I started this entry to talk about the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives from Utah State University and while checking on links and some details I discovered eNLVM. I have used the NLVM for elementary through high school courses. The site is divided by grades and math courses, and many activities carry across multiple grades and math courses. Among the activities available, students can use virtual geo boards, work tangram puzzles and twist plantonic solids around to count vertices, edges and faces.
eNLVM lets you setup classes, track student performance and create or use lessons. It only took a few seconds to sign up and so far I have not found any cost involved. I also had to setup the school account, which took less than 1 minute. Once my account was created I setup my first class. So far very easy.
Now for my first lesson. I am currently teaching similar triangles so I figured I would create my first lesson on similar triangles. Once you get to this stage you can use mathlet, mathlet and text or text only. I opted to use a mathlet with text and the next window was a goldmine. Not only can you link directly to NLVM activities/mathlets, but you can add urls and a list of websites to get mathlets or activities from is provided. I think it is time to explorer. I will add more about what the mathlet list leads to tomorrow.
2 comments:
I apologize for not having commented on your blog recently. I had book marked your blog apparently on the March 2008 tab somehow so I didn't realize you were still commenting! I'm going to go back and read all of your previous posts this week.
I looked through the eNLVM website and it looks like an amazing tool! I think one of the hard things for students in math is how to visualize the new concepts but it looks like the activities on this site do just that!
The NLVM is a tremendous website and source for teachers of mathematics. It provides a place for students to visualize some difficult concepts in math. I was trying to think of applications of this website in a science or a geography course. The visuals of cube (1000), flat plane (100), row (10), and unit (1) could be used to help students visualize populations of people or species of plants or animals. I forwarded the website to our math curriculum coordinator, and hope that our teachers can find a use for it in our math classes. I can envision them using the eNLVM for online mathematics teaching and support. Thanks for the terrific resource.
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