Nov 272011
Guillermo Bautista, who is the host of Mathematics and Multimedia, recently posted a terrific article about GeoGebra, in which he summarized reasons why this incredible open-source software has been so successful. I asked his permission to reprint his post for my readers and he readily accepted.
Michael Borcherds, lead developer of GeoGebra, asked why GeoGebra is successful in the GeoGebra Forum; I summarized the responses and came up with 15 reasons. Here are the reasons why GeoGebra has been so successful all these years.
- It is FREE.
- It is open source – meaning, it is developed collaboratively by us:programmers, teachers, mathematicians, and users not just a few people.
- It runs in multiple operating systems (Windows, Mac, Linux, etc.).
- It runs in different devices (computers, mobile phones, tablets).
- It promotes mathematical connections (algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, etc.).
- It highlights multiple representations (equations, graphs, tables).
- It is intuitive, user-friendly, and easy to use.
- Its files can be easily uploaded to the web as applets.
- It can be exported to different file formats (png, pdf, eps, etc.).
- It supports Latex typesetting.
- It supports spreadsheet, CAS, and 3D (GeoGebra 5.0).
- It has an elegant appearance and dynamic colors.
- It has excellent support community.
- It can be used by elementary school students up to graduate schoolstudents.
- It is updated frequently.
Thank you, Guillermo, for this post and many others from your excellent site.
Thank you for reposting my article. I think GeoGebra is a blessing to us all. Our country is poor, and students and teachers cannot afford to buy expensive software. But with GeoGebra, we don’t have to buy one.
Guillermo,
There are two things all mathematics teachers should be aware of: KenKen, which provides number sense and problem-solving training in a game type format, and GeoGebra, for the 15 reasons you list in your article. May we see the rapid adoption of both of these in the near future.
Bill
Bill,
I haven’t heard of KenKen, but I will explore it later. I’ll see if I can make a post about it.
Guillermo