We all know in this high-tech world that if you blink, you miss out. So, I guess I’ve been blinking too much lately. I finally got to play with GeoGebra, free software that lets you (and your students) play with mathematical ideas graphically – and with a tablet pc or interactive whiteboard, it’s like mathematical magic...

 

Created originally by Markus Hohenwarter in Austria, GeoGebra is now translated into 45 languages and is being used literally all around the world. Teachers and students are creating dynamic simulations and interactive exercises that can be converted to Java apps and posted on the web. If you have the latest JAVA, you can try out the famous "Pythagoras Ladder-Against-the-Wall Example".

 

GeoGebra is sort of like the inverse (converse?) of a graphing calculator. Instead of inputting the equation to get a graph, you can input the graph and see the equation. Nice!

 

Apparently I’m not the only one who thinks so. In addition to its celebrated success in classrooms around the world, many communities sharing GeoGebra examples, and now the GeoGebra team have been honored as “Laureates” for the TechMuseum of Innovation TechAwards . While we won’t know who the final TechAward winners will be until the event on the 19^th of November, being a Laureate is confirmation enough for me! GeoGebra is definitely software worth trying out...

 

Congratulations, GeoGebra!

 

Jim Vanides is currently a Program Manager in Philanthropy for Hewlett-Packard, responsible for worldwide higher education grant initiatives (www.hp.com/go/hied-blog). He also teaches an online course offered through Montana State University for elementary teachers on the Science of Sound (www.scienceteacher.org). He holds a BS in Engineering and a MA in Education, both from Stanford University.