following letter quoted from Carrick High School:

I have been using the Algebra Tutors for three years now and they will never cease to amaze me. Until I actually worked on the computers I had a good bit of skepticism about them and how they would work in an actual classroom of "inner city high school kids". My first experience was in a workshop prior to school and even though I was impressed they still had to pass the "kid" test.

The Algebra students took to the machines as if they were brought up with them. The "kids" had an unwritten respect for the machines and it's capabilities. Gone are the phrases "this is too hard -I can't do this," instead I hear, "...how do you do this -why is this wrong." They interact with me and each other in a way that I rarely see in the traditional classroom setting. I have the opportunity to respond to their individual needs and to explain many things that are algebra, math, computer, or life related. They accept the fact that they are incorrect when the tutor tells them. The tutor provides them with hints relative to their mistake giving necessary immediate feedback. They often say that they would rather do it on the computer because it's "easier". Their faces get a happy smile when they enter the room on "computer days" and it appears to me that some always come on "computer days".

I would like to applause John Anderson and his staff in making a viable tutor for my students to use. It is not a game but presents interesting and challenging problems to the students so that they are kept busy for the entire class. Even though I am not knowledgeable in the data that the program keeps on each individual student it provides me with enough feedback to make an accurate estimate of the students progress at any time. The tutor has made my teaching easier and yet more meaningful. I can now relate classroom procedures to the computers and see the students faces a concrete connection to the Algebra that I teach and the Algebra they do on the computer.


Sincerely,


Maxine Malloy
Math Teacher, Carrick High School