<p>Hi everybody~
I feel that I'm a year behind in math (due to a series of unfortunately placed moves and vacations) and to catch up, I'm determined to take an Algebra 2 class over the summer. For reasons unknown to me, my district has decided not to fund this specific class, so summer school is no longer an option. Can anybody recommend an online school (preferably on the cheaper side) that offers single (summer) courses, and that I can still apply to(do they have deadlines or limited space)?
Thanks a bunch!</p>
<p>Aleks.com is wonderful, inexpensive, and you schedule whenever you want. It’s entirely self-paced, so you have to actually get around to it. It’s also entirely online, with no teacher, but there are printed explanations of how to do the various items. If you’re willing to go through it by yourself, and don’t need prodding, I can’t say enough good about it. They aren’t an accredited school, but if your high school is willing to be cooperative, Aleks provides awesome grade reports. Many schools use it, so your high school probably will be willing to consider it.</p>
<p>They’ll provide a free assessment (online) and it’s a complete (though dry) program.</p>
<p>Aleks is a superb, beautifully implemented, fantastic example of an… automated workbook. It lacks beauty and joy of math, but is fantastic at what it does:
- explains how to do each topic,
- keeps track of what the student knows and doesn’t know,
- doesn’t teach what the student already knows,
- allows the student to choose from several topics to work on,
- is almost entirely word problems, so there’s no multiple choice guessing and the problems are somewhat in context, and
- has occasional assessments to make sure the student retains the information.</p>
<p>Apparently many schools use Aleks as their math-teaching method, and as their incoming student assessment method, but I’m not sure about this. It is inexpensive - $20 / month with no contract - and offers a free trial (only a few hours).</p>
<p>The assessments of knowledge are the heart of this wonderful system. It determines what the student a) knows, b) is ready to learn, and c) isn’t ready to learn yet. If it determines that you know something, it doesn’t make you repeat the topic, but only teaches what you don’t know. It gives the student the choice of several topics that can be learned at any moment, yet keeps track of the entire body of knowledge. </p>
<p>This is not a program that grants credit, but a product for working independently that is more dynamic and interactive than working your way through a printed textbook. It will make lovely printable copies of assessments for your records.</p>