Desmos

Integrating useful online tools into STEM classes can, sometimes, be a challenge.  With a plethora of options available, finding a reliable, free tool that will augment your teaching can be a monumental task.  That’s why I love the Desmos application. Desmos is, without a doubt, the best data visualization utility that I have seen, and it can be leveraged by a vast array of content areas.  For middle school geometry teachers, the powerful graphing calculator requires students to have an understanding of the fundamentals of graphing, not simply provide answers. For science teachers, it can handle complex formulas that would be cumbersome to draw by hand, not to mention that it allows for the visualizations of unknown variables and how they affect the plot.  However, my favorite feature of Desmos is the Teacher and Student portals. Creating a FREE account gives you access to a library of online activities that have been created by professionals and Desmos to get the most out of the Desmos app in your classroom. Educators can create individual “class” spaces that allow students to join and complete the activities, either independently or with Teacher pacing controls.  Did I mention that all of the metrics from the activities are stored and available in the Teacher portal? Desmos is a high-quality, free tool that will be in my classroom, and I would highly recommend it to any STEM educator.