Exploring Polypad: A Tool for Educators and Its Utilization in Classrooms

Introducing Polypad: A Revolutionary Digital Math Platform

Polypad, a versatile and accessible digital math platform, is now available to students and educators worldwide. This innovative tool, accessible on all devices and browsers without the need for login or installation, was originally part of Mathigon and was later acquired by Amplify.

Polypad offers an array of features designed to make learning math engaging and interactive. Users can start exploring right away without creating an account, but signing up for a free account allows for saving, sharing, and access to additional features.

One of Polypad's standout features is its extensive collection of interactive manipulatives. These include spinners, dice, fraction models, number lines, algebra tiles, and geometric shapes, which visually demonstrate key mathematical concepts, making lessons more interactive and engaging.

Teachers can import classes from Google Classroom if they already have them, and creating a class within Polypad is straightforward. By choosing Classes in the left menu, then Add New Class, an invite code for students will be automatically generated.

Polypad can be used as a stand-alone tool or as a collection of assignable activities and lessons through Amplify's Desmos Classroom Activity Builder. It also offers a variety of games and apps, such as chess, logic and computing, currencies, clocks, dominoes, and music, with the option to play and record.

The platform's interface includes shapes, colours, graphs, music, and other tools for teaching geometry, algebra, probability, and statistics to middle and high school students. It also provides an integrated help menu, with tile summaries, examples, and lesson ideas, to guide users.

As part of the integration of Polypad, Mathigon, and Desmos Classroom by Amplify, a new Teacher Starter Kit and Best Tools for Teachers are expected. Polypad is also accessible to students using adaptive technologies such as screen readers, with keyboard shortcuts enabling their full participation in the lesson.

Teachers can create custom Polypad activities and assign them to members of their class. Polypad polygons even have musical tones that represent their properties, such as vertices, perimeter, area, angles, and fractions.

For those new to Polypad, Mathigon's YouTube channel offers tutorials for step-by-step guidance on using its tools. The core functions of Polypad are housed in the Tiles menu, where users will find interactive math tools in categories such as geometry, numbers, fractions, algebra, probability and data, and games and applications.

Incorporating Polypad into lessons can help teachers promote student engagement and participation, provide visual models to help students understand abstract concepts concretely, create interactive classroom activities that foster collaboration and active learning, and explore math lessons as a supplement to curriculum content.

By leveraging Polypad’s diverse manipulatives and interactive features, educators can align with best practices in math teaching by combining mathematical content knowledge with engaging, hands-on learning experiences.

The innovative digital math platform, Polypad, offers an engaging way for students to learn math, accessible on all devices and browsers without login or installation.
Polypad's extensive collection of interactive manipulatives, such as spinners, fraction models, and geometric shapes, visually demonstrate key mathematical concepts, making lessons more interactive and engaging.
Teachers can import classes from Google Classroom and create classes within Polypad, making it easier to manage students and assignments.
Polypad can be used as a stand-alone tool or in conjunction with Amplify's Desmos Classroom Activity Builder, offering a variety of games and apps for additional learning.
The platform's interface includes tools for teaching geometry, algebra, probability, and statistics, as well as an integrated help menu to guide users.
Polypad is designed to be accessible for students using adaptive technologies such as screen readers, with keyboard shortcuts to enable full participation in the lesson.
With Polypad, teachers can align with best practices in math teaching by combining mathematical content knowledge with engaging, hands-on learning experiences, promoting student engagement and participation in education-and-self-development.