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Making Math Manipulatives Digital! (Module 4)

Hey math teachers! Have you been struggling with teaching your kinesthetic and visual learners using all of our new technology? How about when we suddenly have an eLearning day and students can’t take math manipulatives home? I recently came across an article on Edutopia about How to Select Effective Digital Math Tools. The author, Nell McAnelly, explains how you should select and evaluate digital math resources for use with your students. She evaluates digital resources by five key components: their value, ease of use, how they serve learning goals, equity, and quality. These criteria serve as great guidelines for selecting digital math resources for the right purposes and not just because they are fun or flashy. McAnelly states, “Technology should support educators, not take their place.” While teachers should remain the main tool for delivering instruction, students need additional tools to help facilitate their learning.
Didax is one such resource for students to use with their district issued devices, or at home when they do not have access to materials. Didax compiles a collection of digital math manipulatives that support a variety of grade levels and concepts. For example, there are basic dice and spinners for games to counters and unifix cubes for basic math operations to fraction tiles. Thinking about McAnelly’s evaluation criteria, this site definitely is easy to use and allows for them to practice using the manipulatives the same way as if they were physically in front of them. Fun extra: This website also offers free activities for teachers for a variety of concepts and grade levels!
References: McAnelly, N. (2021, May 6). How to select effective digital math tools. Edutopia. Retrieved February 3, 2023, from https://www.edutopia.org/article/how-select-effective-digital-math-tools Virtual Manipulatives for math. Didax Inc. (n.d.). Retrieved February 3, 2023, from https://www.didax.com/math/virtual-manipulatives.html

Comments

  1. Aaron MednickFebruary 3, 2023 at 3:56 PM

    This educational resource is awesome! It it slightly similar to the tool I also shared, which is math and science simulations (Gizmos). Students connecting concepts with visuals is a great way to reinforce that learning outcome. I will say that one of the biggest hurdles is finding online resources that will work well with district issued devices. I loved the blog writers five key components for evaluating the site. They are simple user friendly criteria that anyone can use. Thanks for sharing!

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    Replies
    1. Sam HowardFebruary 17, 2023 at 4:52 AM

      Hey Aaron! My team teachers love Gizmos! They have had them approved by our district because, you're right, it can be difficult to find 'approved' digital resources.

      Delete
  2. Jennifer BrownFebruary 4, 2023 at 8:34 AM

    Didax is a resource that I'm going to share with our math teacher. I love that it incorporates a game element that enourages learners to enjoy the learning process!

    ReplyDelete
  3. Wendy P.February 4, 2023 at 6:14 PM

    Hi Sam,
    Engagement is key in a math classroom. By providing manipulatives, students are able to 'see' the mathematics and transition from concrete to abstract thinking and understanding. In my opinion, all grade levels need manipulatives because we all learn at different paces. I also found the manipulatives on Toy Theatre (https://toytheater.com/category/teacher-tools/) to be beneficial as well. Some are the same as on Didax. When students have to complete asynchronous lessons, having access to math manipulatives that they can use increases the chances of them actually completing assignments.

    Thank you for sharing,
    -Wendy-

    ReplyDelete
  4. Courtland Smith's ISCI 761February 5, 2023 at 3:17 PM

    Hey, Samantha!
    Thank you for sharing this blog post. I have known about Didax math manipulatives. I have actually used them in my lessons, especially when I taught online during the Covid outbreak. I LOVED using them. I need to go back to using them with my students in my class this year.
    I think it is great that you shared a math resource because I think sometimes librarians are only seen as people who only gather ELA materials for teachers, but that is not the case. I think librarians need to be a resource for all teachers who teach all subjects. Therefore, you have shown through your blog post how to provide materials for math teachers as a librarian.
    Thank you so much for your post and showing how librarians should be able to provide materials for teachers in different subjects besides ELA.
    Sincerely,
    Courtland Smith

    ReplyDelete

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