The National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) also attests to the effectiveness of manipulatives and recommends using them to teach math to students of all grade levels. Common manipulatives used for math education are Cuisenaire rods, pattern blocks, tangrams, base ten blocks, geoboards, and more. 

In this write-up, we will be talking about the history of one of the simplest yet effective math manipulatives, and that is – a geoboard. 

What is a Geoboard?

A geoboard is a physical manipulative used to teach basic geometrical concepts. Conventionally, a geoboard is a block of plywood with nails/ pegs uniformly pounded onto it. Another element that goes along with a geoboard is rubber bands. Students can use rubber bands to make practically any shape on the board by simply stretching them between nails/ pegs. 

Nowadays, you can even find plastic geoboards. These have gained significant popularity because they are easier to handle due to their lightweight, as compared to a heavy block of plywood, and are sturdy enough to withstand rough use. 

A geoboard finds its utility in a broad range of mathematical topics such as basic shapes, counting, symmetry, patterns, area, perimeter, congruence, angles, rotation, etc. Students across all grade levels can use a geoboard as it beautifully complements every learner’s competency level. 

Geoboard History

Who invented the Geoboard?

A geoboard is the brainchild of Caleb Gattegno, one of the most influential mathematics educators of the 20th century. He was an inventor, a mathematician, a psychologist, and an Egyptian educator. His contribution to the field of education is immense as he showed the world how math, reading, and foreign languages can be learned and taught using innovative approaches to study.

About Caleb Gattegno: background and pedagogical approach

“I don’t teach, I let them learn.“

That is a quote by Caleb Gattegno. It clearly reflects his thought process about teaching and learning. His approach was more towards letting learners explore and learn new things on their own rather than spoon-feeding them with the knowledge they would simply memorize.

His self-exploring and self-learning approach probably stems from his childhood experiences. Being born into a large family in Alexandria, Egypt, his family did not have enough resources to support education. He started working at a young age to support his family. But the future mathematician in him pushed him towards self-study when he was around 14 years old. At the age of 20, he obtained a teaching license by appearing in external examinations. He taught students at various prestigious universities after his move to England.  

Caleb Gattegno’s pedagogical approach is unique and is based on his observations on how humans learn in different situations. He believed that it is easier for humans to retain information or knowledge when it is seen, heard, or felt. Information collected by our senses remains in our minds longer without us having to put in a lot of effort to remember it. 

Since he proposed that education should not rely on memorization and believed more in self-learning, he advocated the use of manipulatives such as Cuisenaire rods and geoboards (which he invented), which encourage learners to do things on their own and develop a memory that retains for a long time.  

How did Caleb Gattegno come up with the idea of geoboards?

By now, you must have understood how differently Caleb Gattegno thought about the learning process. Out of his many contributions to the field of education, one of them is a geoboard. But how did this fine Egyptian mathematician come up with the concept of geoboard? 

Well, while going through “The Gattegno Effect^[1],” we came to know that there was a time when Caleb was admitted to a hospital. Lying on his back on a hospital bed, he spent his time staring at the ceiling tiles, which led him to visualize different geometrical shapes on the ceiling. This prompted him to invent a geoboard. He placed nails/ pegs equidistant to each other to form a grid on the board similar to ceiling tiles and called it a geoboard. 

He also came up with ideas on how this tool can be used by educators and students to comprehend math concepts. 

How long have geoboards been in use?

Caleb invented, introduced, and popularized geoboards during the 1950s. That means this tool has been around us for more than 70 years.

Its use in classrooms picked up pace when the inventor published an article on geoboards. Fast forward to 1970, geoboards had found their way into the United States and have since then been used by educators for supporting elementary and middle school learning. 

Initially, a geoboard was designed to teach primary geometrical concepts to students in school classrooms. As time passed, more ways of using it were developed, which could help in teaching and solving complex math concepts. 

Relevance in today’s times

Educators around the globe have been using geoboards for many decades. They are relevant even in today’s modern classrooms. Teachers still love this tool, as their students can learn while having some fun. They can test and confirm their understanding by using a geoboard to solve their problems.

Digitization has changed how the world works. It has also changed how the world learns. Now we find online tools for almost everything, including online geoboard games and apps. These virtual tools are great for “anywhere” learning and do not require the use of a physical board and rubber bands. How convenient is that!

Concluding thoughts

The contribution of Caleb Gattegno in the field of education will always be appreciated and admired. His inventions, like the geoboard, will continue to provide ultimate hands-on experience to students for years to come. 

If you haven’t introduced this fun educational tool to your students yet – Now is the time. It will add to their knowledge and enhance their skills to deal with more complex mathematical challenges in the future.  

Reference

1. The Gattegno Effect: 100 Voices on One of History’s Greatest Educators (page 282-283) (eBook). (2011). Educational Solutions Inc.

Manpreet Singh

An engineer, Maths expert, Online Tutor and animal rights activist. In more than 5+ years of my online teaching experience, I closely worked with many students struggling with dyscalculia and dyslexia. With the years passing, I learned that not much effort being put into the awareness of this learning disorder. Students with dyscalculia often misunderstood for having  just a simple math fear. This is still an underresearched and understudied subject. I am also the founder of Smartynote -‘The notepad app for dyslexia’, 

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This arrangement is provided by assistive technology. Knowledge of AT devices is essential because now it has become a legal obligation to provide disabled or differently-abled with accommodations, and is the right of the people to ask for these for better learning or participation.^[2]

Assistive technology is a broad term. It does not cover devices only. According to the WHO fact sheet 2018, it is an umbrella term for a continuum of systems, services, and strategies designed to complement the individualized needs of people with abilities to ensure their better participation in learning and at work; also, it helps improve the quality of life. Approx. 1 billion people require assistive technology and the gap between requirement and correct device advice needs further research.

In this post, we will be covering:

1. Tracing the history of assistive technology
2. Types of assistive technology
3. Benefits offered

So, let’s start!

Tracing the history of Assistive Technology

The world got the initial hang of Assistive technology before 1900, an era considered the Foundation Period for technological transformations. However, its real application plan to improve the situation at educational institutes and at work was drafted with the 2004 reauthorization of IDEA, which mandated the offering of assistive devices to people recognized with learning disabilities^[3]. This reauthorization broadened the implication of the Assistive Technology Act of 1998, which validated the use of AT to enhance the quality of life of Americans.

Initially, the AT devices and systems were low-tech and mostly provided mobility aids. These comprised crutches to hold a pen or audio recorders for listening to the spoken words. Gradually, research revolved around how to make AT devices easier to apply for invisible disabilities too. It coincided with the introduction of AI-enabled software, screen readers, and other soft solutions that offered higher quality replacements for lack of ability to read, write, or speak.

Types of assistive technology

Disabilities can be in-borne or a result of a traumatic impact on the body or mind. Some of these impact movements adversely, others hamper communication, and a few others interfere with learning abilities^[4]. Accordingly, the assistive technology space is broadly differentiated into:

• Mobility aids
• Communication aids
• Learning aids

Here is a brief description and examples of each of these.

1. Mobility aids

If the disability does not allow walking like normal or affects the gait, the subjects can employ mobility aids. Their function is to help affected individuals rehabilitate and find ways to become self-dependent as much as possible.

Examples include wheelchairs, escalators, walkers, crutches, motorized tricycles or bicycles, etc. If there is difficulty in walking or maintaining balance while standing or moving, walkers and crutches help. In case of complete disability to move or stand on feet, wheelchairs, escalators, and motorized bicycles are required.

2. Communication aids

Communication aids can compensate for weaker listening, poor to nil vision, and deferred speech. Aging, neurological defects, and neuromotor diseases show up in the victim’s inability to communicate. Hence, these aids can be of a supplementary nature or may completely replace the act such as speaking.

Examples include hearing aids, voice recognition command tools, text-to-voice conversion tools or apps, etc. All these arrangements assist in presenting ideas to others in a comprehensible manner.

3. Learning aids

Problems like the inability to understand words or numbers or write them have been classified as learning disabilities. Since these inabilities don’t allow people to absorb basic skills and force them to abandon their academic endeavors, the emphasis is on providing these aids compulsorily to students. The assistive devices that promote learning facilitate reading and writing and sometimes augment these with other modes of presenting ideas.

Learning aids can provide assistance of several types. These may bolster the grip on a pen to enable writing, amplify sounds for clearer hearing, or may also restrict the spread of text, or highlight it on a digital screen to enable easy reading. A few examples include:

• Crutches to hold pen
• Page turners
• Computerized software for dyslexics
• Alternative keyboards and mouses
• Touch control devices
• Word prediction programs and processors
• Concept mapping supports
• Graphic organizers
• Reading pens
• Note-taking pens or voice recorders
• Text-to-speech synthesizers, etc.

Learning needs intelligence and talent. Those born with learning difficulties have both. The only support they need is an assistive facility that helps them work around the lack of basic skills.

Apart from learning aids, there are a few cognitive aids like alarms, phones, and alerting devices that make up for hearing and cognition loss and help the needy person acknowledge the stimulus. Devices studded with alarms or doors with alerts are examples of cognitive aids.

Benefits offered

AT is the constructive use of technological innovations, to say the least. Machines are growing in intelligence due to AI, deep learning, and predictive modeling features. These innovative tools sometimes offer ease of humanoid interactions, a feature useful in replacing or augmenting human-like skills like reading, writing, talking, singing, etc. The idea behind the introduction of assistive technology in people’s lives is to make learning, communicating, commuting, and working on various endeavors easier. All these objectives are easily accomplished because of the benefits, such as:

• AT is designed to integrate seamlessly into the spaces of work, living, or study. Thus, these remove interpersonal and people-cosmos hindrances.
• ATs allow better participation and help people with high IQ but limited reading and writing abilities to get the opportunities they deserve.
• A very significant contribution of assistive technology lies in mental health maintenance. Since people with certain intellectual disabilities suffer from poor self-confidence, or inability to express themselves, they tend to catch depression and other psychological problems. ATs can help prevent the build-up of negative emotions by offering the disabled a way around intellectual disabilities.
• Assistive technology has brought people with disabilities to join the mainstream economy by enabling them to take up roles of higher responsibility and accountability.
• With assisting devices and systems, children can improve their language skills and learn to do calculations. Adults and seniors live a life of self-dependence and reduce expenses on healthcare issues. Also, they can learn to stand up for themselves and practice self-advocacy in matters of career and branch of study choices.

Adding more quality to life and solving problems are the two main deliverables of technology use. These deliverables are reasonably utilized in designing and developing ATs. The space is yet to be enriched more as innovators are trying to improve form and functionality to bring more sophistication in assistive solutions.

Conclusion

Technological interventions prove their utility better when these support an inclusive model in societal arrangements. With assistive technology in hand, those who felt ‘left-outs’ or were denied education and job opportunities can now have better leeway to join the mainstream. The bigger challenge now is to fill the unmet demand, which is actually an outcome of cost considerations and limiting access to these facilities developed. So, it is right to assume that it is just the start; AT has a long way to go and will be reaching more needy people in the ensuing times.

References:

1. A report by Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Review Sept 2020.
2. Johan Borg, Stig Larsson & Per‐Olof Östergren (2011) The right to assistive technology: for whom, for what, and by whom?, Disability & Society, 26:2, 151-167
3. Federal Legislation and Assistive Technology, AT Resource Guide, Ocali.org library, 2013, p.25
4. Americans With Disabilities: 2010, Report Number P70-131, United States Census Bureau, Matthew W. Brault

Pratiksha Bhatt

I am Pratiksha Bhatt, Bachelor of Life Science, and Masters in Management Studies. I have done certification courses in early education counseling. I am a writer, a mother of a child with spelling difficulties which drove me to alternative resources of education like manipulatives and participatory activities. My areas of expertise are learning difficulties, alternative learning methods, and activity-based learning.

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