The applications of the Math Learning Center: to discover

The Math Learning Center offers some very interesting applications to allow students to explore and manipulate mathematical concepts.

While browsing the Math Learning Center website, I remembered a training given by Robert Lyons that I had attended when I was still in school. In 1973, he and his brother began their research on learning difficulties in mathematics. It was also during the 1970s that the instigators of Math Learning Center begin their visits to American schools with the objective of improving the teaching of mathematics. This work, carried out on either side of the border, has enabled, among other things, the development of educational material mainly focused on manipulation and logic placing the student at the heart of his learning.

The applications of Math Learning Center are available for free on iPad and as a web version. To date, around ten applications allow students to explore and manipulate the mathematical concepts taught such as counting (Number Frames), the percentage (Number pieces), the multiplication of whole numbers (Number Line).

The application GeoBoard, meanwhile, allows, among other things, to deepen the following mathematical concepts: perimeter, area, fraction. For my part, I like to use it with the students of the third cycle to reinvest with them the notions of location in the Cartesian plane. To do this, I created a geometric bingo which allows both to revise the characteristics of regular polygons and the notions related to the systems of axes and the pairs of coordinates which are associated with them.

In addition to these applications, the Math Learning Center puts online a multitude of educational resources. Despite the fact that they are only available in English and Spanish, these remain an interesting starting point for any teacher who wishes to put forward an approach based on exploration, trial and error, deduction. , contextualization. Closer to home, the Lyons brothers make available to parents, in the section Home school of their website, their volumes Math challenge. Note also that this is the oldest collection of textbooks still approved by the Ministry of Education. Why not take the opportunity to go for a walk with your child during this period of confinement? As an example, my 9 year old boy, had fun exploring the concept of symmetry presented in chapter 8 of volume 2. Subsequently, using the application Number Line, we practiced the multiplication of whole numbers.

More than twenty years have passed since my meeting with Mr. Lyons and he is still active in his community. In fact, he recently met first-cycle elementary school teachers at the CSDM's Teachers' Center (CEE). It must be understood that his passion for the didactics of mathematics has not faded over time! If you have the chance to meet this seasoned educator don't miss the opportunity. Otherwise, take the time to watch this interview with him for the show Découverte.

To find the app Geoboard and other applications of Math Learning Center, consult our detailed file on the subject.