Opinion- Amplify is a Joke

Widespread criticism of the new education software “Amplify” has become the new normal among DTHMS students, and for good reason too. This software has made bizarre changes to the Georgia curriculum that neither are necessary nor work. For example, when I was interviewing a 7th grade student he said that in his math class the subject of “negative numbers and fractions” was typically the first unit of the year (according to his teacher) but Amplify has pushed it to be the last. This is a baffling choice considering that this unit prohibits the use of calculators, which have been primary in every unit prior. The student said that this change was “jarring” to him and many others in the class, as it is an absurd choice with no clear benefit.

In addition Amplify ELA isn’t fairing all too well either. In my class specifically there was a collective groan whenever we were ordered to work in the software. That is because beyond the bland user-interface and etiolated writing prompts Amplify is also home to a remarkable amount of technical problems. The amount of time wasted in class because this “software” wouldn’t work is astounding. For example some passages simply won’t load in on your screen, the site will constantly crash and in some cases all of the prompts on the screen are unresponsive.

What is even more astounding is the cost of the software. Using Amplify’s buying guide we were able to make a rough estimate that Amplify ELA cost over $18,000 for seventh grade alone. In conclusion Amplify is subjectively the worst education software on the market right now; it is a baffling, unnecessary, technical dumpster fire that should have never been conceived by a human being let alone bought for real money.