Interactive Virtual Math
Posted by David Wetzel
Individual students learn in different ways. When manipulatives are used, their senses are peaked for learning since students can touch and move objects to make visual representations of mathematical concepts.
Manipulatives can be used to represent both numbers and operations of these numbers. In addition to meeting the needs of students who learn best in this way, manipulatives afford the teacher strategies for reinforcing a math concept.
Virtual manipulatives are an additional tool for helping students at all levels of ability to make connections within and between math concepts.
For some students mathematics is just too abstract. These students need visual interactive multiple instructional strategies that combine auditory, visual, and mental activities. They benefit from a combination of visual (i.e., pictures and 2D/3D moveable objects) and verbal representations (i.e., numbers, letters, words) of concepts. This is possible with use of virtual manipulatives.
The ability to combine multiple representations in an interactive virtual environment allows students to manipulate and change the representations. This strategy increases exploration possibilities to internalize concepts, making conjectures between math relationships.
Interactive Virtual Math Resources
