Educational Applications For Teaching Math Concepts, Skills and Problem Solving

In my last blog I talked about the various educational applications that are available for students with visual-spatial or motor control difficulties and how these applications can help them succeed in math. In this blog post, I am going to be talking about educational applications that can help teach math concepts, math skills and problem solving.  That being said, the purpose of this blog post is to let educators and parents know the numerous amounts of assistive technology (AT) available to help children with math concepts, math skill and problem solving.

Educational Applications For Teaching Math Concepts, Math Skills and Problem Solving:

1. National Library of Virtual Manipulatives maintained by Utah State University: A web site that offers manipulatives for students in grades Pre K-12. Users can navigate the site by the five categories available to them, including; Number & Operations, Algebra, Geometry, Measurement and Data Analysis & Probability.
   
   
   
2. Illuminations: This web site is meant to help students in grades K-12 improve their math concept skills. Illuminations offers students extended practice with "visual representations of concepts, and/or interactive activities" (
   Dell, A.G., Newton, D.A., & Petroff, J.G. 
   ). 

   

   Illuminations Website

3. Computing Technology for Math Excellence: This application provides users with information and Web sites that offer virtual manipulatives. The user then clicks on the link that sounds the best to them and the link brings the user directly to the Web site.
   
   
   
4. Internet 4 Classrooms: This website is meant to help students in grades Pre K-8 build their math skills. Internet 4 Classrooms is free and intends to help the user find "free internet resources to use in classroom instruction and to reinforce specific subject matter at home" (
   Dell, A.G., Newton, D.A., & Petroff, J.G.).

   

   Internet 4 Classrooms

5. Virtual Laboratories in Probability and Statistics: Virtual Laboratories in Probability and Statistics is a resource for advanced students studying probability and statistics. This resource "provides expository text to help students understand the basic theories of probability and statistics" (Dell, A.G., Newton, D.A., & Petroff, J.G.). This resource also provides the user with "interactive means to demonstrate the mathematical theories presented" (Dell, A.G., Newton, D.A., & Petroff, J.G.).

   

   Probability and Statistics.

6. Math Playground: Math Playground provides users with free online math activities, such as Math Games, Word Problems and Logic Puzzles, to help enhance a students' math concepts, skills and problem solving! 

   

   Math Playground

7. Conceptua Math:This website covers fraction topics taught to students in grades 2-7. The purpose of this website is to enhance who class instruction of fractions! This webite even provides "visual models that are accompanied by spoken text to facilitate independent use by students who are struggling readers" (Dell, A.G., Newton, D.A., & Petroff, J.G.). Additionally, for teachers, this website offers "formative assessments and captures student data, enabling teachers to monitor students' progress and make appropriate instructional decisions" (Dell, A.G., Newton, D.A., & Petroff, J.G.).

   

   Conceptua Math

8. Destination Math: Destination Math is a Houghton Mifflin Harcourt product that is targeted to students in grades K-12 to help them develop "math reasoning, conceptual understanding and problem solving" (). Destination Math is not only very engaging but it also provides students with "explicit step-by-step instructions and opportunities to practice problem-solving skills" (Dell, A.G., Newton, D.A., & Petroff, J.G.). Houghton Mifflin Harcourt has additionally come out with a Spanish version of this product, Destino Matematicas, to support any English Language Learners (ELL) in the classroom!
   

I think that the above resources would all be fantastic for reviewing or practicing skills and also fantastic for an alternate or supplemental learning activity in the classroom! I can say from personal experience that learning math concepts, math skills and problem solving can be extremely difficult for any student, especially a student with a learning disability. I found all the resources to be extremely useful, but the one that impressed me the most was Conceptua Math. Conceptua Math seems like the best resource because it was created with a dual-purpose, to be able to be used in school with the whole and independently as well! Since I'm a strong believer in "practice makes perfect", I believe that if a teacher used this website for a whole class activity and then asked the students to use this same website to help them at home that the student's math concepts, skills and problem solving abilities would improve! I also LOVE that this resource had both struggling readers and ELL students in mind and came up with differentiation to help these users succeed as well! 

Dell, A.G., Newton, D.A., & Petroff, J.G. (2012). Assistive Technology in the Classroom. Boston. PEARSON.