Freckle by Renaissance vs. Schoolmint Hero

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.

Hero is a great time saver for any busy school administrator. Students are able to use technology to earn positive points and also track and manage their own discipline. It is user-friendly and adaptable to the specific needs of the school. I love writing my own tracking codes and setting the action thresholds.

Incentivized

• Freckle does a great job adapting lessons.
• Freckle does a great job motivating students and participation.
• Freckle is very interactive with students and teachers to support continued participation.
• Freckle provides DOK challenge questions that support students' understanding after standards are met.
• Student inquiry and problem-based questions are also new additions to Freckle that help support led activities.

• Allows ALL students to earn points at the push of a button.
• Connects with infinite Campus so student schedules and info are always accurate on the Hero site.
• Allows teachers to create their own groups for after school programs or even small groups in their classrooms.

• 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.

• Hero had the Hero Homeroom where teachers could collaborate and receive rewards but that was discontinued. I think that a similar reward system for those who are supposed to be inputting information would be helpful, where consistency for the required input is rewarded. For example: teachers were to be recording points for all their students every period every day - if they received points for completing their input & could then choose to spend those points on rewards that would help encourage participation to make it more successful overall.
• Too hands-off in making sure that implementation is as successful as possible.
• Too techie for non-tech savvy people.

Incentivized

Freckle is an excellent educational tool. The platform supports students and provides them with the opportunity to be successful in mathematics.

It is a great product

user friendly

Incentivized

again. for the day to day usage, adding points is a bit of a chore but I keep doing it because the students respond

Incentivized

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

Incentivized

Someone is always available. I like being able to call, chat, or email as needed. There are also a lot of tutorials and webinars provided. Hero does a good job of providing tools for onboarding new users and customers as well. It is easy to find whatever information you are looking for.

Incentivized

We use Freckle because we are already using Renaissance for accelerated reading. These two programs compliment each other. The students are able to go back and forth between programs very easily. This makes my job as a teacher so much easier. When students are comfortable with a program, they become more independent. This builds much needed confidence.

We used a tardy tracking system a couple years ago but it wasn't as efficient as Hero. It did not keep track of any positive behaviors. I don't remember the name of the system but I know it only focused on the negative behaviors and giving out consequences for those negative behaviors.

Incentivized

• I used Freckle in the free version and was very pleased with the opportunities it offered my students and the engagement is achieved.
• I currently use Freckle premium and continue to enjoy the benefits that Freckle provides to my student's growth, more so it now provides weekly reports and other analytical reports to support students.

• Definitely worth the money. The kids are happy, they're using the program as often as they can, and they appreciate the opportunity to be rewarded for their good behavior.
• We've been able to sustain a store, and that's super awesome. I know we wouldn't be able to without the help of Hero and the ways in which we keep the hype.
• I think I need more help with teacher adoption. We have a lot of initiatives at our school, so we're trying to take on a little more than we can chew at this point. We're getting there though!