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ETP EdTech Resource/Tool* Review Rubric

*(Website/Mobile App/Web 2.0) (Updated 9.23.2015)
Criteria

Score
(out of
5)

Educational Value:
Does the EdTech Resource/Tool have educational value? How
much does the resource contribute to learning? Is it worth to
sign up and create an account with this EdTech Resource/Tool
for Teachers or Students?

Creativity, Fun & Interactivity:

Is the EdTech Resource/Tool creative and original? Does the
EdTech Resource/Tool use innovative ways to engage users?
Does the resource encourage creative thinking? Is the EdTech
Resource/Tool interactive? Is it fun to use the EdTech
Resource/Tool ?

Intuitive Interface:
Does the interface is simple and intuitive? Does the EdTech
Resource/Tool have user-friendly menus, buttons, guides,
controls etc.?

Visual Design & Optimization:

Does the EdTech Resource/Tool have a great looking interface
and other design elements (color choice, graphics etc)?

Stability & Promises:

Does the EdTech Resource/Tool work all the time? Does it crash

Developed by Dr. Bulent Dogan, EdTechPeople.com

or does it have bugs? Does the EdTech Resource/Tool meet its

promises as claimed in its description?

Value for Price:

Is the EdTech Resource free or paid? Does it have a good value
for the price?
Editors Score: (Average)

Name of the Reviewer:

Osman Gulle
Name of the Resource Reviewed:
ALEKS
What is this Resource?
Website
Link to the resource:
https://www.aleks.com
Price:
K-12 for 12 month is $45.00 per students
Platforms: (PC, Mac, Android, IOS, etc.)
PC & MAC
Appropriate for Grade Levels: (K-16)
K-16

Editors Score: (Average of all scores)

4.5

Main Article: (Description of the resource/tool? What does the resource do? How
does it work? How did you like it? What are the advantages and limitations?)
Assessment and Learning in Knowledge Spaces is a Web-based, artificially intelligent assessment and
learning system. ALEKS uses adaptive questioning to quickly and accurately determine exactly what a
student knows and doesn't know in a course. ALEKS then instructs the student on the topics she is most
ready to learn. As a student works through a course, ALEKS periodically reassesses the student to ensure
that topics learned are also retained. ALEKS courses are very complete in their topic coverage and
ALEKS avoids multiple-choice questions. A student who shows a high level of mastery of an ALEKS
course will be successful in the actual course she is taking.
ALEKS also provides the advantages of one-on-one instruction, 24/7, from virtually any Web-based
computer for a fraction of the cost of a human tutor.
ALEKS keeps server statistics that measure learning success of all students, namely how often they
succeed at learning a concept that ALEKS offers them as "ready to learn." When ALEKS determines
that a student is ready to learn an item, the student is able to learn it a very high percentage of the time.
In the small percentage of cases where the student is initially unsuccessful, the topic is presented again to
the student later on. Because of the artificial intelligence in ALEKS, students are almost always
successful at learning the material ALEKS offers them. (The level of instructor involvement doesn't
affect this.)
The Average Historical Student Learning Rates with ALEKS are ~90%
ALEKS avoids multiple-choice questions and instead uses flexible and easy to use answer input tools
that mimic what would be done with paper and pencil. When a student first logs on to ALEKS, a brief
tutorial shows him how to use these ALEKS answer input tools. The student then begins the ALEKS
Assessment. In a short period of time (about 45 minutes for most courses), ALEKS assesses the student's
current course knowledge by asking him a small number of questions (usually 20-30). ALEKS chooses
each question on the basis of his answers to all the previous questions. Each student, and therefore each
set of assessment questions, is unique. It is impossible to predict the questions that will be asked.
By the time the student has completed the assessment, ALEKS has developed a precise picture of her
knowledge of the course, knowing which topics she has mastered and which topics she hasn't. The
student's knowledge is represented by a multicolor pie chart.
The pie chart is also the student's entry into the Learning Mode. In the Learning Mode, she is offered a
choice of topics that she is ready to learn (she has the prerequisite knowledge to successfully learn these

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topics). When she chooses a topic to learn, ALEKS offers her practice problems that teach the topic.
These problems have enough variability that a student can only get them consistently correct on
understanding the core principle defining the topic. If a student doesn't understand a particular problem,
she can always access a complete explanation. Once she can consistently get the problems for a given
topic correct, ALEKS considers that the student has learned the topic and the student chooses another
topic to learn. As the student learns new topics, ALEKS updates its map of the student's knowledge. The
student can observe the most current summary of what she knows and what she is ready to learn.
To ensure that topics learned are retained in long term memory, ALEKS periodically reassesses the
student, using the results to adjust the student's knowledge of the course. Because students are forced to
show mastery through mixed-question assessments that cannot be predicted, mastery of the ALEKS
course means true mastery of the course.

Educational uses and applications for Education/classroom: (How could this

app be used for education? Specific activities, examples)
ALEKS keeps server statistics that measure learning success of all students, namely how often they
succeed at learning a concept that ALEKS offers them as "ready to learn." When ALEKS determines
that a student is ready to learn an item, the student is able to learn it a very high percentage of the time.
In the small percentage of cases where the student is initially unsuccessful, the topic is presented again to
the student later on. Because of the artificial intelligence in ALEKS, students are almost always
successful at learning the material ALEKS offers them. (The level of instructor involvement doesn't
affect this.)
The Average Historical Student Learning Rates with ALEKS are ~90%

Pros/Advantages: (Short sentences, brief information)

ALEKS is fundamentally different from previous educational software. At the heart of ALEKS is an
artificial intelligence engine that assesses each student individually and continuously.
Cons/Disadvantages: (Short sentences, brief information)
Middle school students found it boring because of its design.
Summary: ALEKS is the best educational tool I`ve ever seen. The Average Historical
Student Learning Rates with ALEKS are ~90% I experienced this rate in my all classes. You do not need
to create question assignments. ALEKS does everything for you. You just need to check you student
improvement. Also, ALEKS does not stop at specific level. Your students keep learning continuously.

Tags or Keywords:
ALEKS
ATTACH PICTURES: (Logo or screenshots)

Developed by Dr. Bulent Dogan, EdTechPeople.com