achievable. The videos and text content were good. One of my friends found that it was text reader friendly. Quizzes were mostly multiple choice and the occasional short answer.  I'm guessing adaptive is the same content, and that the primary difference is the teacher interface.
 

I would consider it super light for high school. Like "might be OK as a get it done credit for a student who needs basic knowledge, but will not have to take an additional class in the subject", and would definitely not feel comfortable calling it a class with lab without some physical labs and lab reports added, and for chemistry and physics, a lot more calculations. 
 

One thing I would check-at the time we did Uzinggo, it was flash based, and flash no longer exists. If they haven't updated it, most of the site won't work. 

[eternallytired]

On 6/8/2022 at 8:36 AM, Dmmetler said:

L loved Uzzingo, and it was a good way to give a younger kid high school level science content in a managable form, with digital labs beyond what would have been physically achievable. The videos and text content were good. One of my friends found that it was text reader friendly. Quizzes were mostly multiple choice and the occasional short answer.  I'm guessing adaptive is the same content, and that the primary difference is the teacher interface.
 

I would consider it super light for high school. Like "might be OK as a get it done credit for a student who needs basic knowledge, but will not have to take an additional class in the subject", and would definitely not feel comfortable calling it a class with lab without some physical labs and lab reports added, and for chemistry and physics, a lot more calculations. 
 

One thing I would check-at the time we did Uzinggo, it was flash based, and flash no longer exists. If they haven't updated it, most of the site won't work. 

Thank you so much for your thorough review!  I'm actually considering it for my rising 7th grader, but I figured I would be more likely to encounter folks who had used it in the past few years if I asked over here.  I'm gathering that it might be adequate for a 7th grade level, assuming we'll hit the material harder when she's in high school, but it's definitely more enrichment than spine for high school level.  I'll have to check if it's still Flash-based.

[Roadrunner]

We have had zero retention with computer based programs. I remember DS acing Plato Science (I think that’s what it was called) all three courses in one year. Retained nothing. 
 

[eternallytired]

On 6/20/2022 at 4:08 PM, Roadrunner said:

We have had zero retention with computer based programs. I remember DS acing Plato Science (I think that’s what it was called) all three courses in one year. Retained nothing. 
 

Well, that's depressing.  Was it just with that program that retention was awful, or across the board?  I have noticed that a few online programs I've had my kids trial offered multiple choice answers that made it too easy for my kids to figure out the right answer without necessarily remembering or understanding anything, but I didn't end up using those programs (and ended up continuing with physical book/discussion work) for that reason.  I wonder if it's how the material is presented, the child's level of engagement, the way a program tests for comprehension, the way our brains work...  I do have one kid doing math online right now, and I think he's retaining well, but now you've got me paranoid that three years from now I'll discover a giant crater in his math knowledge that directly corresponds to this time in his education!

[Roadrunner]

10 hours ago, eternallytired said:

Well, that's depressing.  Was it just with that program that retention was awful, or across the board?  I have noticed that a few online programs I've had my kids trial offered multiple choice answers that made it too easy for my kids to figure out the right answer without necessarily remembering or understanding anything, but I didn't end up using those programs (and ended up continuing with physical book/discussion work) for that reason.  I wonder if it's how the material is presented, the child's level of engagement, the way a program tests for comprehension, the way our brains work...  I do have one kid doing math online right now, and I think he's retaining well, but now you've got me paranoid that three years from now I'll discover a giant crater in his math knowledge that directly corresponds to this time in his education!

I think if he is working the problems on the paper, it doesn’t matter that he is inputting answers online. We have had math classes that used webassign very successfully.

But outside of math, yes, it’s the ability to watch something quickly and click on a multiple choice question while you still have the material in your head and move on that somehow doesn’t reinforce learning in a way textbook, notebook, oral discussion does. I hope there are better online platforms, but after my experience with sciences, we never touched another one again.