Episode 88 - Virtual versus Physical Manipulatives

Welcome fellow Recovering Traditionalists to Episode 88.  Today we are looking at Virtual versus Physical Manipulatives. With distance learning happening for so many right now, during a Build Math Minds Members Q & A session, a member asked if it’s okay to just have kids working with virtual manipulatives or if kids need the physical manipulatives to ensure they are working in the Concrete level. As I went digging into the research, I found that this is not a new concern. In 2016, Julie Sarama & Douglas Clements wrote a chapter in the book International Perspectives on Teaching and Learning Mathematics with Virtual Manipulatives that can shed some light on this concern that educators are having in 2021. Go over to buildmathminds.com/88 for links mentioned in this episode.