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If you teach mathematics like I do occasionally , then you are always on the lookout for a great mathematics tool to share with your students. In my journeys with teaching college level math online, I've encountered several tools which I want to comment on.
For my own convenience, I tend to look for tools that are -
- free
- easy to use
- have valuable features
Tools change all the time so my list of tools changes CONSTANTLY. But, once I find a really good one, I rush to share it with my students.
Some of the ones I've recently found and have been enjoying are:
For graphing in algebra, precalc:
http://www.desmos.com (This one is my newest darling!)
(+) interface that is super easy
(+) input can be equations and tables
(+) multiple functions in different colors on the same graph
(+) graphs are presented in layers that can be turned on and off.
(+) extensive library of graphs allowed such as linear, polynomial, rationals, exponentials, logarithms, polar coordinates, etc.
(+) draggable scaling and zooming
(-) output to PDFs but not editable high-res. But, I must say that the output will suite any online LMS, PowerPoint, PDFs very nicely.
http://fooplot.com
(+) Fast and easy to input points and basic equations to plot them.
(+) multiple functions on a graph in which you can change the colors.
(+) control of graph features such as scaling and tickmarks
(+) output file formats to download to from scalable vector (SVG) to high-res PDFs
(-) Although, it does handle exponential equations, it cannot handle logarithmic equations; no piecewise functions
(-) no zooming; scaling is done by typing in numbers.
(-) you cannot make a graph visible or not (like in www.desmos.com); in other words, to make a graph invisible, you have to delete it. That's a real bummer.
http://www.graphsketch.com/ (similar to FooPlot even matches down to the interface)
(+) same features as FooPlot
(+) Upside over FooPlot is that it does logarithms and exponentials.
(-) Outputs only to PNG files. So, if you want PDF, you'll have to convert.
For statistical and financial calculators:
http://web2.0calc.com (statistical, scientific functions like logarithmic and exponential)
(+) similar inputting as desmos.com
(+) has a "history" so that you can go back and change parameters on complicated equations
(-) output to multiple formats
http://www.alcula.com/ (statistical functions like mean, mode, median, standard deviation)
(+) you can input a data list once and get all of the statistical measures on one page
(-) must input all numbers separately; will not take a table format.
http://www.tcalc.com(great for present and future value)
(+) easy to input the principal, interest, years and compounding to get PV and FV values.
(+) Any variable can become the unknown just by leaving it blank. So for instance, if you know how money you started with and how much you ended with, the calculator can compute the interest rate given the number of years and compounding.
All-In-One Calculators
http://www.easycalculation.com/
This one is on my list to try. The site is extensive and lists several groupings of calculators across disciplines like math, statistics, finance, accounting, science and health. Worth checking out!
Online tools can help you when developing materials for your math, statistics and finance courses. I find that these tools save me time when developing tutorials, assessments for students. Sometimes, I put on my screen recording software and just record my steps online with calculator. My students appreciate the screen casts and feel encouraged to try the tools.
What I also like about these types of online tools is that they help shift the focus of learning away from the rote, step-by-step memorization to the experimental, modeling and reasoning. This way students can see the relevance of what they are doing by completing more complex, real-world problems that are more interesting.
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