National+Library+of+Virtual+Manipulatives

**National Library of Virtual Manipulatives**
The National Library of Virtual Manipulatives, supported by the National Science Foundation (NSF), is a project that “began in 1999 to develop a library of uniquely interactive, web-based virtual manipulatives or concept tutorials, mostly in the form of Java applets, for mathematics instruction (K-12 emphasis).”

According to the Free Resources for Educational Excellence website, the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives “provides interactive online math lessons, activities, and assessments. Topics include fractions, functions, geometric transformations, integer arithmetic, patterns and sequences, probability, right triangle trigonometry, slope, triangle geometry, and writing equations of lines.”

Manipulatives are important in teaching math. Teachers will sometimes use blocks or beads as manipulatives to help students understand various math equations and functions. The National Library of Virtual Manipulatives is an interactive, technology-based version of those kinds of manipulatives. According to information about the site, too much of math instruction “fails to actively involve students.”

With each type of manipulative, a link to curriculum standards is included to show why each equation/function/manipulative is include on the website.

Currently, the library is being extended and revised through various projects. One project mentioned on the site is the eNLVM, which is the name of a project to develop interactive online learning units for math.

Free Resources for Educational Excellence National Library of Virtual Manipulatives
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