CueThink is a unique site which makes great use of technology and social interactivity to develop math problem solving skills for grades K-12. Teachers choose a specific math topic, create their own problems or choose from the CueThink database, and post specific problems for a class. All the students in the class use their individual accounts to solve the problems using “thinklets.” Thinklets are stepwise solutions to math problems that the student records and shares. For every problem, students must walk through the four phases: Understand, Plan, Solve and Review. The Understand phase requires students to ask themselves specific questions about the problem before tackling it. Students answer in the space provided: What do you notice? (e.g.five players) What do you wonder about? Estimate your answer. The Plan then asks students to provide their plan for solving the problem by choosing a strategy (e.g. draw a picture, make a table, work backwards) and type the plan. Solving the problem becomes more interesting using the features available including the in-app scratch pad which allows students to change color, font, size, use a highlighter, or add pictures. Students are required to record an audio and video explanation of how they arrived at their solution. In the final step, students share their video solutions with their class and give and receive feedback with peers. Students learn to not only solve problems in a systematic way, but also to communicate their thought processes. Students will hopefully enjoy the social nature of this site, and peer review can be very effective for students at all levels provided there is a supportive class culture. Teachers can use the class dashboard to review students' answers as a class and individually. Overall, CueThink can be a very effective solution to develop systematic problem solving skills using the benefits of technology to reinforce steps, develop communication skills, and encourage collaboration and cooperation.

• Provides sufficient and varied types of practice problems to maximize understanding and generalization of the targeted skill/concept
• Manufacturer claims alignment with Common Core/Known Standards
• Presents educational concepts accurately
• Explains answers so students can learn from mistakes
• Better for teaching the skill to new or struggling learners
• Better for practicing or refreshing the skill
• Skills are practiced through authentic, meaningful problems (not just rote practice)

• Appropriate for a broad age range to use and enjoy
• Subject matter and problems are relevant, interesting and authentic to students
• Visually appealing to children in the target age range
• Provides virtual rewards or incentives after meeting specified goals or objectives
• Provides a "break activity" between academic problem sets
• Offers ongoing, progressive challenge
• Overall - Enjoyable. Given the option, students would choose this option

• Has a free or trial version
• Provides teaching guidance for adults to support the child and set appropriate goals
• Provides an age-appropriate tutorial/first time users can work independently
• Student should be able to use independently after first use
• Has a multi-player option to foster in-person collaboration or cooperation
• Multiple users can save a profile
• Student graduates to the next level or topic only after meeting a benchmark
• Can play without sound and not distract others
• Students can save work between sessions
• Can effectively understand and monitor student's progress (email report or in product)
• Requires registration before using the first time
• Provides options to play in languages other than English/Good for ELL
• Presents information in multiple formats (voice over, pictures and text, etc.)
• Overall - Easy to use

• Self-regulation
• Multi-player activity that requires cooperation or has potential for disagreements
• Social Awareness
• Multi-player activity that requires cooperation or has potential for disagreements