Freckle by Renaissance vs. Kahoot!

Freckle is a fantastic online learning platform. I think it works well in multiple learning environments. Last year I used Freckle in a distance learning model and this year on individual iPads in class. I love that it is a quick platform to assess student achievement. I haven't experienced a scenario where Freckle would fail however, lack of access to the internet is always a factor.

In my encounters with Kahoot, It is a great thing that Kahoot gets attendees to listen and interact during webinar sessions. It helps presenters ensure that people are listening and learning something. With Kahoot, it is easier to convey messages and learnings during webinars as attendees look forward to answering all questions right during Kahoot time.

Incentivized

• “Kids don’t care what you know until they know that you care.”
• One of the very first things I learned my first five years of teaching, except that student teaching does not really prepare you, is that it is my job to help my students succeed, not to just give them a grade. In the beginning, I taught the lesson, assigned work, administered tests, and took grades. I did that because that is how we are supposed to determine efficiency. Right? No, Wrong. I learned this the hard way and, sadly and regrettably, at the expense of my students at that time. Over time, I noticed how sometimes it took re-teaching along with small group instruction and interventions for students to understand and master the concepts. Since then, I have allowed for them to fix, re-do, and re-re-do their work, as needed.
• I focus on my interventions just as much as I do my initial teaching of the objective. Making sure that they truly understand and master the content before moving on to another objective helps me just as much as it helps them. It saves me from continually re-teaching. Slow and steady does win the race. This approach allows me to help the student master objectives with more efficiency.
• Accelerated Math has allowed for me to individualize my instruction and interventions. I love this program. Truly! I have three types of students; above, on target, and below. This program allows for growth in each area. However, I have found the most growth in my bottom quartile. Why? I believe it is because I am able to recognize a problem or issue with a particular objective immediately. I, then, can address that issue immediately before the bad habits or wrong approach is repeated.
• This program is masked as a whole-group classroom approach, however, the most important components are found under the mask. One-on-one instruction is how I describe it to educators. My students are actively engaged in their own learning. They are also actively engaged in the learning of their peers, as well. I use a lot of peer tutoring techniques. They have access to knowing who is also working on mastering the same objective(s) they are working on plus they know who has already mastered said objective. This allows them to know who to go to for effective help. They are able to steer their own learning to a point. They can ask a peer or me. They can get on Accel math and look at the objective and see completed answers for a reference. This also boosts the confidence of their own understanding. They feel confident in having control of the path they want to use for gaining knowledge. Peer-tutoring and peer-discussions give them the opportunity to say out loud what they are thinking/feeling about a concept and rationalize their approach to evaluating said concept. As the teacher, I play various roles. I can teach, facilitate a small group, or just be an observer. A lot of times, I just ask open-ended questions to jump start their own questions.
• Accel Math has assisted my math classrooms with tremendous gains. My test scores have gone up significantly. My students have a greater sense of accomplishment since they have been given the "driver's seat" for their own learning. This makes my heart smile! ;)

• Useful for either, in-person or online classes: it can work from a projector or screen in in-person classes, or by sharing the screen in online classes.
• Excellent to get an idea of the understanding or knowledge level of a group of people: depending on the intention of the game, the professor or person in charge of it can make and change the questions to address certain points.
• Easy to use for both professors and students: Kahoot is intuitive, simple, and fun to use.
• Interactive and engaging: Kahoot is a game designed to work as a tool for professors, which makes it perfect to use with students.

Incentivized

• My students get bored with just answering questions the whole time. They complain about having to get on to Freckle.
• I would like to see open ended or open response questions.
• I would like for Freckle to be able to assess fluency.

• They can add more ways to perform quizzes.
• The site is not very simple to find your way through. It is uploaded with so much data; therefore it would be good if they can organize it a little bit.
• It would be good to give free templates to free users to attract them.

I have used Freckle for a long time, even before the premium version. If my district were not to renew the program, I would utilize the free options as a digital tool to assess standards. Love it

As a tech savvy person, I found Accelerated Math to be easy to learn. There are a ton of options to display your data and integrate your students learning abilities into the program. It can, however, be a little overwhelming for a tech beginner and if they don't have someone to walk them through the initial steps and get them started, I can imagine it might be difficult for them to get going.

The site's currently layout feels busy. If you are not a seasoned Kahoot user, it is easy to be distracted and overwhelmed by the information presented. I would not recommend this site to a novice computer user. If the user is tech-savvy and willing to navigate the help topics provided by the site, lessons and games can be created more easily with time and practice.

Incentivized

It is consistently available with outages planned and communicated well in advance. The outages also seem to be planned to provide the least disruption to teachers.

Incentivized

It is easy to use and understand. Students have no difficulty finding their way around, and teachers easily understand the reports and data.

Incentivized

Such an excellent program that is a hidden gem at no cost for teachers to use with students.

Incentivized

The information that Kahoot shares on its blog and support center is updated frequently and provides many ideas for ways to use the platform. I have personally received timely support from Kahoot for any issues I have encountered. Their dedication to their users is amazing. The company is incredibly receptive to suggestions or ideas from their community.

Incentivized

I like the support I receive with Renaissance Accelerated Math. I like that I can quickly and easily print the problems I need for interventions. I like the hands-on lessons with Engage but it is too scripted for my tastes. I gave up on I-Ready years back because it was too complex. I still use Moby for filling in gaps. I use Study Island for my higher students after they work through Renaissance Accelerated Math.

Kahoot is better for my competitive students, they love seeing their name constantly on the leaderboard. Kahoot has more lessons to chose from and my students simply like it more than Quizizz. Quizizz is good for more formal assessments, while Kahoot is better for more whole review of content. Both are appropriate in different situations!

Incentivized

If there is going to be an outage for service, Renaissance does a great job of communicating that well in advance to allow the faculty to plan accordingly.

Incentivized

• Thanks to the practices, exercises, and tests, by end of year 85% of my students will be on grade level or above and those who struggle will make significant growth.
• I like that I can quickly assess and fix misconceptions with a quick print out of a couple of problems.

• We use the free version so there is definitely ROI for us.
• It provides easy access to a quiz feature without having to use complicated software.
• So many people are using it now that some students seem to be getting a little "over it."

Incentivized