Adaptive Learning

IXL Adds Recommendations System for Adaptive Learning Service

• By Dian Schaffhauser
• 12/14/16

An education technology company with an adaptive learning service has added a personalized recommendation feature for student use. IXL Learning's new recommendations feature is intended to guide students to resources for remediation as they work through math activities and want more practice.

The math recommendations page invites students to log in to view problems pertaining to their grade level or topic. The guidance is refreshed each time they work in IXL. They may use it to be pointed to new topics they have not practiced yet, to build on skills they are learning and to continue improving skills they need help with or that they are close to mastering.

The pointers to additional activities also surface at the bottom of the screen as students are learning new skills as a way to provide immediate opportunities for remediation.

The company said its recommendations are currently available for the 3,700 math skills available in the United States edition. Although the initial recommendations are for math, IXL's lessons for grades pre-K–12 also cover language arts, science and social studies.

"IXL has always sparked an eagerness in students to learn new things. Now, we are making this discovery process more purposeful and personal," said CEO, Paul Mishkin, in a statement. "IXL's recommendations offer students a choose-your-own adventure in which all paths lead them to becoming confident, self-directed learners."

IXL offers licensing of the service for educators and another one for parents. The educator program pricing requires contact with the company. In the parent program a single subject for one child is $9.95 per month; an "all-access" package is $19.95 per month. The service also offers 10 free practice questions each day for students who aren't subscribers. The program can be run in a web browser or as an app for iOS, Android and Kindle devices.