Study Island vs. Udacity

Over all, I was very impressed with my experience using Study Island. I think that it provides a great resource for teachers of larger groups of students. On the other hand, it may not be as worthwhile of an investment in a small group or individual student level. All in all, kids love this program, and it provides teachers with an in-depth look at how a child is progressing or understanding the content/standard being covered in the Study Island activity. The colors are fun, the graphics are fun, and the questions are nicely organized and customizable.

Incentivized

It's suited well to support on developing a project and following a set curriculum to get things and material in order. Also it has the idea of a nano-degree as the mini-certification to focus on working through a program over a course of a few months. It's more of an interactive course and best for having access for a set period of time. It helps to prepare well for exams but less beneficial when it comes to more applications I find, and should not be used to supplant any resource, but to use in conjunction with.

Incentivized

• Fun user-friendly format.
• Engaging games for students.
• Easy to navigate for all teachers, regardless of their familiarity with computers.

Incentivized

• Courses are very high quality and updated regularly.
• Instructors and Mentors are available for live tutoring.
• Relevant projects are assigned in order to keep learning material fresh and top of mind.

Incentivized

• The program would be great with seasonal games.

Incentivized

• Slack channels were a little disorganized.
• The prices are a little bit higher compared to other platforms.
• Some courses and tooling for the projects were outdated.

Incentivized

For the most part, site usability is great. I would say the only shortcoming from my end was when I needed support. Support responses were typically very slow, the few times I needed it.

Incentivized

I didn't personally have any issues with the program, but scheduling time to review the final project was easy, and the assistant was pleasant to work with.

Incentivized

I didn't choose Study Island over Renaissance Accelerated Math. Study Island doesn't offer the in-depth review of standards over and over like Renaissance Accelerated Math does. Plus, Renaissance Accelerated Math also makes them wait 2 weeks then re-introduces the standards they have mastered to make sure they still have that mastery, and if they don't, it makes them re-do that standard.

Incentivized

I combined my learning from various platforms and did on exclusively reply on any one. However, the free courses in Udacity lacks the comprehensiveness as Coursera.

Incentivized

• It has put teachers on the same page since we are all using the same platform
• It has improved student test scores and retention
• It has given us a platform to create and give student assessments in a fun way outside the typical classroom setting

Incentivized

• I am already in a great position as a CTO with a great company. I hope to be able to build some new technology with what I am learning, but I haven't applied any of it yet to my own real-world problems. I will though.

Incentivized