MLC Math Clock
Product by The Math Learning Center
Facts checked: Not yet checked
Our take (not a Learning Standard rating). This label applies to learning-science judgments throughout this overview.
Our take (not a Learning Standard rating)
MLC Math Clock does not explicitly teach telling time through structured lessons or feedback. Instead, it functions as an open-ended digital manipulative. It successfully allows educators to demonstrate elapsed time and fractions, but your child will not learn from this app independently without guided instruction from an adult.
Pros
- Features geared hands that maintain accurate hour and minute relationships during movement.
- Includes fraction overlays that visually connect time increments to common denominators like halves and quarters.
- Allows users to draw and write directly on the clock face to solve word problems.
- Provides a number line view to translate circular time concepts into linear measurement.
Cons
- Lacks any explicit instruction, worked examples, or structured learning pathways.
- Provides no feedback on accuracy, making independent practice impossible.
- Requires an educator or parent to design the problems and guide the learning experience.
- Does not offer spaced retrieval practice to solidify time-telling fluency.
What Do We Know About MLC Math Clock?
MLC Math Clock is an effective demonstration tool for guided instruction, but it is not an independent learning app for your child. It functions entirely as a digital whiteboard with specialized clock manipulatives. You will not find lessons, games, or practice quizzes here. Instead, you get a highly customizable analog clock face designed to help adults explain abstract concepts like elapsed time and fractions. Your child can manipulate the clock hands, but without an adult providing the prompt and checking the answer, no independent learning loop occurs. The Learning Standard has not yet formally evaluated this tool, but its utility relies completely on the person guiding the session. Because cognitive science shows that learners need feedback to correct misconceptions, leaving a child alone with this app will not build time-telling fluency. However, if you are a parent homeschooling your child or helping with homework, this app provides excellent visual models. You can add fraction overlays to show why fifteen minutes is a quarter of an hour. You can also ungear the hands to test whether your child knows where the hour hand belongs at half-past the hour.
How Does MLC Math Clock Work?
MLC Math Clock uses a digital manipulative approach to translate abstract mathematical concepts into visual, interactive representations. Users place one or more analog clocks on a blank digital workspace. You can choose whether the clock hands are geared together to mimic real time progression or move freely to test conceptual understanding. The app allows you to overlay fractions directly onto the clock face, visually dividing the sixty-minute circle into halves, thirds, quarters, or sixths. This directly supports the cognitive theory of multimedia learning by combining spatial representations with mathematical values. Educators can also switch the view from a traditional circular clock face to a linear number line, helping students bridge the gap between reading time and calculating elapsed time. There are no built-in problems to solve. Instead, the user relies on external curricula or adult-provided word problems, using the drawing tools to annotate jumps in time or shade specific intervals.
Strengths and tradeoffs of MLC Math Clock
The biggest strength of MLC Math Clock is its visual flexibility, while its biggest weakness is the complete lack of independent learning mechanisms like feedback or retrieval practice. Visualizing abstract concepts is where this app excels. By offering fraction overlays and linear number line toggles, it helps reduce the cognitive load for students struggling to understand why an hour is divided into sixty minutes instead of one hundred. The geared hands act as a worked example in real-time, showing learners exactly how the hour hand creeps forward as the minute hand sweeps the dial. However, because it is strictly an open-ended manipulative, it completely ignores essential learning science principles required for independent mastery. It offers zero retrieval practice. It provides no corrective feedback. If your child places the hands at 3:45 when asked to show 4:45, the app will not correct them. This means the app cannot be used for independent homework or drilling. It is a strictly supplementary tool that requires a knowledgeable guide to construct the learning experience, pose the questions, and evaluate the answers.
Who Might Benefit From MLC Math Clock?
MLC Math Clock is best for educators and parents who need a flexible visual aid to teach time and fractions alongside an existing math curriculum. It works well for elementary students who struggle with the abstract nature of elapsed time and need to see intervals physically shaded on a clock face. Because it requires active adult facilitation, it is not suitable for students looking for independent practice or self-paced learning. It is an ideal companion tool for classroom instruction on interactive whiteboards or for one-on-one tutoring sessions where an adult directs the focus.
Data Transparency
Does Not Meet Data Transparency Standard
MLC Math Clock does not meet our data transparency standard. Its privacy policy does not document basic protections, including limits on sharing children's data, a COPPA or FERPA commitment and parents' right to see their child's data.
13 of 35 checks passed
Evaluated September 2026
Apps Privacy Statement →Level 1 · Basic protections
Does not sell data or target ads at students, limits sharing, and lets parents see and delete their child's data.
Not documented: limits on sharing children's data, a COPPA or FERPA commitment, parents' right to see their child's data, parents' right to delete their child's data
Level 2 · Parent control (meets the standard)
Families can get their data out, know who processes it, and know how long it is kept.
Not documented: self-service deletion
Level 3 · Direct data access
Families or schools can pull their own data through an API, in a stated format.
Not documented: an API for retrieving their own data, a named export format
View all 35 checks
Parent Access0/8
Does the policy mention parents specifically?
The policy does not mention parents.
Can parents view their child's data?
The policy does not mention parents or give them any right to view a child's data.
Can parents modify their child's data?
The policy does not mention parents or give them any right to change a child's data.
Can parents delete their child's account?
The policy does not mention parents or give them any right to delete a child's data or account.
Is there a dedicated Children's Privacy section?
The policy has no section about children's privacy or COPPA.
Does it reference COPPA compliance?
The policy does not mention COPPA.
Does it reference FERPA compliance?
The policy does not mention FERPA.
Is parental consent required for child accounts?
The policy does not address parental consent.
Data Portability2/5
Can users access their personal data?
“If you wish to access, correct, update, or request deletion of your personal information, you can do so at any time as described in the “Updating & Correcting Personal Information” heading below.”
Can users download/export their data?
“In addition, you can object to processing of your personal information, ask us to restrict processing of your personal information, or request portability of your personal information. You can exercise these rights by contacting us at MLCinfo@mathlearningcenter.org.”
Is there a self-service data access tool?
The policy only offers access by email request, with no self-service tool.
Is a specific data format mentioned for export?
The policy mentions portability but names no data format.
Is there an API for data access?
The policy does not mention an API for getting data.
Data Minimization3/6
Is data collection itemized?
“the information collected on the Website may consist of information including, but not limited to, your full name; home or business address; billing address; phone number; fax number; email address;”
Can the app be used without a real name?
“We will never ask you to provide us with your or someone else’s personal information in order to access, or while you are using, the Apps.”
Can the app be used without an email?
“We will never ask you to provide us with your or someone else’s personal information in order to access, or while you are using, the Apps.”
Does it state collection is limited to what is necessary?
The policy limits how data is used and gives legal bases for collecting it, but does not clearly say collection is limited to what is necessary.
Is IP address anonymized or truncated?
The policy says IP addresses are collected and does not say they are anonymized or truncated.
Is location tracking explicitly excluded?
The policy says aggregated regional location data is collected, so location tracking is not ruled out.
Third-Party Protection5/7
Does it explicitly state no selling of data?
“Except in the limited circumstances stated in this Privacy Statement, we do not share, sell, or otherwise transfer or disclose your personal information to any third party.”
Are third-party providers named?
“Google Analytics™: We use Google Analytics™ on our Website to gather usage data from our Website, including our Web Apps.”
Are providers contractually restricted?
“These third parties are required to keep the information confidential and are not authorized to process your personal information or Automatically Collected Information for any other purpose other than as instructed by us.”
No-targeted-advertising commitment?
“We do not use any advertising, targeting, or marketing cookies on our Website or Apps.”
Is AI/ML data sharing addressed?
The policy does not address AI or machine learning.
Child-specific sharing restriction?
The policy has no sharing restrictions specific to children.
Cookies/tracking limited or opt-out?
“Most browsers allow you to refuse to accept cookies and to delete cookies, though the methods for doing so may vary from browser to browser.”
Deletion & Retention3/5
Can users delete their account?
“If you request that your personal information be changed or deleted from our databases, we will use commercially reasonable efforts to remove your personal information from our databases”
Self-service deletion mechanism?
The policy only allows deletion by email request, with no self-service option.
Specific data retention timeline?
“Currently, Save States are set to automatically delete after two years from their last date of access.”
Auto-deletion of inactive accounts?
The policy auto-deletes Save States that go unused but says nothing about auto-deleting inactive accounts.
Post-deletion handling described?
“When we have no ongoing legitimate business need to process your personal information, we will either delete it or anonymize it, or, if this is not possible (for example, because your personal information has been stored in backup archives), then we will securely store your personal information and isolate it from any further processing until deletion is possible.”
Advertising0/4
Advertising model explicitly disclosed?
The policy rules out advertising cookies but never says whether the product shows ads.
Free from third-party advertisements?
The policy rules out advertising cookies but never says the product is free of third-party ads.
Children excluded from ad targeting?
The policy does not mention children when discussing ad targeting.
Ad-free option available?
The policy never says the product has no ads or offers an ad-free option.
What This Means
The policy review did not meet our data transparency standard. The checks above show the documented findings and unknowns. A missing statement does not establish how the app handles data in practice.
About this evaluation: Based on automated analysis of Apps Privacy Statement against 35 policy-disclosure questions, including questions adapted from the Common Sense Privacy Program's published evaluation questions. TLS is not affiliated with Common Sense Media, and this is not a Common Sense rating. Quoted text is copied from the policy; unquoted notes are our summary. Results describe what the policy documents, not the company's actual practices. Privacy policies can change: this review reflects the version we analyzed and does not determine legal compliance.
Sources and review method
TLS combines product information and editorial analysis to explain how MLC Math Clock works, its tradeoffs, and the questions to ask before choosing it. Product features, an instructional rationale and evidence of learning outcomes are different kinds of information.
Formal Learning Standard assessment: not yet completed. Data Transparency findings are reported separately and do not establish learning effectiveness. Read our methodology.
Frequently Asked Questions About MLC Math Clock
Is MLC Math Clock free?
Yes, MLC Math Clock is entirely free. It contains no in-app purchases, no subscription tiers, and no advertisements. It is provided as a free public utility by The Math Learning Center.
Is MLC Math Clock good for elementary students?
It is an excellent visual aid for elementary students, provided an adult is actively guiding the lesson. It visually reinforces concepts like fractions and elapsed time, but it does not teach these concepts independently.
What does MLC Math Clock teach?
MLC Math Clock does not teach independently, but it provides the tools to demonstrate telling time, calculating elapsed time, and understanding fractions. It uses the clock face as a visual model to bridge basic time-telling with fraction comprehension.
How does MLC Math Clock compare to Khan Academy Kids?
Khan Academy Kids provides structured, independent learning paths with immediate feedback and spaced repetition. MLC Math Clock provides none of this. It is solely an open-ended digital whiteboard for adults to demonstrate math concepts.
Has The Learning Standard evaluated MLC Math Clock?
TLS has not yet completed a Learning Standard evaluation of how well MLC Math Clock teaches. Its privacy policy has been reviewed for Data Transparency and does not yet document the basic protections (Level 1).
Is MLC Math Clock COPPA compliant?
A COPPA reference was not found in the reviewed privacy policy. This does not determine whether the app complies with COPPA. Policy review note: The policy does not mention COPPA.
Is MLC Math Clock FERPA compliant?
A FERPA reference was not found in the reviewed privacy policy. This does not determine whether the app complies with FERPA. Policy review note: The policy does not mention FERPA.
Does MLC Math Clock have a children's privacy policy?
No dedicated children's privacy section was found in the reviewed policy. Policy review note: The policy has no section about children's privacy or COPPA.
Does MLC Math Clock sell student data?
The reviewed policy states that the app does not sell data. This is a policy statement; actual data practices were not verified. Policy review note: MLC states it does not sell personal information.
Can you delete your data from MLC Math Clock?
The reviewed privacy policy describes account deletion. We have not tested the deletion process. Policy review note: Users can ask to have their personal information deleted.
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