A look into free and purchased online mathematics for kids.

Students who enjoyed using Mathletics were generally…◦ versing friends/opponents world wide in free time

activities◦ from highly pressured academic backgrounds or “liked”

maths◦ more interested in the characters/backgrounds/themes

they could create (85% were female)◦ In the lower age brackets of 7 to 9 years old.

 Students who disliked using Mathletics were generally…◦ using Mathletics only within a homework scenario◦ predominantly held negative connotations to any form of

maths◦ were students in a higher age bracket between 10 and 15

years old.

Most students had little knowledge of when this site was in use, however once students were shown the webpage the majority of them had accessed it previously under teacher instruction or as a class group.◦ General consensus was that the site “made maths fun”◦ Those students who hated it were once again

negatively predisposed to maths.◦ Students who stated they would rather not use it

suggested the use of Mathletics instead – this was under their pretence that Mathletics “games” be played instead, once again in the “free time” scenario.

Smart Kiddies◦ When asked about this website the majority of

students had no knowledge of its existence except for a minority in grades 5 and 6.

◦ When students were shown the website to prompt recognition, those who still didn’t know it were asked their thoughts after being allowed to browse for a few minutes. Students were predominantly uninterested due to

lack of colour, more difficult page navigation, webpage layout and restrictions for non-members.

Many stated they would use Mathletics over Smart Kiddies

What do teachers and tutors think of the selected sites?◦ Positives/negatives of websites◦ Scale of usefulness across all mathematic areas◦ Amount of use in the classroom and curriculum

Are there other websites they use that are also free?◦ What makes the other websites better/worse?

Do they use online forms of mathematics over more traditional methods?◦ Benefits/Negatives?◦ What do they feel is the future regarding hands on and

online mathematics?