Maths

The iPad and Maths – Are we there yet? Pt 1. My last two posts on iPads and good teaching have focused on teaching and learning writing.

Now I’m moving on to my favorite subject as a teacher – Mathematics. I love Maths – both learning and teaching it. For those who don’t know me ( which is obviously most of you reading ), I am a Primary ( Elementary ) School teacher but I have spent most of my 25 year teaching career also tutoring High School Maths on the side, supporting many children who have missed out on understanding important Mathematics concepts.

Maths involves an incredibly diverse range of processes, ideas, skills and concepts. Both children and teachers alike enter into Maths teaching and learning at different levels, depending on their personal experiences, successes and challenges with the subject. Mathematics with an iPad. A Win for Math Students and a Win for the Web: Desmos Goes HTML 5. Last month, I chose Desmos as one of my picks for best new education startups of 2011, in no small part because of the company's mission to create educational software so that interactive content is Web-based and works across multiple devices and platforms.

In light of my recent screed about Apple's recent education event -- the app-ification of iTunes U, a new proprietary file format for e-books, a purported education "revolution" that's iOS-only -- it's probably pretty clear that I believe strongly that if we are to invest in technology tools that we must do so in ways that are accessible and interoperable and that actually benefit learners. And with that, folks, I give you... the World Wide Web. So, clearly, when Desmos launched last year, I was thrilled, particularly when co-founder Eli Luberoff showed me a little side project his team was hacking on: a free, Web-based graphing calculator. Most Popular Posts of the Year - #2, 11 Mathematics Resources. Like a lot of other people are, I'm taking this week to relax a bit and do some things that I haven't had time for lately.

Therefore, all this week I'm rewinding the year with the 25 most-read posts of the year. I hope that those of you who are also on vacation this week, enjoy every moment of it. See you (virtually) in the New Year. To start off the new year, each day this week I'll be posting a list of eleven resources to try in a particular content area.

Today's list is for mathematics teachers, tomorrow's list will be for science teachers. Microsoft Mathematics 4.0 – Powerful Free Maths Software. I wrote about the Mathematics Add-in for MS Word and OneNote in February of 2011. As of December 2011, this remains one of my most frequently visited posts. Today’s post is prompted by a comment left there by Murray Bourne. Murray kindly informed me that Microsoft Mathematics 4.0 is available as a free standalone program, not just as an add-in for MS Word or OneNote. This is a powerful and versatile free tool for anyone learning or teaching maths, at the secondary or perhaps late middle school level. Mathematics 4.0 can be installed and run on its own in Windows 7, Vista or XP.

Mathematics 4.0 enables the user to “do” math on the computer. The Microsoft Mathematics Add-in can help you with the following tasks: My math skills are such that I am not competent to review Mathematics 4.0 properly. Microsoft promotes Mathematics 4.0 as a teaching tool, and it can indeed be used to great effect by teachers of Algebra, Geometry, Trigonometry, Calculus, Physics, or Chemistry.

3 iPad apps to assist teaching mathematics. Mathboard Featured in the recent iPad TV ad "Learn". This is the best integer practice app or program I have found in 34 years of teaching math. - Tim Seiber, Math Teacher MathBoard is a stunning app for teaching addition, subtraction, multiplication and division problems. The number of customization options available make this a brilliant app for making math fun for elementary school children.

-www.androapple.com MathBoard has charm without losing track of its fundamental purpose (Arithmetic drills). - MacWorld (4 out of 5 mice) MathBoard is a fantastic math learning tool for your iPad. -- MathBoard is appropriate for all ages from kindergarten (with simple addition and subtraction problems) to elementary school where learning multiplication and division can be a challenge. MathBoard features: - Random problem generation (up to 250 questions per quiz) Wolfram Alpha Algebra Assistant Taking algebra? This app covers the following topics applicable to Algebra I, Algebra II, and College Algebra: COD - 12/5/2011 - The Math Open Reference Project [Math] The Math Open Reference Project is a web-based interactive math textbook with the goal of providing high-quality content free of charge with numerous benefits over paper textbooks.

The Math Open Reference Project uses interactive tools and animations to deliver an engaging way to learn and explore math. Teachers can discover new ways to teach students in a manner that is more engaging and can be fun. The interactive and animated illustrations supply teachers with a library of "digital manipulatives" that can be used to elucidate concepts. Students can use the same manipulatives outside the classroom, facilitating better visualization and understanding of complex ideas. Other features of The Math Open Reference Project: The URL of every page will never change.Printing anything for non-commercial use is allowed.Many problems and activities, with and without answers, are available. Math Quiz-GCSE math tests, A-Level math tests, mathematics tests online.