MathAltitude School of Mathematics is a math enrichment school located in Worcester, Massachusetts. It provides extensive extracurricular studies in mathematics and related disciplines for students (4 to 18 years old) that want to go beyond the standard school programs. They offer a 36-week school year program and a 6-week summer program. MathAltitude offers math enrichment classes for gifted students, remedial math classes, test preparation, math competition workshops, STEM tutoring, writing, chess and coding. Currently, 300+ students attend in-person, online, or hybrid small-group classes and/or private tutoring sessions.
What challenges did MathAltitude face?
MathAltitude decided to add the option for online learning in order to include students who are not able to attend in-person classes and to provide flexibility in scheduling to both families and teachers. The main challenge was to keep the key elements of classroom teaching in an online environment. MathAltitude School had to find an online solution that:
- allows them to deliver instructor-led sessions online;
- keeps the students focused, engaged, and able to share their experience with their classmates and teachers;
- is simple for teachers and students to use;
- has tools to manage and keep track of their students;
- is reasonably priced;
- offers quick and competent customer and support service.
Why did MathAltitude choose VEDAMO?
VEDAMO allowed MathAltitude to transition from in-person to fully online teaching in less than a week and keep all key classroom elements when the COVID-19 pandemic hit. The MathAltitude’s team shares that:
- VEDAMO provides the instructors with all of the necessary features to conduct highly interactive teaching online. The students and teachers share their thoughts and ideas through videoconferencing, an online whiteboard for collaborative activities, share-screen options, breakout rooms, chat, etc. The teachers engage students in large-group discussions, small-group activities, exercises, quizzes, etc., and students who are absent can view a recording of a class to catch up on the learning material.
- The instructors can integrate MathAltitude learning materials during the online class sessions by using VEDAMO’s online whiteboard, screen-sharing tool, and file library. The instructors find the session template feature extremely useful in their preparation for lessons.
- VEDAMO allows students to participate in learning in real time. Students are engaged in the learning process and are not just passive learners watching a video of a class. They have full interactions with their instructors and classmates in a user-friendly and safe environment.
- VEDAMO is simple to use for students. They do not need to download or install anything.
- VEDAMO customer and support service is excellent with a very quick response time.
“Since MathAltitude School of Mathematics started offering online classes through VEDAMO, we have expanded our customer base across the country. Starting in September 2021, we added a unique learning model option to our families – the hybrid flexible, or HyFlex, class format, an instructional approach that combines in-person and online learning. Each class session is offered in-person and synchronously online. Families can decide how their children will participate. The flexibility of the HyFlex model demonstrates our commitment to student success and the VEDAMO platform has allowed us to seamlessly integrate the HyFlex model.”
Olga Serebrennikov, Principal and Co-Founder, MathAltitude School of Mathematics
