IXL Learning vs. McGraw-Hill Connect

It is great for providing students extra resources and opportunities for practice. In this case, it is extremely well suited. Moreover, since every student is different, the dynamic adjustment allows students to work through more/less problems depending on their level of mastery which can help students pinpoint areas of issues to discuss in the class. It is less appropriate for settings where a student may struggle to teach themselves as this requires some level of independence on part of the user.

Incentivized

For institutions and students who do not want to own books or engage in a majority of in-class only lecture material. Ideally it makes course material cheaper as digital assets, but some people still prefer the more tangible assets. Participants will like the product if they want a more online learning experience.

Incentivized

• Aligned to standards
• Progress monitoring
• Rigorous practice

Incentivized

• Integration with Canvas is seamless and easy to use.
• Assignment completion, for students, is straightforward and easy to use.
• The SmartBook allows students to read as they are tested with questions and this helps them learn the material easily without having first trying to read, memorize a chapter and then answer questions.

Incentivized

• Clearer explanation of scores
• When scoring - what are they comparing the range to?
• Make the platform more entertaining for younger audiences.

Incentivized

• The ebook is not a real ebook, it's really just a web page, or a series of webpages. It can only be accessed through MH Connect, therefore, when logging into the system. A real eBook would be able to be accessed as such-- on a Kindle or other e-Reader, or on a desktop eBook reader. The interface for this is also not very dynamic, just kind of obnoxious and Web 1.0.
• Limited learning tools beyond simple exercises, at least from what I saw.
• Terrible customer service. Long wait times with representatives who do not seem to understand their own product and cannot seem to answer very basic questions.
• Hard to get resolution for basic problems.

There is quite a steep learning curve in effectively navigating the site and using the resources. MGH seems to discourage integration with other sites, by only allowing links to their site rather than full assignment integration with grade pass back. Resources for teachers and students is good, but presentation format is different than many other programs, forcing both to learn another system.

Incentivized

Personally, I did not encounter McGraw-Hill support. However, I worked with colleagues who needed support and were able to receive in a timely manner. Overall, McGraw Hill Connect is user-friendly (at least from teacher interface) and easy to navigate, which minimizes the need to reach out for support. The help button is useful and provides plenty of immediate support.

Incentivized

IXL is the best for easy to find practice for math standards. Freckle has more in depth features and integrates with other Renaissance products well, but can be hard to learn or use. Prodigy is a fun math game platform that works well for extra student practice or learning, but isn't as targeted as IXL

Incentivized

McGraw-Hill is the most user-friendly and teacher-friendly for students and teachers. McGraw-Hill provided the online portion of learning that helped teachers provide the resources to students that were needed. Additionally, even though McGraw-Hill is wordy in its descriptions in the workbooks it was the least "wordy" of the other options provided to teachers, such as, Go Math.

Incentivized

• It has allowed our students to be remediated or enriched on a much easier basis without having to come up with ideas for them.

Incentivized

• Improved efficiency from analysts looking to speed up the time it takes to do certain tasks.
• Less waste on searching and researching how to do certain concepts.
• Negative impact is use by individuals that can learn better through other methods that don't require activities.

Incentivized