Integrate Online Courses and eLearning Sites Into Your Math Classroom

The sites on this list offer more comprehensive tools for managing online learning. Some provide everything that students need for independent, self-paced learning. Others provide online textbooks or self-paced activities that can guide instruction. Some teachers choose to use these materials to structure their entire course. Other times, they are used to provide credit recovery or enrichment opportunities. Teachers can also pick and choose the elements that will augment and enhance their current classroom and instructional practices the most.

12 Online Courses and eLearning Sites for Integration

The power of these resources lies in the fact that they are flexible. You can choose how, when, and to what extent you will use them.

1. Brilliant: Access over 60 math courses that are free to students and educators. To use the site, you need to apply for your free educator access, create your classes, assign content, and invite your students. Lessons include guided explorations, interactive lessons with drag-and-drop objects, adjustable variables, problem-solving, and in-depth explanations. With the free education plan, you can access up to six courses, and you must reverify your educator status every two years.
2. CK-12: The goal of this site is to provide free, high-quality education to anyone, anywhere. The site includes a powerful FlexBook platform that contains interactive lessons with simulations, inline questions, videos, and adaptive practice activities. The teacher can set up classes, invite students, and customize the student experience as desired. The platform also provides LMS integration for major learning management systems. The site focuses heavily on STEM subjects, and there are a wide variety of math courses available for grade 1–college.
3. EdReady: This site prepares students for the math and English skills needed to succeed at the postsecondary institution of their choice. Students choose where they would like to attend school, complete a pre-test, and then receive a customized learning plan to get them to their goal. As they complete their personalized learning modules, students can track their progress and see their score increase until they have met the target level needed to attend their chosen school. EdReady is free for individual students. School-managed implementation requires a premium school-wide plan.
4. edX: Take free math courses from top universities like Harvard and MIT. Topics include algebra, calculus, geometry, pre-calculus, probability, and more. In order to earn a completion certificate and submit assignments, students must pay a fee, but lessons and instructional materials are available for free in the audit mode.
5. E-learning for kids: This free, game-based site is aligned to learning topics that are part of the International Baccalaureate (IB) curriculum. With options for grades K–6 in math and science, students complete learning challenges in order to travel throughout the world. During their learning journey, they learn about all seven continents as well as countries, cities, oceans, and cultures. There are currently over 550 e-learning lessons available.
6. Khan Academy: This free site offers a complete online learning platform for students in preK–college, with a heavy emphasis on mathematics. Units and lessons are built with standards-aligned content and include instructional videos, practice activities, quizzes, and unit tests. Teachers can set up classes and monitor student progress via a free teacher dashboard. Progress is self-paced and differentiated.
7. MathHelp: Find complete math courses for grades 5–college. Online lessons include instruction with video, text, practice, and a test.
8. Mathigon: Mathigon calls itself “the textbook of the future.” This free site includes a suite of math manipulatives, math activities, and free math courses for grades 6–12. The Polypad features a robust whiteboard, with dedicated sets of tools for geometry, numbers, fractions, algebra, probability, and data, as well as a section for games and applications. Teachers can set up classrooms and have students join with a class code.
9. MIT OpenCourseWare: Multivariable Calculus: This is a free course developed by MIT (Massachusetts Institute of Technology). The course features video lectures, lecture notes, exams and solutions, assignment problem sets with solutions, interactive Java applets to reinforce key concepts, and a transcript of captions. The course is designed for independent study.
10. MIT OpenCourseWare: Single Variable Calculus: This is another free course developed by MIT that also features video lectures, lecture notes, exams and solutions, assignment problem sets with solutions, interactive Java applets to reinforce key concepts, and a transcript of captions. The course is designed for independent study.
11. School Yourself: A group of Harvard instructors created this site to “reinvent online education in the style of 1-on-1 learning.” To do this, they’ve created hundreds of interactive, personalized math lessons. Lessons include videos with embedded problems, as well as branching options that allow for student personalization and choice. The platform integrates with several popular learning management systems, such as Canvas.
12. Zearn: This free site includes self-paced, web-based math lessons for grades K–6 (and soon to be K–8). Lessons include video instruction with practice activities and problems. Each lesson includes an embedded digital diagnostic and Tier 1 intervention. Teachers have access to real-time pace and progress reports for up to 35 students.