Google Drive in Your Math Classroom

I have been a long time advocate of Google Drive use in the classroom but typically the uses of Google Drive have been more focused on what it can do for your literacy program. The way Google Drive is set up lends itself to great collaborative writing pieces but math on a computer has always been a bit tricky without the proper tools. I came across a great, publicly shared Haiku Deck presentation by Rafranz Davis that you can find here. In it it outlines some of the newer math apps that are available and how they sync directly with Google Drive. 

The nice thing about Google Drive is that many boards across Ontario have been connecting their board email addresses with a Gmail account. This means that all students have instant access to everything Google Drive has to offer without having to sign up or create new accounts. This also means that teachers can easily oversee everything that their students are doing in the drive as they have an account that grants the permission to do just that. Therefore when the notion of using Google Drive in different, math-related ways in the classroom this seems like a really great opportunity to incorporate that blended learning environment. 

In the presentation linked above the author, Davis, highlighted some of the staples that Google Drive has to offer the math classroom, like the use of Google Forms and Spreadsheets to create graphs and track data. However the real highlights are some of the additional applications that can sync seamlessly to Google Drive. These apps provide great tools for math users on the computer and can then be uploaded, saved, shared and collaborated on directly within Google Drive. Some of the key ones are as follows: 

DAUM EQUATION EDITOR

"From the Chrome Web store, search Daum Equation Editor and add. Students can create equations and click save to drive. Within a document in Google Drive, students will press insert image, choose from drive and click their equation which will then be added to their document."

DESMOS

"Students can graph, create tables, plot points and create pictures. Desmos can be connected to google drive where created images can be exported and used in documents."

GEOGEBRA

"In the Chrome App store, search Geogebra! Students can demonstrate the meaning of the math as it appears in their world. Geogebra is dynamic geometry software where students can create, manipulate and explore math. Using "save to drive" images can be saved and inserted into other documents and apps for presentations, reflection and study."

To read more about these applications and find out about others click the link to the presentation listed above but the connectivity of these applications really grants them something extra when it comes to their use in the classroom!