Using IXL to Differentiate Learning

Differentiation in the classroom means that the teacher is adjusting learning so that everyone can learn to the best of their abilities. This means adapting the pace and style of learning at times to make sure that it is equitable to all.

IXL is a tool that is perfect for just that. It is an online quiz system that personalizes learning to each student. It targets topics that kids needs to work on and collects data so that teachers know where they are at as well and then proceeds to give the teacher suggestions. This allows a teacher to assign topics that a student needs to work on to help the learning go more at their pace. It also gives videos along the way to help kids learn the topic better and allow them to experience multiple ways to learn a topic. After the videos, it gives a quiz that allows students to practice their knowledge. Their score increases as they get questions right and then decreases if they get one wrong but then explains it so that they can see what they did wrong. They keep going until they get a certain score at which IXL says they mastered a topic.

This offers great differentiation options in the classroom as it allows the teacher to give kids quizzes that they need to slow down their learning to help them learn a topic better or speed it up to continue to stimulate learning. This is a great tool for teachers as it helps any kid at whatever pace they learn at so everyone gets challenged but at a level that they can handle.

This is a breakdown of what a teacher sees after their students take a quiz as they see the class breakdown and the individual breakdown.

This is an example of a social studies quiz question on IXL. It even has an audio option so that everyone can get read to a person to help differentiate the learning for someone who might struggle reading a little.

I would use this tool especially in a middle school social studies classroom as they have a ton of materials for this age level. I would use it to add on to the curriculum I teach in the classroom and to help support the learning so that kids can go back and cover topics if they were a little lost and also to help gauge the progress students are making. This will add great depth and differentiation in learning in the classroom.

Pros

One pro is that it gives individualized feedback and suggestions for each student to make sure that they maximize their learning.

Another pro is that IXL has an audio option to hear questions so that students that struggle reading have an option to still maximize their learning so that reading doesn't hinder their progress.

Cons

One con is that IXL does cost quite a bit of money so that will hinder which teachers are able to use it if their school does not have a subscription to it.

Another con is that IXL is a quiz based system so this might make it a little hard to incorporate initially, but once a teacher does it well, it is a great tool to enhance differentiation.