How to Find the Right Maths Edtech for Your Class, and Measure its Success

There’s an extensive range of maths edtech available, so how do you find and choose the one that will best suit your class and your personal teaching style?

And furthermore, how can you measure its success?

In this guide, we’ll walk you through the steps to identify the best Edtech for your class, from conducting thorough research and seeking insights from colleagues to implementing an experimental phase and assessing its impact.

Identifying the Problem that Maths Edtech Can Solve

What is the Current Challenge You’re Facing?

Before diving into the sea of edtech options, it’s essential to pinpoint the current challenges you face as it corresponds to the full learning cycle. Are you struggling to see knowledge gaps aligned to the curriculum? Are students struggling with numeracy improvement suggesting you need help with tailored instruction? Is engagement a significant issue and do you need help with purposeful practice tools? Understanding these core problems can help narrow down the tools that will be most beneficial.

To identify your current challenge, you can:

1. Conduct surveys or informal interviews with your students to gather their perspectives on areas where they feel they need more support or find current methods less effective.
2. Analyse past assessment data and identify recurring patterns where students consistently underperform, highlighting specific problem areas.
3. Collaborate with fellow educators to discuss common classroom challenges and potential reasons behind these difficulties, providing a broader viewpoint and shared experiences.
4. Review the EP High Impact Edtech Buyers Guide for Heads of Mathematics 

Is Edtech the Right Solution?

Not every problem requires a technological solution; sometimes, traditional methods or minor adjustments in teaching strategies could suffice.

For example, if the issue is about individual learning paces, edtech that offers individualised instruction might be beneficial. However, if the issue is more about classroom management, other strategies might be more appropriate.

Consider the following before deciding on an edtech solution:

1. Evaluate the nature of the problem: Determine if the challenge is pedagogical or logistical to decide whether technology can offer a suitable fix.
2. Assess the available resources: Ensure that the necessary infrastructure, such as devices and reliable internet, supports the edtech implementation.
3. Consider your and your students’ readiness: Gauge whether you and your students are prepared to adapt to new tech tools, requiring potential training or gradual onboarding.

How Would You Know if it’s Successful?

Defining success criteria is vital before implementing any edtech solution. Consider the specific, measurable goals that align with your educational objectives.

For example, you might:

1. Increase student engagement and class collaboration rates by tracking attendance and participation metrics.
2. Improve maths assessment scores and numeracy skills by analysing test results and skill improvement data.
3. Improve student and your satisfaction with the learning process by conducting satisfaction surveys and gathering feedback.

Researching Edtech Solutions

Finding the right edtech solution requires thorough research and collaboration. In this section, we’ll discuss how to leverage peer insights and online resources to make informed decisions.

Consulting with Colleagues

One of the most effective ways to gather insights on edtech tools is by consulting with your colleagues.

You can ask them questions like:

1. How has this edtech solution improved student engagement in your classroom?
2. What challenges did you encounter when implementing this tool?
3. How does the edtech align with your teaching objectives and curriculum goals?
4. Have you noticed any measurable improvements in student performance since using this tool?
5. What features of this edtech do you find most beneficial for diverse learning needs?

Analysing Online Reviews

Online reviews can provide a wealth of information about edtech tools, including user experiences and ratings.

Evaluating Maths Edtech by Features and Use Cases

You should be confident you know what the maths edtech can do and who it’s been made to serve best. The blog ’EP High Impact Edtech Buyers Guide for Heads of Mathematics’  can help with some guidance as you start your search for Edtech tools.

Things you should look out for are:

1. Whether the features solve your specific challenge
2. If it’s been successfully used by others like you before
3. Their implementation and post-implementation support and professional development offer

Experimenting with Selected Edtech

Once you’ve selected potential tools, the next step is to experiment with them in a controlled setting. This phase allows you to observe student interactions and gather initial feedback.

When experimenting, try to find:

1. Whether it’s easy for you to use, and makes sense to you
2. You can see a way it would fit in with your schedule and process
3. That you can find out how to achieve something through documentation, if the answer isn’t immediately apparent

Implementing a Classroom Trial

A classroom trial is a practical way to test the selected edtech tools in a real-world environment. This controlled experiment helps you evaluate the tool’s effectiveness and identify any operational challenges.

1. Set clear objectives for the trial period.
2. Define what metrics you’ll use to measure success.
3. Communicate the trial’s purpose and expectations to students.

This trial run offers a chance to see how students respond to the new technology and its impact on their learning experience.

Observing Student Engagement

During the trial, closely observe student engagement levels. Engagement is a critical indicator of the tool’s effectiveness in enhancing the learning experience.

You can see if students are engaged with the tech by:

1. Whether students are attentive or distracted
2. Signs of enjoyment like smiling or laughing
3. Seeing if students are exploring the tool on their own

Gathering Initial Feedback

Feedback from your students and colleagues is important, not only because it gives you an entirely new perspective on the tool of choice, but because they’ll also be the ones using it.

You can try asking questions like:

1. What was the best part of the tool?
2. What was the least enjoyable?
3. If it was this tool or nothing else, would you be disappointed or satisfied?
4. How do you see it working for you?
5. Do you think this will last in the long run?

Evaluating and Moving Forward

What you’re looking for is a tool that you feel confident using, and feels like it provides a real opportunity for your students to engage more deeply and make some real progress. Education Perfect has created  this checklist to use when considering a maths edtech solution. 

To learn more about Education Perfect Maths, feel free to book a demo or start your free trial today.