Trinity Maths

Description
This incredibly detailed interactive teaching resource comes on a single disc and is intended to aid teachers of GCSE Mathematics to optimise their use of Interactive Whiteboards within their lessons. Of particular note is the fact that this title has been produced by practising teachers within Trinity Church of England School. It seems to be one of an ever-growing number of such resources where classroom teachers have seen that what they have created for their own use, could be used in schools across the country. This innovative approach has ensured that other schools can benefit from the exceptional content contained in this package. Some people might argue that teachers should be freely sharing such resources on one of the plethora of teacher resource websites that are available. However, when one sees the content included on this there is no question that the disc represents exceptional value for money.

Purpose of the Program
The disc contains a vast quantity of activities that are aimed for use as starters, main or plenary activities on an interactive whiteboard within KS3 and GCSE Mathematics lessons. These resources are presented by way of an easily accessed menu from which the user can select the activity they want to try and as they dig deeper into the menu they can select activities that are appropriate to their ability level. So as a result students could use this product to revise aspects of work covered in class. Having selected a wide range of activities on this disc, I am in no doubt that this title is an extremely engaging resource that will invigorate some aspects of the Mathematics Curriculum by harnessing the power of an interactive whiteboard. Having said this, the program is equally powerful when used on a standard PC and monitor.
Teacher Controls
The teacher (and indeed the student) can select tasks appropriate to their own level – and for that reason it is a tool that can be perfectly tailored to the needs of individual students. The fact that each activity has innumerable variations means that students can continually try them until they either grasp the concept, or choose to ask for further assistance from the classroom teacher.

*Curriculum Coverage *
From what I have been able to ascertain, a huge amount of the KS3 and GCSE syllabus is covered in this program – the main categories of content (found on the main menu) are: Numbers; Fractions, Decimals and Percentages; Calculations; Equations and Formulae; Sequences and Functions; Geometry; Shape & Space; Measures; Handling Data and Probability. All in all there over 60 sub-categories of activity, each of which has separate levels of task to suit the ability level of the student. Furthermore each activity has a range of variables providing many variations of outcome for each activity.

Analysis of Contents
Appropriateness

I have seldom seen a teaching resource of such high quality. The content is exceptional in its depth and scope and gives all users the chance to exploit interactive capabilities of the software to support learning. At no point are any features gimmicky or superfluous – each activity has been well thought out to ensure that each screen is used to the maximum. For this evaluation I looked at 50 of the activities and in each case all were clearly focused on the learning objective.

Ease of use

Whilst this CD-ROM is clearly aimed at teachers for starter, main or plenary sessions using an interactive whiteboard, it could be easily used by individual students at standard PCs as no functionality relies solely upon the features of an IWB. The instructions are easy to follow and navigation within the title is not complicated.

Quality

Put simply, this title is a superb resource. The content has been well thought out and cleverly presented. In all cases the screens are clear and, if you know your maths, easy to follow. Clever use has been made of colour as this allows certain elements of each activity to be emphasised at once without overloading the user with information. This is the sort of product I wish I could have written myself! It is a joy to use.

Differentiation

The sub-menu structure of each main topic is laid out with user ability in mind. The user can select an activity appropriate to their own ability level. The text is large and the language used is as simple and concise as it can be without being patronising. The most complex are sympathetically worded and accessible to students of all levels of ability.

Summary
I am hugely impressed by this product. It is outstanding in terms of its design and content, and its main recommendation is that it was written by a practising teacher. I have seen many titles intended for use with interactive whiteboards but never have I seen one that allows teachers to exploit interactivity and the main features of an IWB to the degree that this program does.

Students who are introduced to this title will undoubtedly enjoy the experience. There are many cases where complex topics will be understood more easily as a result of using this product.

The activities themselves are engaging and it is possible to become immersed in each one. As the designer has used a wide range of variables in the activities it means that there is no sense that a user can predict an answer – unlike many similar titles which seem to cycle through a handful of alternatives.

I would like to pay particular compliment to the thought that has been given to the design and layout of each screen. At no time did I ever feel I was being confronted with too much information.

All in all Trinity Maths is a truly fantastic title which deserves a place in the library of every school Maths department in the country.

How I Used This Product in my Classroom

The pupils sat in their normal places within the classroom and were issued with a write on A5 board which they could use to answer questions during the lesson.
I utilised the software via the classroom's built in data projector and electronic whiteboard to investigate the topic and get the class involved in predicting the next result. There were a few individual questions but generally all were able to get fully involved without further intervention.
At the end of the lesson we were able to use the software to go over what we had covered as part of our plenary.

Ease of Use - Design & Navigation

Trinity Maths opens with little delay and it is quick to run. To access the desired part of the software takes very little practice, as there is one clear route. You do get asked about whether you want to open a macro each time you start a new section but this is not a problem as the banner disappears immediately you click YES.

The pupils were able to participate in the learning immediately as the material is presented very clearly. The software has a central menu page from which everything can be accessed easily.

The relevant links are clearly labelled and easy to operate correctly. Though clearly a teacher would find it useful to familiarise themselves with the approach taken beforehand and the next steps in the process.

Context of Use
The software fitted well into my lessons which currently involve preparing several classes for their Summer GCSE exams in Mathematics. It is suitable for use with the three major Exam boards as it covers a large amount of the necessary material.

The program needed very little preparation and introduction as it was being used as a revision exercise, and in order to give the set a chance to gain additional practice in some tricky topics, for which it worked well.

Where a subject area showed evidence of whole class weakness I am now in the habit of using this title to revisit the material, giving the whole class more practice in a given topic area. At the same time I might be teaching the topic conventionally and with other resources.

Monitoring & Assessment
The software itself provides no inbuilt capacity to monitor an individual students' progress as it is designed primarily for use by the teacher. Though it is very useful for more motivated students as a dynamic revision resource. Our numeracy support staff use the program now on a one to one basis as it helps massively with their delivery.

Feedback from Pupils and Other Staff
The students that I have worked with while using this software, all commented on how it was more interesting and motivating to be taught using this system rather than just using traditional pen on board techniques. They found it easier to take notes and even asked for it to be put on the student area of the network so that it could be used by them as an interactive revision aid.

My colleagues have also started to incorporate it into their lessons as to quote one recently qualified colleague: "It leaves you more able to teach by interacting with the classroom, as you can pose better questions and not be preoccupied with remembering the next step..". You avoid the teaching to yourself syndrome, that is so easy to exhibit with Mathematics, as much less of your focus is on creating the material and more is on moving your class forward.

Summary
The Trinity Maths package is designed for use as starters, main or plenary activities, on an interactive whiteboard within KS3 and GCSE Mathematics lessons. It is clearly presented, intuitive and easy to use.

The software was installed on our school network and used as an alternative to traditional pen on board teaching. The class readily enjoyed the dynamic medium and participated with more enthusiasm than normal.

A very well structured package, with 61 topic files containing over 1400 activities, it is straightforward to use requiring very little prior familiarisation. Even colleagues with limited IT skills have dabbled with it in their classrooms, and found it useful. It gives you more control and power, as you are not on the back foot manually creating resources, which keeps you focused and thus in a more powerful position of being able to direct the learning of your class.