Many math classes this year are undergoing a big change; Algebra I, Algebra II, Calculus and some Geometry classes are going bookless and moving their homework online.
Common Core, the national standards for English and Math, changed and the math classes at LHS got new textbooks. Because of this, most teachers decided this year was the year to move online.
“Everything is so technological these days. It was good to just get rid of the books. It’s easy. You don’t need a book. Anytime you have internet you can do it,” Mrs. Hillary Gooris, an Algebra II teacher, said.
Although going online is a huge change, it also provides extra help that wasn’t available when homework was in the textbook. Examples, instructions on how to solve a certain type of problem and online book accessibility are just three of many tools students can use when they are having trouble with homework.
“I’ve been getting a lot of positive feedback. It seems that more students like it than not. I think with anything you’re always going to get some unhappy people. As people get used to it, they’ll realize all the sources it has.” Mrs. Gooris said.
According to Mrs. Gooris, one of the most useful tools on Math XL, the website being used for online homework for her class, is the ability to check work. Students are able to solve the problem, type in the answer and see if they have the correct answer. However, there can also be a limit to the number of tries that are allowed per problem, which can hurt a student’s grade if they don’t understand the problem or section. If a student gets a problem wrong, they can try until they run out of attempts; after that, they can choose to try a similar problem for full credit.
Using technology for school can sometimes cause problems if a student has trouble connecting to internet, finding a computer to work on if they don’t have one at home or dealing with problems with the software used.
“It’s worked pretty well so far. There were a few bugs getting people logged in but that was pretty much it. They were all worked out by the second assignment and I thought that was pretty good,” Mrs. Gooris said.
However, not all students have liked the online homework. Senior Jenny Pahng requested a regular textbook because of her difficulty dealing with the online textbook. “I tried using the online textbook but it was frustrating and hard. It was really small and I like having the questions right in front of me,” she said.
Pahng said she had many friends who also were frustrated with the online textbook; teachers began offering regular textbooks in response to the complaints.
Becca Smrz, a sophomore in Algebra II said it can sometimes be inconvenient to have online homework, especially athletes, who may have to stay at a game or tournament late. “When I’m at a sports game and I have free time to work on homework, I don’t have a computer with me… it’s hard to get a computer to work on.” Smrz said.
Although Smrz said it can be difficult to access the online homework, she also said that it was easy to navigate.
Mr. Tim Roegner said that although this year some math classes are going almost completely online with homework, there are many other classes that have online homework. Many Spanish classes have required vocabulary testing online and some classes use online videos to replace learning a subject in class.
