Utilizing Polypad: A Guide for Educators on This Innovative Learning Tool
Polypad, a dynamic virtual mathematics platform, has been making waves in the educational community. Accessible on all devices and browsers without login or installation, Polypad offers a user-friendly interface designed to engage learners.
Upon opening Polypad, users are greeted by the 2024 Polypad Art and Music Contest winners and testimonials from educators and students, providing a warm welcome. The platform's interface includes drag-n-drop tools, multimedia elements, and colourful manipulatives, creating an immersive learning experience.
One of Polypad's unique features is its polygons, which incorporate musical tones that represent their properties, such as vertices, perimeter, area, angles, and fractions. This auditory element adds a layer of engagement, making abstract concepts more tangible.
New users can start exploring Polypad immediately, but creating a free account allows for saving, sharing, and other features. Account creation for teachers and students is straightforward, with options available via email, Google, Amplify, or Desmos Classroom account. For students younger than 13, a Desmos Classroom account is required for student account creation.
Polypad can be used as a standalone tool or as a collection of assignable activities and lessons with Amplify's Desmos Classroom Activity Builder. The Tiles menu in Polypad offers a variety of interactive math tools in categories like geometry, numbers, fractions, algebra, probability and data, and games and applications.
The built-in Help menu provides instant access to tile summaries, examples, and lesson ideas, making it easier for educators to incorporate Polypad into their teaching. The Desmos Activity Builder allows educators to create multimedia assignable activities using a variety of tools, including Polypad.
Polypad's games and applications, such as chess, logic and computing, currencies, clocks, dominoes, and music, add an element of fun to learning, making complex concepts more approachable. The platform is fully accessible for students using adaptive technologies, ensuring all learners can participate fully.
Polypad offers an extensive set of pre-designed puzzles, activities, and lesson plans for expert guidance and ideas for use with students. Tutorials, available on platforms like Mathigon's YouTube channel, offer step-by-step guidance on using Polypad's tools. The TikTok content from "MagicSchoolAI" showcases using Polypad to explore areas of similar figures and other geometry concepts interactively, aligning well with middle and high school curricula.
As Polypad continues to evolve, upcoming developments include a New Teacher Starter Kit and Best Tools for Teachers. These resources aim to make Polypad even more accessible and effective for educators.
Previously part of Mathigon.org, Polypad has since been acquired by Amplify, which is in the process of merging and integrating all three products. With its interactive manipulatives for geometry, algebraic tools, and probability tools, Polypad is an invaluable resource for teaching these subjects to middle and high school students. By leveraging Polypad's features and resources, educators can create dynamic, engaging, and effective learning experiences for their students.
- The unique auditory element in Polypad, where polygons incorporate musical tones representing their properties, adds an engaging layer to learning abstract concepts in a virtual environment.
- Policyad's extensive library of pre-designed puzzles, activities, and lesson plans provides expert guidance and ideas for use with students, making it an invaluable resource for educators.
- By using Polypad's interactive tools such as the Tiles menu, teachers can create dynamic, engaging, and effective learning activities for their students, aligning with middle and high school curricula.
- The TikTok content from MagicSchoolAI showcases the use of Polypad for exploring geometry concepts such as areas of similar figures interactively, while tutorials on platforms like Mathigon's YouTube channel offer step-by-step guidance on using its features.
- As Polypad continues to evolve, it is developing resources like the New Teacher Starter Kit and Best Tools for Teachers to make the platform even more accessible and effective for educators in their classrooms.6.Google Classroom integration allows for easy account creation for teachers and students, with options available via email, Google, Amplify, or Desmos Classroom account, making it convenient to incorporate Polypad into a digital curriculum.
