Desmos has long been a popular name in the world of math educators. Their free, online graphing calculator is simply beautiful, and since it’s easy and works on any device, it’s perfect for the classroom. They even have a a free Android or iOS app for it, along with excellent classroom activities.
But now they’ve released a new tool specifically for geometry, and it’s just as amazing. Although not as fully featured as a website like Geogebra, Desmos Geometry is still a great resource for the secondary math classroom. It’s designed to help students understand geometry concepts through the use of drawing and diagram manipulation tools. There’s a simple tutorial video, along with a page of resources to help master the tool. And clicking the “three lines” icon in the top left-hand corner of the program will provide a number of powerful examples.
Because Desmos is so universally liked and adopted by schools around the world, there will soon be a variety of lesson plans and activities designed by teachers that go along with this new resource. That makes it an even more powerful tool.
While I am not a math expert, I still had fun playing with Desmos Geometry. And I think that, if someone more knowledgeable were there to help me, I could really learn a lot about the subject while experimenting. The tool enables students to construct and test their own theories about geometry, which is a powerful and engaging way to learn. And that’s what technology is best at, isn’t it?