MathsWatch

Mathswatch is an online education tool used in around 2,000 schools across the UK.

Duo Design have worked with MathsWatch since 2015 to help enhance and modernise their online suite of education tools helping them establish themselves as one of the major providers of online learning within UK schools.

Background

Mathswatch began life as a company delivering video based mathematics education via DVD's. As technology developed they then moved to delivering this content via the internet too. At that time, the most practical way of doing this was via Adobe's Flash technology. Over the past few years Mathswatch found Flash was becoming problematic as more schools moved away from devices that supported flash, to combat this a series of mobile applications needed to be developed to complement the Flash based website.

Also during this time, competitors of MathsWatch began offering virtual learning environments, including interactive questions for students to complete to help them practice the techniques they had learnt.

Mathswatch VLE

Over a period of around a year Duo Design helped develop the HTML5 based MathsWatch VLE platform. We created a number of key tools not only to make the whole system work, but also enable MathsWatch staff build upon it in the future by allowing them to add content going forward, allowing the information to be updated and refined. By moving away from Flash and building it to be responsive, the system works on a wide range of devices including iPads, ChromeBooks, Laptops, Desktops and many phones.

Some of the features of the virtual learning environment include

Administrative Tools:

• Subscription Management.
  
• Ability add and link videos to the MathsWatch vimeo account.
• Ability to create questions and answers, both for practice and for use as part of homework and tests for teacher driven assignments.
• Ability to create freeform questions, which allow students to type long text answers and marks to be assigned based on content.
• Administer school details, giving access to different qualifications based on subscription type.
• Create Alerts and messages to communicate with the users of MathsWatch.

Schools Tools:

• Ability to upload students, automatically placing them in classes.
  
• Creating assignments, by choosing from thousands of pre-created questions provided by MathsWatch.
• Setting Homework, Tests and Intervention Assignments with deadlines and time limits.
• Automatic marking of all assignments.
• Quick review of marks on a per class, student and question basis.
• Downloads of colour keyed spreadsheets to quickly highlight struggling students.
• Administrative control of school, class and student details.

Student Tools:

• Logging in via an individually assigned username and password.
  
• Ability to Review own marks and view past completed assignments.
• Receive messages and alerts from MathsWatch.
• View online videos and practice questions.

First Years Success

MathsWatch Virtual Learning Environment has been a huge success in it's first year. 

• Around 33 Million questions have been answered in the first year of it's operation by around a million students. 
• On peak days (prior to exams) we had over 6,500 concurrent users and over 100,000 user logins per day.
  
• Strong positive feedback from schools.
• Regularly pushed bug fixes, improvements and optimisations to the system over that period.
• Won several new customers over that time.
• Topped the year off by winning a web design industry award from The Big Chip Awards.

Ongoing Development

MathsWatch are eager to carry on building upon this success and since it's launch in September 2016 have added numerous features by working closely with their customers and Duo. As maths teachers themselves they are all too aware of the day to day issues teachers and students face and their knowledge has proven invaluable in moving the product forward.

Launch Date