ALEKS Reviews & Product Details

What I liked most about Aleks was always its learning system, since while in the course I could review all the math exercises I wanted, and to be able to advance I had to learn them. Additionally, its system for identifying which topics are most difficult for you is incredible. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

What I don't like about Aleks is that in some topics, the explanation of them was very confusing, and when I asked for another explanation, it was even more difficult. I feel they should improve that part of the explanations. If they included a tutorial video of someone doing it, it would undoubtedly be the best math software. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

With the time I have used ALEKS, I can say that, in general, it is a very comprehensive tool. If implemented correctly with the course, it can reduce the burden and complexity that, on some occasions, arise when studying mathematics. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I can say that some areas of opportunity that ALEKS presents are its user interface and overall design, as it excels in the mathematical aspect, but sometimes the way exercises are presented can be very monotonous and boring. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

ALEKS simultaneously works to:

-- Rapidly Fill in gaps in prior academic knowledge

-- Accelerate all students learning

-- Reduce student plagiarism

-Supports EL's by having dual-language support easily switched from the student side.

--Supports all students with an interactive dictionary with visuals, videos, and examples.

-- Boosts long-term retention through mixed review

Overall really puts into practice the phrase "an apple a day.." rather than "let's stuff as much fruit in that we can as quickly as possible and never spend time to digest it after today" Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

The downside is it's costly, and getting administrators on board with the expense is hard. The other downside is that, unlike platforms like Edgenuity, ALEKS only offers solutions for Pre-Algebra, Algebra 1, Algebra 2, Geometry, Pre-Calculus, Statistics, Calculus, and Chemistry (with some fundamental Physics used in applicable sub-topics of Math and Chemistry). Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I like the set up. I find the text videos helpful with introducing new subjects. I feel like they give just enough information to help you get started. You arent going to learn everything you know from the videos though, and reading a math textbook does nothing but confuse me, so sometimes i have to look up the subjects on Khan University instead but for the most part, i find the videos helpful. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

I get SO frustrated watching the same videos I just complemented. If i pause the video to take notes, it boots me out. It doesnt matter if i am clicking the pause and unpause button. It still kicks me out wayyyy outside of that "30 minutes" idle time. I am not idle. I am literally clicking pause and unpause while making my way through. Then, when i go onto the next video, all the buttons are greyed out, and i have to exit the program, get back on the program, and then refind my videos. Really annoying, but it gets worse. That video you were working on is marked as unwatched (because they logged you out) and you have to watch it again to get full points. Luckily for me, I dont get points for watching the videos, and i can still submit them, but id imagine if you are graded on them, youll have to rewatch everything for it to mark them as all watched. I dont know if this is a regular problem, or if i need to go through technical support or something, but i have math work to be done, i dont have time to do that. I find it really annoying and i wish theyd fix it because I like this program a 1000 times more than XYZ, and i like that i have the option to go through my pie chart and hone in my skills. I dont do that because i have current assignments due, along with all my other classes, but if i did have the time, I would totally take advantage of that feature. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Barely any upside to ALEK's as it is one of the most frustrating programs to use. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Downsides of ALEK's is that the questions they ask you are not realistic questions that the professor will be asking on any test, it's a waste of time. The software itself has so many bugs, as in if you write a certain number or fraction and it's not in the correct notation of how ALEK's wants it to be, it counts it as wrong which is extremely frustrating when each problem takes 15-30 minutes to solve and you get it wrong because ALEK's doesn't recognize the notation. Another thing is their inactivity of 30 minutes doesn't apply to the E-text, so this means if you're doing any type of problems not inside the actual software of ALEK's and using the E-text, it will turn your screen completely white and exit you out of the program. WHICH IS RIDICULOUS when you're trying to learn a new concept within a textbook. This is like if you're studying at the library and as you're turning the page, someone random comes up and closes your textbook. Absolutely unacceptable and creates another nuisance that you shouldn't even have to deal with. Garbage platform and educational system. DO NOT USE IT IF YOU CAN HELP IT. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Nothing. Aleks does not help me learn. It is a piece of crap site that has no positives. I hate it and it is pure evil and I have learned nothing from it. It punishes you for learning and punishes you even more for simple mistakes. 0/10 Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

see positives. There is nothing to like about Aleks Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

As a student, I can attest to the pure pain that Aleks gives me and my colleagues. If you are looking to torture your students, this is the perfect application. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Everything.

Interface: There is way too much extra space. This space could easily be used to include a digital workspace, since I do not always have paper. Also, the interface is not very user friendly. The quiz screen is annoying to navigate, and the graph of Aleks time and topics is not very easy to use either. The displayed topics scroll bar does not show all topics that are "ready to learn", and I cannot even see all of them if I go to the pie.

Functions: The idea that you can just answer 2 questions to show understanding is just pointless. It is great to get topics out of the way, but all you have to do is get lucky and answer 2 questions correctly in a row, and you can skip the topic. Then, during the knowledge checks (which I will get to later), there is one question per topic. If you by chance get it wrong, you have to redo the topic. Not that this takes long, but it is a nuisance. I usually forget everything, due to insufficient practice (2 questions), and so I am trapped in a loop of doing and then redoing topics. Okay, on to knowledge checks. These are WAY too frequent. They take forever to finish, and during that time, you are unable to work on anything else. You can only avoid knowledge checks if your teacher cancels them/overrides them. Knowledge checks are around 30-45 questions long, and can take me around an hour. I am given them almost once every week or two. Now, let's discuss times. After 30 minutes of inactivity, you are logged out. Now, I hate this because sometimes I need to go eat or grab a snack or look up a decent explanation. And when I come back, I have to log in again, navigate to the question, and then do it. I get it, you don't want idle people. But it is still such a drag. Another thing, Aleks forces you to do certain topics or not to certain topics. It always goes in order in the scroll bar, and I can't click a "Not Ready Yet" button to dismiss the suggestion. It defaults to a weird order, and makes it very time consuming to follow your own order. And after getting a topic wrong a few times, it forces you to work on something else. It should just be a suggestion, not a mandate. I am working on a topic, and I am working hard just to be interrupted by that idiotic message. And after getting it wrong, sometimes it shows you what you submitted, and sometimes it doesn't. I would appreciate some consistency... It is very useful to see what you wrote in comparison to the answer. The progress bar also goes down when you get something wrong, which is just frustrating. You should just not get a bar for that question. I think that there should be no "double credit" either, so you have to answer 3 or 5 questions correctly. Also, those explanations are complete trash. As are the introduction screens. There should be a way for other Aleks users to write their own explanations either for themselves or for one another. It could even be restricted to your class, in the school setting.

Quicktables: These are okay... But I wish that there was an option to go for longer than 15 minutes, especially if you are playing one of the games (which I do approve of). The instructors should be customizable as well. Maybe it could be an unlock system. You can get a coin for every correct answer, and maybe lose a coin for every incorrect one. You can spend coins for cosmetics for the instructor.

Aleks is conclusively one of (if not the sole) worst programs I have ever had the displeasure of using. I would not assign Aleks assignments to my worst enemy. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Nothing. I like that it makes other pains in life number by comparison. I used to complain about crowded bus rides or a chipped nail, but nowadays I think to myself, "At least I'm not doing ALEKS at the moment!". Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Too many to name. This website is absolute trash. I am in so much pain. I no longer sleep at night. My head is filled with a constant buzzing. Red haunts me. I am a broken shell of the man I once was. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

In all honesty nothing about this program is good besides being able to work on your own pace. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

Aleks is a subpar program on the best of days. The explanations are little to no help at all, before you start a new topic the "explanation" page gives you an example problem that rarely is the same as the question you get (the question you get is often more complicated and has extra steps which the page does not show). I often find the site doesn't load questions or load after hitting the "check" button. I know this isn't my internet because I've tried on 3 computers (2 of them being a wired connection). On most days I find myself leaving the site with more questions then I had logging in. I also find the explanation page being basically the bear minimum, just enough to get you done with the topic/goal. The knowledge checks (KC) are alright for the most part same with the DSAs. My only complaint is when doing a KC for a goal, it throws in random questions from either previous goals, which isn't a bad thing besides aleks has poor explanation and I often find myself not learning and just scraping by, or it throws in things you haven't learned yet. DSAs wouldn't be bad besides the fact that, once again it gives poor explanation on the things you got wrong. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

It can give you extra tries on tests but thats it. Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.

EVERYTHING. I'm literally failing math class right now because I couldn't complete them. They are tough to do and take so much unnecessary time Review collected by and hosted on G2.com.