Virtual Manipulatives Advantages And Disadvantages In Education

There is no hiding from technology in today’s classrooms. It is such a prevalent force in our society that it must be an element integrated in education. Virtual manipulatives are technological representations of their physical counterparts. Like their concrete counterparts, virtual manipulatives are designed to help students explore mathematic concepts through the manipulation of objects. Virtual manipulatives are much cheaper than concrete ones because most of the applications are free. Many virtual applications also offer immediate feedback to students so that students can self-monitor and explore the concepts correctly and efficiently. They also do not require storage space, or have pieces that will get lost, taken, or damaged. However, they do require significant technological resources. A teacher must have computers available to students individually or in small groups. Also, problems with equipment or connectivity may hinder learning (Davis, 2014). Like concrete manipulatives, virtual manipulatives come in many forms, and have both advantages and disadvantages. …show more content…
Students who have psychomotor issues and may not be able to easily manipulate the small individual pieces will have a resource which allows equal ability on the computer. Also, students who may be behavioral risks will also have a resource to equally participate without being able to throw or distract others with the physical objects. Students with organizational needs have a resource to also equally participate and not lose or mix up the physical pieces. Another advantage of this manipulative is storage and piece management. Physical base ten blocks require a lot of storage space, especially if a teacher has sets for each student with large class sizes. Virtual base ten blocks require no storage space and have unlimited pieces of each component. Class size and lost pieces are irrelevant factors with this