Teaching IXL in the Classroom

Jessica C Ciolkosz

Saint Marys University of Minnesota

Schools of Graduate and Professional Programs

Portfolio Entry for Wisconsin Teacher Standard 4

EDUW 692 Technology and Communication

Instructor Jeanine Gelhaus

Spring Term 2017

Research Summary: The focus for my video project are Juniors and Seniors in my College
Algebra courses. Most of these students do not struggle in Math or many of the thoughts
process involving problem solving, however, they struggle with the idea that Math does not have
to be hard. The area I am focusing on is teaching a type of technology that would give interest
and a use of learning for these students. This project includes twenty-three students.

Wisconsin Teacher Standard 4: Teachers know how to teach. The teacher understands and
uses a variety of instructional strategies, including the use of technology, to encourage
childrens development of critical thinking, problem solving, and performance skills.

CC Math Standard: Linear, Quadratic, and Exponential models F-LE

Construct and compare linear, quadratic, and exponential models and solve
problems
1. Distinguish between situations that can be modeled with linear functions and
with exponential functions.
a. Prove that linear functions grow by equal differences over equal
intervals, and that exponential functions grow by equal factors over equal
intervals.
b. Recognize situations in which one quantity changes at a constant rate
per unit intervalrelativeto another.
c. Recognize situations in which a quantity grows or decays by a constant
percent rate per unit interval relative to another.

2. Construct linear and exponential functions, including arithmetic and geometric

sequences, given a graph, a description of a relationship, or two input-output pairs
(include reading these from a table).
 3. Observe using graphs and tables that a quantity increasing exponentially
eventually exceeds a quantity increasing linearly, quadratically, or
(more generally) as a polynomial function.

4. For exponential models, express as a logarithm the solution to abct = d where a,

c, and d are numbers and the base b is2, 10, or e; evaluate the logarithm using
technology.

Wisconsin Teaching Standard 4 and the last part of the Common Core Math Standard is what I
am focussing on for this project. The students have not yet started to learn about logarithms
which is why I picked this class as my subjects. These students are quick witted, and use each
others and earlier Math knowledge, to help figure out problems that they do not understand. I
was curious to find out what they knew before and then again after.

Targeted Learning Objective: My goal is to increase their knowledge of logarithms from basic
problem solving to more complex problems as in expanding and contracting logarithm problems
while showing interest in doing the math.

Research the Problem: The real answer I am trying to find is the answer to this question:
What type of technology can I teach my High School Math students that they dont already
know? I started to then look online for different computer or phone apps the would be available
for all of my students to use.

I came across Khan Academy which is a program that helps to teach the information with the
use of You-tube videos. Khan Academy is a useful resource, but not quite what I was looking
for. I wanted something with more problems to work through. I would certainly use Khan
Academy for an extra source to help present information to my students if I felt that I could not
do the topic justice, or if I thought another presenter could explain the topic better.

I also happened upon Wolfram Alpha. What an amazing source of information! This site
contains so much data that it would be fun to sit and explore all the areas in science and in
math. Again, an excellent resource for help as needed, but not what I was hoping to find.

The whole time I was searching, IXL was at the back of my mind. I had used this program
before and knew of the selection of practice problems that are available and really like the
accessibility for my students. I then talked with other teachers in the building along with the
students in my classes and very few, if any, had heard of IXL. To me, this would be the perfect
fit piece of technology to teach to my students.

Explain the Technology: IXL is a computer program that can either be purchased or not
purchased for use at school and home. Being that IXL is located online, anyone with internet
access can use the program. Of course, if the program is purchased there are definitely more
perks to the program especially for the teacher (examples being USABLE data).
IXL has many opportunities to be used in a classroom; from Science, Social Studies, and
Language Arts, to Math. Along with the different subject areas, each subject is broken down by
grade level and topic of study. In each section of IXL there are 100s to 1,000s of questions.

With IXL I plan on allowing some class time to work on the program to practice the skills that we
are studying at the given time. I will also explain to the students that they are also allowed to
work on IXL at home if they would like. I envision the use of this program to be a success and
as an extra tool for practice problems to help the students build their confidence in math.

Hypothesis: I believe that if used with the right intent, IXL can be a powerful tool. The
repetitiveness of the problems, the multitude of examples, and the explanations given after the
questions with wrong answers are all reasons why I think that IXL will be a great benefit to my
classroom learning. My hypothesis: By using IXL in my classroom, my students will quicken
their logarithm problem solving skills by recognizing the different forms of logarithm problems.
Pre-Assessment: Through discussion, the students had no idea what a logarithm was at all.
They thought I was speaking a foreign language. Of the 23 students, two had recognized that
they had seen a logarithm problem on their STAR test.

Lesson Plan: The plan for the students is to use the technology in class for repetition of
logarithm problems so that they are able to understand the problems and become quicker at
solving the given problem. A student that would be considered proficient will be able to solve
logarithm problems written in either form: logarithmic or exponential. The student will get better
than 80% on the selected problems. A student that does not recognize the difference between
the two forms will not be considered proficient.

Video Lesson: Since no one in the class has ever used IXL, I thought that it would be a great
program to use. I have used the program before in previous teaching and really enjoyed some
of the pieces but felt frustration in others.

To start off, I signed up for a free 30 day trial. With this trial, I can sign in up to 90 students with
usernames and passwords (I could have used the IXL generic passwords, but I wanted to make
it the same all across the board). By signing up for the free trial, I as teacher, will get wonderful
data that I can use for the classroom. Different achievement awards will be sent to my email
and I will also have a teacher Dashboard in where I can see what problems are worked on, by
whom, and how long they were working. I can also tell which students are working on the
program at home by the color coded bar graph.

The video shows me explaining the IXL program to my students in my 6th hour College Algebra
course. These students had Dell laptops to use in the classroom as I went over the program
using my computer and Smartboard. After I explained the program, I allowed the rest of the
class time to work on IXL, as I listened to the tidbits of feedback the students were sharing with
each other.
Post Assessment: Overall, the students enjoyed IXL. They liked the setup of the program, the
ease to get to the questions they were assigned to work on, and the immediate feedback if the
response was correct or incorrect. Some of the students took the time to read the follow-up if
they had the incorrect answer so that they could get the following questions correct. Some of
the students just guessed as they wanted to first learn the information during our note taking in
class.

What did not work was the allotment of time given to the students. While some of them were
working hard and finding success, those that werent finding as much success became more
frustrated and found other areas in IXL that gave them more success. They were still working
on Math, just not at the correct age level or problems that would challenge them.

My next step, for the students, is continue the use of IXL for the month to have the students
enjoy a different way of learning their higher level Mathematics.

Summarize the Learning:

What type of technology can I teach my High School Math students that they dont already
know? My goal is to increase their knowledge of logarithms from basic problem solving to more
complex problems as in expanding and contracting logarithm problems while showing interest in
doing the math. Using the IXL program with repetition of practice problems and explanations
when the questions are incorrect, the students began to get an understanding of logarithms
without even being explained what a logarithm problem looked like. This program is a self
paced learning program that is meant to help the individual student do their best. My students
began to understand the use of logarithm to solve exponential problems.

The scores on the Google Sheets and on the graph show that their knowledge of logarithms did
increase. The blue dot shows each class average before IXL. The red line shows the ending
test results. The last point on the line being the class average. The other lines on the graph are
the individual students and their learning.

Technology in this case did make a difference in my students. The incorporation of the
technology made the basic, dreaded, Math class a more fun and tolerable experience. While
playing on the computer, the students were learning the topic at hand. Some of them
wandered into other areas to study but were, seemingly unknowingly, still answering Math
problems and studying. I believe that the data supports the use of IXL in the classroom and can
be useful in other areas of learning as well.

I plan on sharing this IXL program to other staff in the building in hopes that they too will find it a
useful tool to have in their classroom. With the many options of learning that IXL has, even as
the free tool, the teachers can really add some different types of learning strategies into the
everyday information.
References:

KhanAcademy|FreeOnlineCourses,Lessons&Practice
https://www.khanacademy.org/

Wolfram|Alpha: Computational Knowledge Engine

https://www.wolframalpha.com/

IXL|Math,LanguageArts,Science,andSocialStudiesPractice
https://www.ixl.com/

Artifacts:

1. Spreadsheet
2. Graph of the Data
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/19K13YExnGqvBnKH_hRy8pvJHlDp9qGM4zDScs-SX
Eaw/edit#gid=0