Product Reviews - Electronic Resources for Schools

"MobyMax is one of the most complete K-8 computerized curriculums currently available. It has most of the technological and educational bells and whistles and was extremely well-designed using core and other standards."

MobyMax Product Review

Company: MobyMax, P.O. Box 392385, Pittsburgh, PA 15251, (888) 793-8331; mobymax.com. An online contact email form is available.

Price: A 12-month Teacher Pro license is $99, and an unlimited full school license is $699. Contact MobyMax for the cost of a full district license. A free sample is available, including unlimited student access with online sign up.

Audience: MobyMax is intended for K-8 school use.

Format: MobyMax is a web-based, multimedia curriculum for any technology that has an internet connection.

System Requirements: The only system requirements for MobyMax are an internet connection and browser. Of course, the newer the computers and the faster the internet access, the better.

Description: MobyMax is a personalized, blended learning curriculum for K-8 students. It is an online learning tool that includes math, vocabulary, grammar, reading, and more.

Reviewer Comments:

Installation/Access: Teacher, including homes-schooling parents, sign up, create their account, watch a short tutorial, and begin using. Enter as many students as desired, even in the free edition, then students are ready to pre-test.

Installation: A

Content/Features: MobyMax is one of the most complete K-8 computerized curriculums currently available. It has most of the technological and educational bells and whistles and was extremely well-designed using core and other standards.

The company continues to tinker with and improve the program. It has been tested and is used by a number of school districts around the country, although perhaps not quite as many as claimed by MobyMax’s enthusiastic sales hyperbole online. Mobymax claims to be able to raise student skills by 1 year after 40 hours of instruction.

Those concerned about computers replacing teachers can use MobyMax to fill holes in more conventional curriculums or to provide primary instruction and practice in specific areas such as science or reading instruction. It also has excellent potential for summer or remedial instruction. ESL instruction, and even early elementary reading instruction.

The only other thing to point out before discussing a few specifics is that MobyMax is of limited value without students receiving adequate and extensive computer time. Since MobyMax can be used at home, it also helps for students to have access to home computers.

K-8 subjects include math, reading, language arts, writing, science and test prep. Several of these subjects are broken down into subcategories, and all use current techniques. For example, science instruction, which MobyMax calls “Cognitive Skills Science,” uses thousands of cognitive skill manipulatives to teach students to be better problem solvers and critical thinkers.

Reading includes a number of topics, such as vocabulary and reading informational texts. The only subject I don’t see is specific social studies instruction.

All subjects are adaptive. MobyMax offers assessments and diagnostic tests to place students at appropriate levels and monitor progress and also includes all necessary record-keeping and reporting tools. In addition to the motivation generated when students use computers, MobyMax has games and award certificates and badges. It also provides all needed classroom management tools.

It even offers Clicker, a student response system that can be used with anything that has an internet connection, even smartphones. Messenger enables communication with students and parents via email or text messaging, and the MobyMax has another eight or nine extremely useful features that there isn’t enough space to mention here.

Content/Features Ratings: A

Ease of Use: MobyMax is designed for intuitive use and is easy for the computer literate to use. Younger students and anyone new to computers may need to spend some extra time with it.

Ease of Use Rating: A

Product Support: Online webinars and videos are available as well as phone contact and an online email contact form. Product Support Rating: A

Recommendation: MobyMax is an outstanding, well-designed, flexible curriculum, and I recommend it for any K-8 school that can provide the needed student computer access. Highly Recommended.

Reviewer: Charles Doe is a 39-year teacher, including 10 as an elementary media specialist in Hastings Area Schools in Hastings, Mich. For the last 17 years, he has written articles and reviews for Internet@Schools. His email address is charliegd@sbcglobal.net.

This section provides concise, original reviews of new or important hardware, software, websites, and electronic media that relate to the K-12 curriculum. All reviews are written by practicing educators who, in most cases, have used the software in a school environment. Where grouped into broad, age-appropriate categories, these categories should not be viewed as prescriptive. To facilitate “comparison shopping,” these reviews are highly structured. Reviewers prepare a “report card” based on a five-star scale.

MobyMax is FREE! Register at www.mobymax.com.