by Tracy Porter | Nov 6, 2025 | Math
by Tracy Porter | Sep 29, 2025 | Math, Teaching and Learning
The Real Impact of DeltaMath, Khan Academy, IXL, and Friends
If you have a student or have been a student the past 15 years, you have probably heard of various math platforms and even experienced them firsthand. With early pilots from 2008–2013, classroom integration during 2014–2019, and normalization since 2020, students are “doing math on computers” regularly. So, what effect does this have on learning mathematics?
These platforms boost success when they’re used for targeted practice, spaced review, and instant feedback-driven corrections. However, they hurt when they replace thinking with guessing, inflate confidence with endless retries, or misalign with what is taught in class.
What These Tools Can Provide
- Immediate feedback: Students learn faster when mistakes surface instantly.
- Infinite practice: Large problem banks let you drill exactly what’s weak.
- Data trails: Time-on-task, accuracy, and error categories are visible.
- Automation: Less grading overhead, more time for teaching and tutoring.
Risk: The same features enable guessing, overreliance on hints, and shallow pattern-matching.
Positive Impacts (When Used Well)
- Faster error detection: Instant “red/green” lets students correct in the moment.
- Spaced practice: Scheduled sets across weeks lock skills into long-term memory.
- Mastery targeting: You can aim drills at one skill until accuracy stabilizes.
- Low-friction reps: Short sessions are easier to sustain daily.
- Motivation by progress: Streaks, badges, and visible improvement keep students practicing.
Negative Impacts (If You Let Them)
- Guessing with unlimited tries: Accuracy climbs while understanding doesn’t.
- Hint addiction: Students click through solutions instead of attempting.
- False confidence: Scores look fine online, then collapse on paper tests.
- Misalignment: Platform problem styles don’t match classroom assessments.
- Equity & access: Patchy internet, old devices, and reloading can block progress.
- Keyboard math vs pencil math: Without written work, algebra errors never get fixed.
Let’s focus on some of these negative impacts: “Keyboard Math vs. Pencil Math” and “Guessing with Unlimited Tries”.
The Downside of “Infinite Tries” vs Handwritten Work
Unlimited tries teach students to chase green check marks instead of building a method. With endless do-overs, many slip into guess-and-click. They don’t plan, don’t write steps, and don’t diagnose where the error occurred. Platform scores then blur persistence with proficiency, because the final “correct” hides weak first-attempt accuracy. Without handwriting, the micro-skills that raise test grades—clean distribution with negatives, aligning like terms, carrying units, annotating word problems—never get practiced. On paper tests, there are no hints, no retries, and real time pressure; students trained on infinite attempts often see their accuracy collapse when they must produce a complete method once, correctly.
What is a possible solution?
Teachers can cap attempts, require written work on the problems, grade first-attempt accuracy, not just the final green check.
Common Pitfalls to Avoid
- Assigning 60 minutes of click-through “grind” with no written work
- Grading completion instead of first-attempt accuracy and retention
- Using platforms as punishment, not as targeted practice
- Accepting platform “mastery” badges as proof of paper-test readiness
Measuring Real Success (Not Just App Scores)
- First-attempt accuracy rises and stays above 80% on focus skills.
- Retention checks a week later stay within 5–10% of the original score.
- Transfer performance improves on paper tests and open-response items.
- Time to correct a known error type drops across the month.
If app metrics look great but paper tests don’t move, you have a setup problem, not a student problem.
Bottom Line
Math websites and software can accelerate success, if you set guardrails, require written work, and measure retention instead of screenshots. Use them to automate reps and surface errors quickly. Use paper to prove real understanding. Combine both, and grades move.
by Tracy Porter | Aug 14, 2023 | Math, Teaching and Learning, Testing
Unveiling the Power of Virtual Tutoring: Advantages and Effectiveness
In recent years, the education landscape has experienced a significant transformation with the rise of virtual tutoring. As technology advances, traditional learning methods are evolving to incorporate more flexible and efficient alternatives. Virtual tutoring has emerged as a powerful tool that offers numerous advantages over traditional in-person tutoring. In this blog, we will explore the effectiveness and advantages of virtual tutoring, shedding light on how this innovative approach is revolutionizing how we learn.
- Accessibility and Convenience
One of the most significant advantages of virtual tutoring is the unparalleled accessibility it provides. Students are no longer bound by geographic limitations when seeking assistance. Whether finding the right tutor for a specific subject or accessing a particular expertise, online platforms connect learners with tutors worldwide. This accessibility is especially valuable for students in remote areas or those with limited access to quality education resources.
Moreover, virtual tutoring offers unparalleled convenience. Students can schedule sessions that fit their busy lives, eliminating the need for strenuous commuting and rigid schedules. This flexibility ensures that learning can happen at the most suitable times, enhancing the quality of education and the overall learning experience.
- Personalized Learning Experience
Virtual tutoring allows for a highly personalized learning experience. Tutors can tailor their teaching methods and approaches to match individual student needs and learning styles. Through one-on-one interactions, tutors can identify areas of struggle and focus on strengthening those specific skills. This personalized approach leads to more efficient learning, as students receive targeted guidance that caters to their unique requirements.
- Technological Integration
Integrating technology in virtual tutoring brings a dynamic dimension to the learning process. Interactive tools, multimedia presentations, and digital resources can all be seamlessly incorporated into virtual tutoring sessions. This engagement keeps students motivated and helps them grasp concepts more effectively. Furthermore, technology enables tutors to employ innovative teaching methods, such as simulations and virtual labs, enhancing the overall educational experience.
- Flexibility and Customizable
The convenience of accessing personalized learning experiences from the comfort of one’s own space eliminates the barriers of geography and travel. The flexible scheduling of remote tutoring empowers students to tailor their learning to fit busy lifestyles, while the integration of technology fosters interactive and engaging sessions. Moreover, the relaxed environment of remote sessions often reduces intimidation, promoting open communication and bolstering student confidence. These collective advantages make remote tutoring a compelling option that enhances learning outcomes and aligns seamlessly with modern education’s demands.
- Comfort and Reduced Anxiety
For some students, the traditional classroom setting can be intimidating, leading to anxiety and inhibited learning. Virtual tutoring provides a more relaxed environment where students might feel more at ease asking questions and seeking clarification. This comfortable atmosphere contributes to increased confidence and improved learning outcomes.
In conclusion, virtual tutoring has emerged as a powerful force in modern education, offering numerous advantages beyond traditional learning methods. Its accessibility, convenience, personalization, and technology integration create a learning experience that is efficient, effective, and engaging. As technology advances, virtual tutoring will likely play an even more integral role in shaping the future of education, democratizing learning, and making quality education accessible to all.
by Tracy Porter | May 1, 2018 | Math, Teaching and Learning
Summer Learning—An Enrichment Opportunity
Summer school! What student or parent wants to hear that? Not too many, and that is because the term “summer school” has a negative connotation associated with it. Usually it insinuates that the student fell short during the school year and has to use the summer to make up their loss. But what about “Summer Learning”? Does this sound more favorable?
What Do Studies Show?
According to a 2010 study by the Wallace Foundation, just 25 percent of school-age children participate in a summer learning program. Why should only failing students use the summer to play catch up? Why not all students use the summer to maintain and get ahead? I suggest that parents and students see the summer downtime as an opportunity for enrichment and learning for fun, if you will. Throughout the school year, our students experience a lot of pressures from grades and distractions from other students and activities and rarely get to learn for the sake of learning and to be enriched.
In addition, numerous studies have shown that students forget a portion of what they have learned during the school year over the summer. This causes many teachers to spend a lot of time reviewing skills and delaying lessons at the beginning of the year. Students just fall behind as they try to jump back into the school year and keep up.
Nature of Learning Math
In particular, math is one subject that requires consistent practice and repetition. Could you imagine if you interrupted your workout routine for 2 months and did nothing? Surely you might experience, weight gain, muscle loss, and a decrease in cardiovascular strength. It should make sense that the same thing happens to our math skills if we don’t stay in good practice.
There are many proven benefits to summer learning. These may include students’ grades upon their return to school, their attendance, and even classroom behavior. Summer enrichment and learning programs can be found in many places in the community. MaThCliX® offers summer math lab and several enrichment classes during the summer. Math enrichment can even be practiced at home! You can visit https://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/build-math-skills/ to learn about some ways to build up math skills around the home.
by Tracy Porter | Jan 20, 2015 | Math
I have been teaching math for many years now and have taken more college math courses than I can count on my hands and toes! I remember being in the 3rd grade and winning the times tables game every time as we raced around the room. I have never struggled with fractions and computing arithmetic, nor needed to rely on my fingers to figure out problems. Is this because I have a “math gene” or I am a math whiz or some genius? The answer is no! So, why am I “good” at math and why have I always been this way? The answer is simple and I try to teach my students this continuously.
Think of math as a never ending gigantic cake with an infinite amount of layers, where each layer is necessary and preparatory for the next one. Each layer represents a skill that must be mastered before adding a new layer. So, in terms of the cake, I have mastered each layer! Well, how does one master each layer? I answer this question frequently…three most important things…I look for patterns, make connections, and I practice. Many students think that doing a few problems or watching the teacher do problems is sufficient. To this I say, NO, NO, NO! It is in the doing of the mathematics where the learning takes place.
So, what about all this talk about getting kids away from learning basic math facts, like times tables? The argument is that with computers and calculators, the need for higher level thinking is more important than just producing an answer. While I believe there is truth to this and could write a quite a bit in agreement with that statement alone, I certainly do not want to discount the importance of teaching youngsters to compute! There is evidence that suggests that students are not learning how to compute. I see it daily in my student interactions. Research suggests that youngsters who have not mastered whole-number arithmetic by the end of the fourth grade are at risk for becoming remedial math students.
I completely contribute my mathematical success to having a solid foundation with basic skills. Arithmetic is the starting point in mathematics and basic skills are necessary to advance in mathematics, which includes critical thinking, problem solving, and communication of mathematics…All things computers cannot necessarily do! Without a foundation of arithmetic and basic skills, students will not be prepared to progress to algebra in middle school, middle schoolers will not be prepared for advanced mathematics in high school and our high schoolers will go off to college ill-prepared to be successful in mathematics and in the workforce.
In my opinion and from all my experience and training, the better a child learns all the basics and recognizes patterns and makes connections, the better prepared the child will be for the next layer, and so. Every layer in mathematics is important. It is all part of one great whole!
