MobyMax-Good? Bad? or Ugly?

A breakdown of the online learning environment hitting many classrooms near you

What is MobyMax?

MobyMax is an award winning, research based online learning environment that intently focuses on determining gaps in student learning and targeting those specific learning needs. The program boasts of its effectiveness, engagement, productivity, and efficiency. While scrolling the main page of the program, educators instantly see research and credentials displayed that make the program credible and attractive to school districts, administrators, teachers, and families.

Upon logging into the website, students see a welcome screen with their name on it and then an extensive menu of skills ranging from fact fluency to vocabulary to science and social studies. Through interactive lessons, students are assessed through diagnostic assessments in various subject areas. Once data has been collected from the assessments, students are then automatically able to work on areas of weakness in order to build up grade-level skills in those areas. Teachers have the capability to tailor the instruction to state standards, as well as assign specific lessons for current units of study. Once diagnostic assessments are completed, the program generates data placing the student on their working grade-level and displaying academic gaps in the tested subject area.

Cognitive Capabilities

Cognitively, the program conforms to the needs of the learner as they progress through lessons. Whether their needs are demonstrated through a placement test or performance in assigned lessons, the program immediately steers students down the learning path that most benefits them as an individual learner. Students are motivated to perform well and try their best by earning badges and awards as they progress through lessons and play interactive learning games. They have also integrated a special education aspect of the program that consists of an “adaptive-differentiated foundational curriculum designed for the special education student to build foundational skills and master state standards” (MobyMax SPED | MobyMax, n.d.). The program is one of the only programs that helps track Individualized Education Plans (IEPs) for students receiving special education services.

Teacher Toolbox

The program generates a plethora of data reports for teachers, while also allowing for differentiated lessons to be assigned in a simple manner. Teachers are able to see learning gaps, strengths and weaknesses in grade-level skills, time spent in the program, individual goal progress, and much more. The curriculum choices on the teacher dashboard are large in number. Teachers can choose to have the diagnostic assessments drive learning or they can assign specific topics based on standards. They even have the option to upload their own spelling lists and the program will create lessons around those lists.

As a teacher, MobyMax is incredibly useful in tracking progress and targeting skills for all students, especially those receiving Response to Intervention services (RtI) and special education services. MobyMax is a great tool to help support learning and customize assignments for students. However, within the customization of assignments, teachers also have the ability to “be completely hands-off, and students can use MobyMax when they are given time for it. In short, teachers can have as much or as little involvement as needed” (MobyMax - a Complete, Standards-Aligned, K-8 Curriculum, n.d.).

Social Situations

While there is not an opportunity for peer to peer interaction within the assignments, the teacher has the ability to use the program feature called Moby Interactive to “engage in live exploration of student understanding as the whole classroom embarks on a path of discovery” (Interactive Class| MobyMax, n.d.) . This feature gives the teacher the ability to display problems from Moby Max and actively engage an entire class as they work through the curriculum. Moby Interactive allows teachers to engage all students, even those that are not physically in class that day.

The Good

I love that the program targets the huge problem in elementary education of filling gaps and catching those academic weaknesses early in the learning process. The reports and data available to the teacher are a great looking glass into areas their students are struggling and areas they are excelling. The idea that teachers have the power to use the tool in a variety of ways makes it able to be utilized in many diverse classroom settings. The activities across content areas through this one program make it extremely appealing. It’s nice for teachers of all content areas to be able to use one tool to access and unlock learning. It is also a program that is completely learner-centered. Students are working on needed skills and moving at their own speed and down their own path.

The Bad

While the program boasts of motivational awards to reward students for success, the actual content questions are sometimes pretty drab. They are very tailored to standardized testing formats, which can be a pro and a con all at once. The assessments leave little room for creativity, so I would really like to see more of that implemented through the assignments. The curriculum is very centered around test prep, and sometimes learners need a break from that in today’s high stakes testing world! I also wasn’t able to easily see how to make the assignments specific to state standards instead of Common Core standards, though the program advertised that that was an option.

Conclusion

In conclusion, I definitely would recommend this program and don't see any major ugliness to report. I have personally seen how beneficial the data from the assignments have supported student learning. Teachers and learners alike can benefit from the differentiated pathways created by the program that teach to the needs of the student. I don’t know a single classroom that doesn't want to specifically target student weaknesses to see personal growth, and I think that MobyMax is a helpful tool in reaching that goal.

References

Interactive Class| MobyMax. (n.d.). Www.mobymax.com. Retrieved February 8, 2023, from https://www.mobymax.com/interactive-class

MobyMax - A Complete, Standards-Aligned, K-8 Curriculum. (n.d.). The EdTech Roundup. http://www.edtechroundup.org/reviews/mobymax-onlinemath-and-langauge-curriculum

MobyMax SPED | MobyMax. (n.d.). Www.mobymax.com. Retrieved February 8, 2023, from https://www.mobymax.com/sped