Global times-tables fun: Tutpup

Tutpup allows children to compete against others from around the world to answer times tables questions. They win games by answering questions more accurately and faster than an apponent.

For winning games and other achievements they are awarded with virtual medals and trophys. As a teacher, you can monitor the progress of children in your class. Children in my class really enjoy playing Tutpup because they are racing against real people rather than just the computer.

 Online safety
 A great thing about Tutpup is that it is a very safe website for children to use. When they sign up, children create random screen names using an animal, colour and number. Their interactions  with other users are limited to playing the game and they are not able to chat or send messages to other players.

 Setting up Tutpup

When you start using Tutpup, it requires some time and effort to create the teachers and pupils accounts. However this is definately easier than getting the children to set up their own accounts.

When you create a 'teachers' account, you choose a class code. By putting in this code when you sign up the children, they become linked as a class and you can monitor their progress. You can also get a list of all the children in your class and their Tutpup name, which is very handy to print out as a reference.

Other features

As well as times tables, Tutpup can also quiz children on addition, subtraction, algebra and even spelling. I think it works best with times tables because of the emphasis on quick recall.