Wednesday, review of MathBoard app (Math)

          I have chosen to explore and experiment with the math app called MathBoard. This application does require a bit of teacher preparation before students can play on the appropriate level. Before students begin, the teacher can go into the app and choose what kinds of problems he/she wants his/her students to be performing. For example, options such as addition, subtraction, multiplication, division, squares, roots, and cubes. Multiple options can be chosen rather than just focusing on a single concept. Teacher may also choose the number of problems on each quiz, the problem style (horizontal or vertical) and the answer style (multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank or keypad.) Again, teacher may choose multiple options so that quiz questions are varied. Finally, teacher can choose the digit limit, equation types, and time limit. After teacher prep is finished, MathBoard is ready for students to use. 
          MathBoard is set up in a quiz format. The screen looks like a chalkboard, and students are given a little space at the bottom of the screen to work out problems. One of the complains I heard on the Youtube tutorials was that this space given for scratch work was too small for students to use effectively. However, this problem was only found on the iPhone version of the app. The iPad version offers the option to "expand" this work space so that students can have additional room.
          As students work through the quiz, results are kept in a list next to student work space. Students can glance over to see which questions they answered correctly and which were answered incorrectly. Of course, this can be a positive or negative feature depending on the student. Some students want to see their scores, which this could stress out other students. Students are given the option to skip and come back to a problem if need be.
           Once a quiz is completed, a score will pop up. This score will tell the percentage out of 100 that the student answered correctly, as well as an exact ratio. (For example, you answered 9 out of 10 questions correctly.) After the score is given, students can choose the option of saving their results for teacher viewing. As a teacher, this is a fantastic assessment method, after students have had individual work time. Along with saving the quiz score, students are also able to go back through the questions answered incorrectly. Each incorrect answer comes with the option to "show problem solver." This feature takes the student through the steps to answer the question correctly. This would be a useful tool as a teacher, so that students could self-teach rather than needing constant teacher guidance. Another useful feature of this app is that after the student is finished taking a quiz, the teacher can email that student's results straight from the iPad to the teacher's email to have a digital record of student results.
          I believe this app is good for multiple grades because of the many options that can be chosen. The difficulty of each quiz can quickly and easily be modified to reach a wide range of academic performance. The app's ability to keep score records, show the correct steps on incorrect answers, and to give the students a work space make this app very appealing to me as a future teacher. It would work very well as test prep or review after a unit of mathematical study.