Maths Online

www.mathsonline.co.uk

KS3 (Years 7 - 9)

Mathematics

Description

Maths Online is a subscription-based website that provides access to many Key Stage 2, Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 Mathematics resources which are suitable for teacher or student use. Unlike other subscription websites aimed at Key Stage 3 or Key Stage 4, this website only contains Mathematics resources. Links are provided to the other online Curriculum areas developed by the same publisher.

The online resources contained in the website are divided into six main areas: the Resource Area; Games Room; Worksheet Library; Study Room; News Pages; and Special Features Area. In the Resources Area the user will find a large number of resources, including ICT activities, which are designed to be used within the classroom. The Games Room contains a considerable selection of interactive Maths games that enable the students to practise their Mathematics skills. In the Worksheet Library there are two types of worksheet: interactive computer worksheets created using Flash, and printable worksheets in Acrobat format. The Study Room holds only those activities previously selected by the teacher for use by the students. News items with a mathematical content are found in the News Area of the website.
The Special Features section of the website contains interactive resources that enable the users to visualise mathematical concepts.

The website covers the majority of topics from the Key Stage 3 Mathematics Curriculum, including useful examples from Using and Applying Mathematics. There is a smaller number of resources suitable for Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4 students within the website.

From the initial web page, teachers can enter a unique user name and password that gives access to the whole of the Mathematics website. Teachers have the option to set up a student user name and password to restrict student access to the Study Room with its pre-selected activities.

Supporting Documentation

With each online activity contained in the website there are concise instructions for loading and running the exercises. Included within the website are suggestions on how to best use resources in the classroom.

Technical Support

There are sufficient instructions showing the teacher or student how to use the materials and online activities, although the materials themselves are self-explanatory. On the initial page of the website there is a free tour of some of the resources available within the website and the opportunity for users to sign up for a free seven-day trial. The website contains the publisher’s fax, email and telephone contact details.

Purpose of the Program

The purpose of the website is to provide online activities and resources which are relevant to the Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 Mathematics Curriculum. The website supports the teacher by providing many different types of teaching materials. These materials include lesson plans, ICT activities, worksheets, computer simulations and interactive computer games.

In practice, the teacher may find the website’s activities useful for consolidation purposes after a particular topic has been covered in the normal classroom environment. The website could also be used for revision purposes or perhaps to introduce a new topic via an innovative ICT approach.

Curriculum Relevance

The website provides materials and activities that are relevant to all Key Stage 3 and Key Stage 4 Mathematics courses.

Extent

The website contains comprehensive coverage of the majority of Mathematics topics found at Key Stage 3 and also several topics from Key Stage 2 and Key Stage 4. Although many elements of the Handling Data Attainment Target are addressed within the website, a number of topics are not currently included, for example, although mean and median are covered, mode is not. In fact, most of the National Curriculum for Key Stage 3 is covered in some depth, but the user should not expect a resource for every topic from each Attainment Target.

Appropriateness

All the activities and teaching resources contained in the website are appropriate for use in either Key Stage 3 or Key Stage 4 Mathematics courses.

Quality

The quality of the content of the website is excellent – the online teaching materials and ICT activities are relevant and accurate.

The teacher is unable to select or alter the level of difficulty of the onscreen activities. Differentiation can only be achieved by the teacher selecting different activities for a particular student or groups of students.

There is a large amount of reading involved in accessing the website and attempting the online activities, so pupils with reading difficulties may require help with the onscreen instructions.

Maths Online provides a large quantity of teaching materials suitable for Key Stage 3 Mathematics. Some Key Stage 4 activities could be useful for the more able Key Stage 3 students. The website is subscription based and the teacher can tailor student access with the Study Room feature. There are online activities which take the form of interactive games, worksheets and simulations. The printable materials are mainly lesson plans, teaching ideas, mathematical information and worksheets. The useful online activities could be used to introduce a new topic via a novel ICT approach, or strengthen and reinforce classroom-learnt skills. The website is generally easy to navigate and contains high quality resources that will interest most teachers and students.

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Product Overview

This product is distributed by Pearsons