Kristi Greene

SEC 444
App Evaluation

Desmos is a free app available through the iOS App Store. It is based off of an online calculator
and graphing program located at www.desmos.com. Unfortunately, the creators of Desmos have not
released an app for the Google Play Store (compatible with Android and Google devices) at this time.
It is easy and intuitive to type equations and add sliders, which can be manipulated to change
the value of some unknown. For example, a student might input the equation y = mx + b, creating sliders
for the constants m and b. As they drag along the sliders, they will see the graph adjust simultaneously.
Then students may conclude that the value of m determines the slope of the line and the value of b
determines the y-intercept of the line. In this way and many others, students can harness the power of
Desmos to explore functions and relationships.
The wonderful thing about Desmos is that it can be used throughout all levels of mathematics.
As students learn more complex content and gain more advanced fluency with functions, they can do
more and more with the app. The many features and flexibility of Desmos make it a relevant tool for all
mathematics curricula, even calculus and beyond. I myself used it in one of my upper level college
courses last week.
In the classroom, Desmos can enhance students ability to visualize mathematical relationships
and concepts via graphing. Sliders help students determine the role of each part of a function. Further,
the app allows students to plot data points, which they can compare with possible lines of best fit.
Students might graph systems of equations to explore how many solutions different types of equations
produce and identify what those solutions are. They are also able to convert between tables, equations
and functions, comparing the advantages and disadvantages of multiple representations. These are just
a few ways that Desmos can be utilized to help students reach learning goals.
Graphing calculators are nice, but Desmos is a step above. The touch interface makes things
much easier to navigate than the many buttons and menu screens of a TI-83 or any comparable
calculator. A white background with clean lines also makes the app easy on the eyes. Plus, the
introduction of sliders makes for a great interactive feature that simply doesnt exist anywhere outside
of exceptionally expensive programing software (e.g. Wolfram Mathematica).
I would recommend Desmos to all mathematics teachers, especially those who teach algebra.
My guess is that the exploratory approach that Desmos encourages is likely to keep students engaged
and produce deeper understanding of the content.