iPad for the High School Math Classroom

It has been almost two years since my last post.  Since then I have moved out of the classroom into administration.  Last spring I received an iPad 2 and have been learning how to use it to enhance instruction. I have found several apps that would benefit math teachers and their students.

Doodle Buddy-free with ads enabled

Have you ever wanted to write out a solution to a problem and post to your website or email it?  You can do just that with Doodle Buddy.  This app turns the iPad into an individual whiteboard complete with markers and chalk.  Work can be saved to the photo library.

To the left is an example of completing the square using the Doodle Buddy App.

Quick Graphs- free for both iPhone and iPad

There is a small fee to enable separate scaling of the x and y axes. This one is my favorite for graphing. The graphs are easy to scale and colorful.  It is a much better picture than a graphing calculator display.  Save the graph to the photo library and insert into tests or worksheets. 

I used the Skitch app (free) to build a frame around this graph.

Skitch was also used to draw arrows and record the end behavior on the graph.

Screen Chomp - free from TechSmith the makers of Jing

This app is still in beta.  It lets you record what is written on the whiteboard. Use it to demonstrate how to solve a problem from start to finish. Import a picture of a geometry problem and annotate on top of it.  Share a link of the recording for students to access later.  This app is already good and will continue to improve.

Click here for a brief example of Screen Chomp.

Algebra Touch - under $5 available for iPhone and iPad

This app is great fun for algebra 1 students. Fingers are used to touch the parts of expressions and equations to simplify or solve. There are numerous practice problems and lessons that get progressively harder. 

Unit Circle - free available on iPhone and iPad 

This app is useful for trigonometry. It displays the unit circle providing the six trigonometric ratios for the angles students are usually required to memorize. It is a quick visual reference for students. 

My post on math apps would not be complete without mentioning the Wolfram Alpha app.  I so wish this app existed when I was in high school and college. Ask it any math problem and it will solve it.  It will even provide the graph, solution steps, and alternate methods. It is simply amazing. 

Hope this gets you started on using the iPad for math. If you know of additional apps out there that you like for high school math pleas let me know in the comments.