Manipulative

Information and
Media
 By saying ―manipulative information and media,‖ it
does not mean ―media manipulation and
disinformation.‖

• Are physical models or tools used in hands-on

learning.
Manipulatives
• Provide realism and illustrate concepts that
involve three dimensions.

• Enhance identification of objects by size, shape,

or color and provide hands-on experience and
laboratory practice.
 Manipulatives “tangibles”
Learning objects that can be grasped and manipulated,
and they range from wooden blocks to advanced
robotics
Ex:
Pictures
Charts of color These tools are used for drill and
reading charts practice, to explain and illustrate
Felt/flannel boards relationships, to show motion, and
Magnetic boards for storytelling.
Flash cards
 Foundations of
Manipulatives

The history of manipulatives is believed

to have existed since ancient times.
Asian civilizations used the abacus to
count and perform complex mathematical
operations. It was an indispensable tool
before the Arabic numeral system was
adapted
 Theories and practices that served as foundations
for the use of manipulatives:
Johann Heinrich Pestalozzi

• Swiss educator known as the Father of Modern

Pedagogy
• He formulated an educational theory that is now
known as the Pestalozzi method
• He believed that every human being must
exercise his right to education because
everyone has the ability to learn.
• His teaching methods were designed to
strengthen the student‘s own abilities.
Pestalozzi
method
Pestalozzi’s trio:

• Head
• Heart
• hand
Pestalozzi method Pestalozzi’s trio:

• Head – not imposing knowledge,

but stimulate curiosity
- knowing how to think

• Heart – moral education

- ―Without it, other types would
lose their sense of direction.‖
- knowing how to feel

• Hand – learning through physical

activities, grasping the world
- knowing how to act
Pestalozzi method
• Pestalozzi’s methods were
designed to strengthen the
student’s own ability

• Importance of observation and

reflective practice

• The child makes connections

between the words by ―feeling
them‖
Friedrich Froebel • Created the concept of kindergarten.

• He designed a set of manipulatives called

Froebel gifts to help students appreciate
geometrical shapes and patterns.

• Froebel‘s upbringing theory had such

major establishments: toys for inventive
play (so called ‗gifts and occupations‘).

• Froebel gave up his dream of becoming an

architect to become an educator. He
accepted a teaching position with its
founder, who is a protégé of Pestalozzi.
• In one gift, a set of small cubes was
used to introduce children to the
ideas of addition, subtraction,
multiplication, and division.
• By openly embedding mathematical
concepts into physical objects,
Froebel arguably created the first set
of educational toys.
• The complete lineup of Froebel‘s
German kindergarten consisted of
an extensive set of 24 gifts and
occupations
Following the tenets of Pestalozzi, Froebel adhered
to four pedagogic principles for teaching children:

Active engagement must be included in daily coursework.

Meaningful human activity must be self-generated.

Number, form, and language are fundamental sources of all learning.

Trust and love are manifested between mother and child.

• Throughout the German kindergarten studies, children are
challenged to think about and act on the gifts (discovery) and
occupations (invention)
Froebel believed that we
recognize the form of
objects—their shapes
and patterns—before
attaching words to them
or calling their actual
names. This way children
ultimately create learning
through the language of
geometric form
 Rudolf Steiner
• Austrian philosopher and educator
who put his educational ideas into
practice in a school funded by the
director of Waldorf Astoria in
Stuttgart

• Schools following his philosophy

are now called Waldorf Schools
• Steiner pointed out that the
development of modern
technology has a negative impact
on education. It makes us
indifferent about out being
human—our spirit, feelings,
emotions, bodily rhythms, and
our needs to express these.
According to the Steiner
Waldorf Schools Fellowship,
‗the priority of the Steiner ethos
is to provide an unhurried and
creative learning
environment where children
can find the joy in learning and
experience the richness of
childhood rather than early
specialization or academic hot-
housing.
 Steiner‘s Three Stages of Development

The Physical:
Birth – Age 7

The child has gently integrated the

physical body through ritual, a
safe environment and a deep
connection with nature.
 Steiner‘s Three Stages of Development

The Imagination:
Age 7 – 14
Children between seven and fourteen will
be assigned a class teacher who teaches
the majority of subjects to them without
becoming a figure of authority in order to
upkeep their assertions of self and an
autonomy to their learning processes.
 Steiner‘s Three Stages of Development

The Spirit:
Age 14 – 21

It is in this stage that pupils may enjoy their emotional maturity

and see the fruits of being more in touch with their core and inner
voice, a gift that allows them to choose more directly what they
want to do in the world without external confusions.
• At the Waldorf Schools, a
culturally rich humanities
program is combined with
experientially taught
sciences, foreign
language instruction, and
extensive artistic
experiences.
Maria Montessori
• An Italian physician, educator, and
innovator, acclaimed for her educational
method that builds on the way children
learn naturally.

• Montessori‘s focus on special needs

children led to a study in 1907, when she
took 50 poor children from the streets of
Rome and educated them in casa de
Bambeini where children learned to read
and write at a rapid pace.
• Subsequently, she traveled the world and wrote extensively about
her approach to education, attracting many devotees. There are now
thousands of Montessori schools in countries worldwide.
• The Montessori Method also used Manipulatives in teaching
mathematical concepts. Golden beads are used to help children
grasp the idea of larger quantities and help them transition toward
abstract numbers by associating stack of beads with numbers.
 Fosters modeling of abstract
structures

Maria Montessori Both share the relevant feature to appeal to all the
different senses.

Fosters modeling of real-world

structures
Friedrich Froebel
 Social Emotional Being

Pestalozzi

Creative Individual

Friedrich Froebel

Holistic Nature

Self-Actualizing

Maria Montessori

Steiner
 Manipulatives in the Digital Age
Interactive They are tools that users could interact with and are not
just static images viewed on the screen
Web-based They are easily accessible tools on the internet and are
different from commercially produced computer programs
Visual representation Their pictorial images are capable to accurately represent
mathematical ideas
Dynamic The image representation can be manipulated by the user
Object The 2D image that represents mathematical objects are
idealized beyond their physical inscription
Presents opportunities for They are designed for the purpose of facilitating the
constructing mathematical opportunity for mathematical learning.
knowledge
Resnick
• Resnick and his colleagues in Media Lab
developed an new generation of digital
manipulatives – computationally enhanced
versions of traditional children‘s toys that
enable children to explore new concepts
namely, blocks, beads, and badges.

• Embed computational and

communication capabilities in
traditional children‘s toys
Oren Zuckerman
• Resnick and his colleagues proposed a
computationally enhanced versions of
manipulatives, derived from Montessori
materials in the form of enhanced blocks:
physical, modular interactive systems that
serve as genera-purpose modeling and
simulation tools for dynamic behavior

 Froebel-inspired Manipulatives
 Montessori-inspired
Manipulatives
Moyer-Packenham and
Bolyard
• Noted that ―throughout the years, the
terms digital manipulatives, computer
manipulatives, and virtual manipulatives
have been used commonly as
synonyms.
• These terminologies include cognitive
tools, learning objects, virtual math
objects, and computer-based
mathematical cognitive tools which
should not be considered synonymous
to virtual manipulatives
Cognitive technology It is any medium that helps transcend the
tool limitations of the mind, such as memory, in
activities of thinking, learning, and problem
solving
Learning Object An interactive Web-based tool that supports the
learning of specific concepts by enhancing,
amplifying, and/or guiding cognitive processes of
learners.
Virtual math object Enhanced with technology that offers
manipulation, multiple representations, multiple
entry points and the like
Computer-based It is a category of external aids intended to
mathematical cognitive support and enhance learning and cognitive
tool processes of learners.
Thank you
for listening!