Review based on:

personal experience

Appropriate for:

introduction to a concept

What math does one need to know to use the resource?

Basic addition and subtraction. This is a nice intro to the concept of multiplication.

What hardware expertise does one need to learn to use the resource?

Nothing extra.

How hard was it for you to learn?

Very Easy

Explanation:

It's a matter of clicking and dragging to highlight squares. There's not much to it.

Ability to meet my goals:

Effective

Recommended for:

Math 2: Operations with numbers

Review based on:

I received email via my tac workshop.

Appropriate for:

introduction to a concept, practice of skills and understandings, applications of a concept or technique

Other Comments:

=I think tool(1) very good for learning the commutative rule and perhaps a better first tool for this than say the geoboard. =I think tool(3) might be good for older children in learning why the common multiplication algorithm works - but I am not sure they would care why it works (I never did until I majored in mathematics at college). =BUT what I really like is tool(2)for multiplying binomials! (NOT for lattice multiplication which I really don't understand and anyway I think that teaching more than one method is counterproductive and the common method has been shown over and over to be most effective.) I think this tool(2) for algebra would be great - something like given the picture write the product of the binomials and vice-versa. (Is there a tool like this that I don't know about?) =I might add another tool between tools (1) and (2) for the distributive rule, i.e. with a monomial times a binomial (but that is because I am thinking of algebra). =My biggest complaint is that the thinking is not interactive, that is, all the math is presented. I will be very interested in how teachers can actually use this in the classroom as I personally would like to be able to activate the right side given the left (and vice versa) after asking some good questions.

What math does one need to know to use the resource?

Helpful to understand the lattice method for tool(2) :)

What hardware expertise does one need to learn to use the resource?

Very easy to use and understand.

What extra things must be done to make it work?

Nothing.

How hard was it for you to learn?

Very Easy

Explanation:

There was nothing to learn. It was very straightforward.

Ability to meet my goals:

Effective

Recommended for:

Math 3: Number sense
Math 4: Number sense
Algebra