Seriously.
I want to go back and rework all of my curriculum to include more interactive and engaging activities with Desmos - both things that I create as tools for the students but also things that the students create and publish themselves. I made a few myself and played around and edited a few of the samples they had on their website and am keeping a folder for my Math Analysis course here.
So, how do you get started?
- Go to www.desmos.com. Sign in with your Google account or create a new account. You can also download the iPad app.
- Look at some of the samples so you get an idea. Click on the "three bars" in the top left to show the samples.
- Check out the user guide and quick start guide so you know how the different buttons work.
- Start to play!
Some awesome things about Desmos (this list is far from being finished...)
- It works on a computer or on the iPad
- You can save the graphs you are working on so you can go back to them at any time.
- It allows students to do very simple things like graphing functions, but also to see how functions shift and change as the values in the function change. (i.e. the parent graph y=a(x-h)+k... what does a, h, and k do? We can tell them over and over again, but it's awesome to SEE it!)
You can check out my first student Desmos activity plan here. We will be using the school's iPad lab on Monday to complete it. I will let you know how it goes!
Have you tried Geogebra? If so what are pros and con's. Geogebra has an app for both android and apple. Look forward to hearing from you!!
ReplyDeleteHi Alex,
DeleteI've played around with Geogebra a little bit, but just used their premade ones. I've been using the pre-made Geogebra ones in my classroom for probably 3-4 years. I've never gotten around to finding out how to make my own Geogebras, although I know it can't be that difficult because I have a teacher friend who has her students make them all the time. I just haven't sat down and done it. At initial exposure it seems a little more complex than Desmos.
Desmos seems to be a little more student-friendly for beginners (meaning my students haven't really used a creation tool like that before).
I like how Geogebra incorporates multiple things, i.e. there can be a unit circle on the left and then a graph being drawn out on the right. I haven't found a way to do that in Desmos yet.
So, those are my initial thoughts. I'm still a newbie so I'm sure I'll find out more.
Have you used either of them? What are your thoughts?