Math Space

http://www.educreations.com/lesson/view/math-space/19173590/?s=MMJMF2&ref=app

Above I have placed the link to the lesson I created using educreations. I originally made it on screen chomp because I wanted to practice using both educreations and screen chomp but for some reason my microphone wasn't working on screen chomp. In the video I talk about the app Math Space. This app offers different questions on different mathematical topics and gives you instant feedback on your work. The video explains the app in more detail. I really liked this one.

Classroom Dice

This app is simply an app that randomly rolls dice. You can choose it to roll one, two, or three dice. It then randomly rolls them. This app could be helpful when teaching probability. The students could use this and record the amount of times a number pops up in a certain number of rolls in order to figure out the probability of rolling a certain number. This is what the app looks like:

My Math App

My Math App is an app that has flash cards with math problems that help you practice multiplication, division, addition, and subtraction. The main menu looks like this:

You can choose which operation you want to practice and the number of flash cards you want. You can also have it time you so you can see if you're getting faster each time. This is a very simple app but it could be useful. I think flash cards are great but you either have to buy them to make them yourself. If you use this app you don't have to spend money or time in order to have flash cards.

Geometry Pad

http://www.educreations.com/lesson/view/incenter-of-a-triangle/19166992/?s=xVUnTt&ref=app

Above I have placed the link to my educreations lesson that I created about the app Geometry Pad. In the video I explain how I used Geometry Pad in order to create the Incenter of a triangle and demonstrate the Incenter theorem. 

Y Homework Solver

In this app you can enter in a math problem and it solves it for you. You can enter in different types of equations and even systems of equations. When I first downloaded this app I simply thought, "great, it's an app that helps students cheat." However, I do see how it could be helpful for students is used in moderation. When you enter in an problem it does not simply spit out the answer for you. Instead it gives you a step by step instruction on who the problem is solved. I have placed an example below.

I really like how it shows the steps instead of just saying x=1/5. One problem is that it doesn't exactly explain why they're doing each of these steps. Because of this, I don't think this app is adequate for learning a topic but rather reminding you of something you've already learned. I could see this being helpful if a student has a problem on a homework assignment and they're not exactly sure what steps to take in solving them. Once they see the steps for one problem they can then use a similar approach to solving the other problems on the assignment. This could also be useful for checking your work. As long as this is used as a reminder tool instead of a cheating tool I could see it being pretty helpful for students.

Math Pentagon

I have spent a great deal of time exploring this app. I've found that it could potentially be an extremely useful tool for both students and teachers. At first I thought it was just an app that offered worksheets for students along with some video tutorials for certain topics. As I explored the app I found it does so much more. The worksheets are a big part of the app for students. I have placed an example problem from a worksheet below.

You can see that it is a multiple choice question. It also has white space that can be used for students to show their work. If you click on the yellow lightbulb, it gives you a step by step instruction of how to solve the problem. I went through quite a few worksheets and they were all pretty good. The downside is that some of them are free while others are not. The app allows you to purchase these additional worksheets individually or purchase a subscription that gives you access to the worksheets for a certain amount of time. There are also different videos that you can watch that teaches you different topics.

The coolest thing that I discovered about this app is what teachers can use it for. As a teacher you can register and then build a virtual classroom for you students. You would then be able to add all of your students to your "class". You can then create assignments, tests, or quizzes for your students to take. You select the due date and each of the students can complete it and turn it in virtually from their iPad. You can create assignments for the entire class or just for certain students who may need a little extra practice. When things are turned in from your students you can see their score as well as any scratch work the student did to complete the problem. This would be extremely useful as a teacher to see what student do and do not understand. The app helps you keep track of the progress if each student with graphs of how they're doing. The app also has a Live Learning Center that teachers can use for their students. Here they can remotely teach their students by using a shared whiteboard or even video chatting with their students. All in all I thought this app was really cool and I could see how it could be very useful in the classroom. The only thing is that every student would have to have an iPad which may or may not be realistic. 

GeometrIQ

When I first started with this app I was really excited. My favorite branch of mathematics is geometry and this was a fun game that used geometry. You are given a question and if you can answer it correctly you get to move on to the next level. I have placed an example question below:

The questions are all similar to the one above. You are given a diagram and some angles or segments are labeled and you have to find the missing measurements by uses properties of geometry. In this case I had to find the measurements of two different angles. Some of the other questions required you to find areas or other measurements. I was really excited about this app until I reached this pop up:

Sadly the entire app is not free and in order to move on I would have had to pay. If this app would have been completely free I would give it a very high rating. I still really like it. I just wish I didn't have to pay for it.

Sincerely,

A poor college student (:

BasicFraction

This app is centered around fractions. It has different sections that allow you to practice different skills. Each question or problem is displayed on a chalkboard and you are given pens you can use to write down your work as you work out the problem. While playing around with the app I found that most of the problems were difficult enough that I had to write stuff down rather than just solving them in my head, which I liked. The different sections that help you practice different skills are as follows:

Identify: in this section you are given a number line with a certain portion shaded in and you have to identify the fraction. I have placed a picture of an example problem below.

Reduce: In this section, you are given a fraction and you have to deduce it to its lowest reduced form.

Compare: In this section you are given two fractions and you have to decide which is bigger. For each question you are given both the fraction and pictural respesentation of the fraction.

Find x: In this section you are given an algebraic sentence that uses fractions. In one of the fractions there is an x in either the numerator or the denominator and you have to solve for x.

Adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing: In these sections you practice adding, subtracting, multiplying, and dividing fractions. I have placed a picture of an example problem below. You can see how I used the pen to show my work.

Random: This last section you have all of the above skills in one section.

Overall I liked this app. I really like that it has different sections that focus on different skills involving fractions. I also liked the Random section that mixed up those skills. The pens were handy so you could show your work and write things out to solve the problem right on the app. The app has a good mix of problems that could be helpful practice when students are learning about fractions. The app didn't really have aspects that allowed students to learn certain skills but rather gain a deeper understanding of what they already knew about fractions by practicing with problems.

Fractions

This fractions app was really great! They have different sections that teach and test about different fraction applications. The topics they have are Introductions to Fractions, Equivalent Fractions, Common Denominators, Comparing and Ordering Fractions, Adding and Subtracting Fractions, Multiplying Fractions, and Dividing Fractions. When you choose your topic, you see a window like the one below:

Here you can choose a lesson, questions, using manipulatives, or challenges. I worked through a lot of the different topics. I really liked the manipulative section for each topic. I liked that they were virtually "hands on". When you could visually see what you were doing, it made things very easy to understand.  One of the activities I did is placed below:

This is from the Adding Fractions section. You can change the fractions and as you do, the arrows above also change. By looking at the arrows, it's easy to visualize what it means to add fractions. The third arrow also changes the denominator of the fraction. This helps students see that in order to add fractions you need common denominators.

All of the activities on this app are very helpful. Because there are different topics and different sections for each topic, a lot of time could be spent working with this app. I think this is my favorite app I've found so far and I can see it being a very useful tool in the classroom when teaching fractions.

Math Graph

I thought this app was really cool. They have different types of graphs that you can choose from (line, circle, ellipse, parabola, hyperbola, absolute value, exponential, logarithmic, etc.). It graphs which ever one you choose. You can then see the equation of the graph. It then gives you options to change different things about the equation and you can see how those changes affect the graph. I loved how you could instantly see the changes based on what part of the equation you modified. I think if I would have had this when first learning to graph, it would have made things a lot easier to understand. In the screen shot above, I graphed a polynomial equation and you can see how the changes I made in the right window affected the polynomial. I could definitely see this app as being an extremely useful tool in the classroom!

Count Money

In this app you are given an amount of money and you have to use the coins in order to create that amount. I was initially interested in this app because being able to count money is definitely a skill everyone needs to have. I thought this app was okay but it could only keep someone challenged for so long. It never increases in difficulty which I didn't really like. I think the skill it teaches and tests is very important but the app could have been a little better.

6 numbers

In this app you are given a target number and you create number sentences in order to get to the target number. You are given numbers to use and the operations of addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. You can also use numbers that were solutions to previous number sentences. I thought this was a very simple app but I liked it because it really made you think. It requires students to work backwards with operations which requires a higher level of thinking. Because you can only use each number once, you really have to think ahead so that you can create something that reaches your target number. I like the problem solving that this app promotes.