Castle Learning Online

Justifying The Cost of Castle Learning Online As a Curriculum Tool
by Patti Sullivan, Learning Through Technology Coordinator
Hilton Central School District, Hilton, NY

As Learning Through Technology Coordinator for our district, I was the primary person responsible for the trial implementation of Castle Learning Online last year. Now that I have some experience with Castle Learning Online, here is how I justify the cost to administration:

Instant feedback - Students know right away whether they are correct or wrong. This provides immediate learning for those who want to learn. The hints and information for each question are great learning tools that students can use with or without the teacher. When I surveyed the students, this was the feature they liked best.
Independent review - Students will go online and do their own practice sessions. I have one girl who isn't officially enrolled with any teacher, yet she has been on Castle Learning Online already for 29 sessions. She's my 3rd highest student user!
Real Regents questions - It's our hope that by having students use actual Regent's questions throughout the year, they will be familiar with the format and the types of questions, and will be able to process the question better to spend more time on the actual solution. This was the second feature most liked by students.
Teacher time - Castle Learning Online is fairly easy to set up and monitor. Teachers can let the computer give the feedback and scores. The teacher can focus on evaluating trends in class responses to see what topic areas need more review time for a class as a whole. Why review content they already grasp? They can even look at individual student progress for students who need extra help, a great asset for at-risk students.
More time on task - Reality: Students don't like to review and they don't like to take tests. Most students prefer doing the online questions partly for the ease of use as well as the instant feedback. The Internet is a part of their lives; something most of them have grown up with. They also like the flexibility of working on the assignments at school or at home. They can have the flexibility of answering part of the questions and then going back to answer the rest. By making review less painful, students are more willing to use Castle Learning Online independently.
Ongoing review - Most teachers tend to spend a majority of review time at the end of the year. Review can be an ongoing process of all learned topics throughout the year. We hope this will also reduce some test anxiety. Ongoing review will hopefully keep information fresh for the students so less time needs to be spent reviewing at the end of the year.
They like it! - I have the flexibility of working with many teachers and have access to various labs in the High School. Both teachers and students have responded enthusiastically to Castle Learning Online. How refreshing it is to have students who like to review!