Review: Aleks Online Math Program
ALEKS is an online mathematics program, and our overall impression is that this is a useful, helpful program that most families would enjoy using.
ALEKS is a “research-based” math program that is online. “ALEKS” stands for: “Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces”. According to the ALEKS website, ALEKS provides students with the following features:
We started using ALEKS by logging into the website with a free, one-month membership we received as part of the TOS Crew curriculum review group. One of my daughters was able to take a beginning assessment to determine her exact math skills and level; it took her about 40 minutes to complete the assessment. My other daughter was eventually able to complete her math assessment, but it took much longer because our computer kept freezing up and causing us to have to reboot. I thought it might have just been a problem with our own computer, but apparently some of the other TOS Crew reviewers had similar problems.
However, as the girls began working on their individualized lessons on ALEKS, there didn’t seem to be any problems. A tutoring section was helpful as it showed both girls how to quickly and accurately answer questions online using their system. My girls were 8 and 10 at the time, and they quickly understood how to use the website after being shown the various examples.
One of my daughters thought that the lessons on ALEKS were a bit difficult, but that might have been because she was being presented with some math problems requiring some skills she hadn’t learned yet. ALEKS doesn’t appear to be a full-fledged “teacher” like you might see with lesson videos from some other home education math curricula . However, the math problems could be explained by ALEKS at any time, by clicking on the appropriate button for the specific math problem.
Some of you may be interested to know that ALEKS only presents one math problem at a time, on the screen. For students who have difficulty with visual discrimination, dyslexia, disgraphia, or other visual issues, ALEKS might be an excellent way to enhance your math instruction at home. If a child struggles with writing numbers legibly, this might also be the answer to your math frustrations.
ALEKS provides parents with lots of information that helps them determine the correct direction for their children. Reports can be generated with the click of a button, worksheets can be easily created and printed on specific skills that the student may show a weakness in, and help can be accessed at any time.
My girls also liked the pie chart that showed whenever they first logged in. It visually demonstrates the percentage of material at their level that they have mastered, and the amount of lessons or skills they still need to master.
Overall, I think that ALEKS is a decent online math program. While I still prefer personal, one-on-one math instruction that is so easily done at home with homeschooling, ALEKS could be an excellent tool for larger families, for families whose homeschooling parent needs to work part-time, for medical and other family emergencies, etc.
ALEKS normally offers families a 48-hour free trial so a student can have his or her skills assessed, and the family can observe and see how the student interacts with ALEKS to decide if it is a good fit for the family.
If you decide to give ALEKS a month’s try, I’d be curious to hear how you like it, so feel free to post a comment here and let me know! Thanks.
Julieanne
ALEKS is a “research-based” math program that is online. “ALEKS” stands for: “Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces”. According to the ALEKS website, ALEKS provides students with the following features:
- Complete curriculum solution for math; one subscription allows access to all courses
- No textbook required
- Artificial intelligence targets gaps in student knowledge
- Assessment and individualized learning for grades 3-12
- Automated reports monitor learning progress
- Unlimited online access for both PC and Mac computers
We started using ALEKS by logging into the website with a free, one-month membership we received as part of the TOS Crew curriculum review group. One of my daughters was able to take a beginning assessment to determine her exact math skills and level; it took her about 40 minutes to complete the assessment. My other daughter was eventually able to complete her math assessment, but it took much longer because our computer kept freezing up and causing us to have to reboot. I thought it might have just been a problem with our own computer, but apparently some of the other TOS Crew reviewers had similar problems.
However, as the girls began working on their individualized lessons on ALEKS, there didn’t seem to be any problems. A tutoring section was helpful as it showed both girls how to quickly and accurately answer questions online using their system. My girls were 8 and 10 at the time, and they quickly understood how to use the website after being shown the various examples.
One of my daughters thought that the lessons on ALEKS were a bit difficult, but that might have been because she was being presented with some math problems requiring some skills she hadn’t learned yet. ALEKS doesn’t appear to be a full-fledged “teacher” like you might see with lesson videos from some other home education math curricula . However, the math problems could be explained by ALEKS at any time, by clicking on the appropriate button for the specific math problem.
Some of you may be interested to know that ALEKS only presents one math problem at a time, on the screen. For students who have difficulty with visual discrimination, dyslexia, disgraphia, or other visual issues, ALEKS might be an excellent way to enhance your math instruction at home. If a child struggles with writing numbers legibly, this might also be the answer to your math frustrations.
ALEKS provides parents with lots of information that helps them determine the correct direction for their children. Reports can be generated with the click of a button, worksheets can be easily created and printed on specific skills that the student may show a weakness in, and help can be accessed at any time.
My girls also liked the pie chart that showed whenever they first logged in. It visually demonstrates the percentage of material at their level that they have mastered, and the amount of lessons or skills they still need to master.
Overall, I think that ALEKS is a decent online math program. While I still prefer personal, one-on-one math instruction that is so easily done at home with homeschooling, ALEKS could be an excellent tool for larger families, for families whose homeschooling parent needs to work part-time, for medical and other family emergencies, etc.
ALEKS normally offers families a 48-hour free trial so a student can have his or her skills assessed, and the family can observe and see how the student interacts with ALEKS to decide if it is a good fit for the family.
If you decide to give ALEKS a month’s try, I’d be curious to hear how you like it, so feel free to post a comment here and let me know! Thanks.
Julieanne
DISCLOSURE: While I will never be paid to write a product review (gasp!), I did accept two months' free usage of ALEKS for me to use in our home and then write an unbiased review.
