The use of manipulatives, virtual or concrete, can help students build a better understanding of math concepts. Manipulatives also help students represent about abstract concepts in a concrete way. Teachers then help students to connect these new concepts to their background knowlege. Some of the advantages of using virtual manipulatives over concrete manipulatives include unlimited numbers or sets of manipulatives and customization.
What are Virtual Manipulatives? by Patricia Moyer, Johnna Bolyard, and Mark Spikell discusses different types of virtual manipulatives, classroom applications, and information about evaluation of virtual manipulative sites.
Learning Mathematics with Virtual Manipulatives also has information about how to use virtual manipulatives in the classroom, efficacy of manipulatives, and information about choosing appropriate manipulatives for teaching a concept.
A few sites with virtual math manipulatives are listed below:
- National Library of Virtual Manipulatives
- The NLVM was created at Utah State Universtiy with funding from the National Science foundation. Users can search for activities by concept or by grade. Each virtual manipulative has instructions and information for parents and teachers.
- eNLVM
- NCTM Illuminations
- This resource site by the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics includes 105 online activivties, over 500 lessons, and links to other resources on the web.
- Math Playground
- Shodor Interactivate Activities
- Users can find tools, activities, discussions, and lessons for different math concepts on this website. Activities on this site include Area Explorer, Tessellate!, Adjustable Spinner, Box Plot, and Linear Function Machine.
- NEIRTEC Online Math Tools
- Math Resources - Virtual Manipulatives
- Visual Fractions
- Models of fractions using circles and number lines. There are also links to other games and resources for learning how to simplify, add, and subtract fractions.
- Glencoe Virtual Manipulatives
- Manipulatives on this site include algebra tiles, attribute blocks, base ten blocks, color tiles, two-color counters, spinners, geoboards, and a bucket balance.
- Arcytech Educational Java Programs
- This site includes several java applets for a variety of math concepts including
- Math Tools
- This site is part of the Math Forum @ Drexel and has a variety of web resources for teaching math. Users can search the catalog to find resources including tools, lesson plans, stories, and activities.
- BBC Schools
- Hand Made Manipulatives
- Although these are not virtual manipulatives, the printable manipulatives on Dr. Margo Lynn Mankus' site work well and allow all students to have their own set of manipulatives to use.
