AdaptedMind is a paid video-based learning platform that provides a variety of contents including math and reading as primary content, social studies, science and social-emotional learning (SEL). Each content offers a unique learning experience, while all subjects feature a similar visual design.
If you are interested in using AdaptedMind for a great way for teaching, it would be better for you to find out the review of this platform first. Since AdaptedMind is a paid platform, you may not want to waste your money in vain. From people’s reviews, we can then determine whether you can continue to purchase or not.
How Does AdaptedMind Work?
On AdaptedMind, the students can watch videos, answer questions and then gain stars which lead them to customizable Adventure Badges. They can also explore topics like space, rainforests and dinosaurs that they track in their Adventurer’s Book.
In reading experience, the students can help a cast of characters to find their stolen stories. Before they read material, they get introduced to key vocabulary first. After reading a passage, the students should answer three questions to pass the level.
In social studies, the students are allowed to travel through time and space to Egypt in which they will help two friends recover a pharaoh’s lost orbs. They also need to learn all about obelisks, the Nile and also the Rosetta Stone. Then, they will be tested with one question to gather each orb.
In math subjects, the students need to take a pretest before choosing any lesson in their grade or any other grade if they want. If they answer the questions correctly, they will earn visual badges and points toward mastery. A pop-up window will appear to notify them if they get something wrong.
As a teacher, you can assign your students lessons and register up to 35 students with email-free usernames and passwords. The page of student’s progress will provide a summary of percentage correct for lessons and the total number correct out of 20. The page of teacher’s progress will show an overview for all students and provide access to that same student’s summary page for each student.
What Features Are Available on AdaptedMind Platform?
What makes AdaptedMind so gorgeous is to show vivid color and characters, a points system and cute badges which keeps the students focused on their progress. Since math is primary content on AdaptedMind, it covers a lot and is very useful for supplementing class instruction with recall-based activities.
The lower grades may find the reading passage helpful, particularly with the ability to locate text-based answers and the character-based social studies adventure is fun and silly. It is known that all of the additional content for purchase is not pretty as compelling. However, it can provide some variety and flavour.
The math content is the heart of AdaptedMind. The math videos and lessons are engaging enough to keep students interested in learning whether it is during independent study in a home or a class, especially during school breaks.
There is a lot of room to improve the quality and depth of the learning experience. The students are not provided a lot of critical thinking chances, because questions focus mostly on factual recall. The science content and the social studies is still under construction, taking advantage of the use of curated content from YouTube.
Relying on YouTube videos means that the students cannot review or rewind and the quick pace of speech and longer duration of the videos can leave ELL or younger students bewildered.
On AdaptedMind, there are limited chances to correct or learn from incorrect answers in most of the subject areas. Even though there are explanations that are offered for incorrect math answers, the explanations are inconsistent and do not always address the particular problem that the student is having.
The teachers will have to review everything carefully and plan accordingly for any issues to make this a useful product, whole AdaptedMind makes an effort to provide a comprehensive learning platform.
Pros and Cons of AdaptedMind
According to some internet sources, the pros and cons will always be available on every online learning platform. It is known that AdaptedMind provides overall experience that lacks cohesion and depth, while math curriculum has a nice look and some utility. Here are they:
Pros
- The visuals on AdaptedMind look great and the math curriculum is thorough.
Cons
- There are tons of small issues and inconsistencies that add up to a confusing, uneven experience.
What Do Teachers Say About AdaptedMind?
After a little research, we finally found the review of AdaptedMind, based on the teacher’s opinion at commonsense.org.
At this site, a teacher named Kelly A, a classroom teacher at Ladue Middle School, St. Louis, United States, reviewed the AdaptedMind tool. She stated that AdaptedMind is very thorough. She found that skills are broken down in each grade skill to the smallest parts for students to practice. Each grade level also has dozens of skills for students to choose from.
AdaptedMind is a very helpful platform, as it provides adaptive math practice and video lessons for students in grades K-6. It also allows the students to earn points and badges if they correctly answer questions on various topics. Otherwise, if the students answer the questions incorrectly, they will be given a written correction or link to a video explanation.
Students are also allowed to complete ‘worksheets’ on the site, allowing them to complete some problems on the same topics at once. So far, AdaptedMind is very useful for teachers who really love an extra resource for their students to practice their skills, but it’s not a perfect learning platform.
However, she complained that the AdaptedMind website does not make it clear on how those skills are aligned to standards (NCTM Standards, Common Core State Standards, etc). There are also many word problems that have multiple boxes for students to fill in with values, but it is unclear exactly what they are supposed to do.
She emphasized that AdaptiveMind is only a good learning platform, but not too reliable. She also suggests using one of many online platforms, especially for adaptive math practice in elementary and middle school.
