Overview:
Acellus uses innovative video-based lessons to accelerate learning for grades K-12. Outstanding teachers and content make learning relevant to the real world. Each lesson is followed by a set of multiple-choice questions to assess comprehension. After completing the lessons in a unit, students can review all of the videos to prepare for the unit exam. If the student passes the exam, they move forward to the next unit. If they do not pass, the program moves them to the beginning of the unit to review and re-take the unit exam.
Key Characteristics:
Good for auditory learners who learn best by listening.
Students can progress quickly if they pay attention to the lessons.
Lessons are easy to follow with a predictable format.
Students can quickly calculate how many lessons need to be completed each day to stay on pace for the course.
Easy to catch up if students miss a day or even a week.
Things to Think About:
Can be monotonous.
If a student has trouble mastering a concept, they will be required to repeat lessons.
Students learn at the recognition level vs. higher-order thinking. In other words, there is limited analysis, reflection, or critical thinking built into Acellus.
Students must do assignments in 2 programs to receive full credit for the course: Acellus for lessons and tests; Canvas for written assignments and projects. There is no analysis or writing in Acellus, so students do extra projects in the associated Canvas classrooms that have been created by the teacher in order to flesh out these areas – deeper thinking, and more writing.
Students can’t go back and see previous questions or videos except in the Review lessons before tests.
Parents cannot see what the student worked on. Teachers can see records of time worked, lessons completed, answers, and scores for lessons and the whole course. The student (and parent) can only see how many lessons have been completed and what the next lesson is. Parents cannot go back to see a previous lesson.
The videos often start out short and may get longer throughout the course. Therefore, students may underestimate how long it will take to finish the day’s lessons.
Learn More: