DragginMath: The Guided Tour
DragginMath is an app for teaching, learning, and doing algebra. It converts equations into interactive pictures. Then you can solve them by literally dragging math around on the screen. Sounds simple, right?
Actually, it is. If there is a problem, it is that DragginMath does so much math just by dragging it around on the screen. Some people learn to use it just by playing. But there is a whole lot to play with, and most people want a more direct path to understanding this app. So let me help you out.
First, let’s set some expectations. DragginMath is not curriculum. It is a tool. It is not a replacement for a math teacher or a math book. You still need those. You can use DragginMath to help you teach or learn the properties and techniques of algebra, but it does not explain these things on its own: that is what a teacher does. And you can use it to solve a lot of math problems, but you have to get the problems somewhere: that is what a book does. DragginMath then makes algebra easier to teach, learn, and do.
If your goal is to learn algebra, some apps are too helpful. Enter an equation, and those apps instantly show you all the steps you could have done to solve it. But with those apps, you didn’t do the steps. You didn’t even think them. Probably, all you did was copy them. If you really want to learn, you must choose to be more involved.
When solving an equation, DragginMath does the work as you move through a solution, but you must tell it what work to do at each step. If you just sit there looking at DragginMath, DragginMath just sits there waiting for you.
On the one hand, DragginMath is very simple. On the other hand, there is a lot to know. This Guided Tour will help you understand this powerful tool. This Guided Tour is aimed primarily at teachers and parents: people who have already been through an algebra course and have some understanding of the concepts and vocabulary. The same is true for the Info ℹ️ pages embedded in DragginMath. Students can read this material, and probably should eventually, but not right away.
Be aware at the outset that DragginMath takes a different approach. The visible process it uses to read equations is not what teachers and parents learned in school. The DragginMath way is simpler than that, based on the discoveries of computer scientists back in the 1960s. So this is not new at all, but it is still unknown in the field of Math Education. And the way DragginMath presents math for examination and transformation is also different. Instead of hoping the student will eventually be able to see the relationships between the parts of an equation, DragginMath eliminates the guesswork, showing those relationships explicitly in pictures.
DragginMath runs on iPad, iPhone, and Apple Vision goggles. This app is screen-hungry: it works on iPhone, but the small iPhone screen limits the size of problems you will want to try there. iPad is a better host for DragginMath. Vision goggles are fun if you happen to have them. DragginMath does not run on a Macintosh: the difference between mouse input and touch input is large enough that the user interface does not work correctly on a Mac.
We wish we had a version for Android platforms. But this is complex software, and developing and maintaining the Apple codebase is all we can manage at this time. Sorry.
Let’s get down to dragging. First, get DragginMath from the App Store. Start it up. Now we can begin.
If you just want to play a little with DragginMath to get a quick feel for it, do this:
When you are ready to learn the whole thing, read these:
DragginMath Concepts
DragginMath: About Representations
DragginMath: About DragginMath Notation
DragginMath: About Traditional Notation
DragginMath: About Trees
DragginMath Usage
DragginMath: Touch, Tap, Drag… Defined
DragginMath: Info Pages
DragginMath: Configuration
DragginMath: Entering Expressions
DragginMath: Semicolon
DragginMath: When Things Happen and When They Don’t
DragginMath: Undo/Redo and History
DragginMath: Managing Your Screen
DragginMath Algebra
DragginMath: Flick/Double-Tap for Red Mode (Basic)
DragginMath: Drag Sideways/Toward for Purple Mode
DragginMath: Drag Sideways/Away for Magenta Mode
DragginMath: Drag Up for Blue Mode
DragginMath: Drag Down for Green Mode
DragginMath: Flick/Double-Tap for Red Mode (Advanced)
DragginMath Arithmetic
DragginMath: Integers Only
DragginMath: Indeterminate Values
DragginMath Accessories
DragginMath: Named Expressions
DragginMath: Files
DragginMath: Annotations
DragginMath: The Game Button