This is genius! It’s brilliant! It’s amazing!

This blog post written by:
Elaine Shuck
USDLA Chair of the Board

And this year’s USDLA Innovation Award goes to Algebra By Hand™ (ABH). One of the exciting things about being a USDLA board member is getting to see and SHOUT OUT all of those cool new gadgets and technologies popping up and under the “distance learning” umbrella. Prior to this year’s banquet each board member was a given an award winner whose story we would share with the broad DL community. Mine was Michael Eiseman with Algebra By Hand™. My mission was to touch base with Michael at dinner, set up a meeting for a later date to discuss his “WINNER” web application, and get a selfie. Mission accomplished!!

It’s no wonder he regularly hears from people who are newly introduced to Algebra By Hand:

“This is genius! It’s brilliant.” “This is amazing!”

Check out this video for yourself!!

In a global economy, more than ever having a good skillset – critical thinking, collaboration abilities, digital aptitude – is critical to a decent life and a productive future. And yes, solutions like Algebra By Hand are critical in this effort.

What it does. Algebra by Hand:

is the only application on the web that allows drag and drop algebra solving,
works on any device (mouse or touch-driven Chromebooks, Mac and PC laptops and desktops, iOS and Android smartphones and tablets) that has a connection to the internet and can run a web browser such as Edge, Chrome, Safari, and Firefox,
does not charge students,
provides automated help to students upon request,
provides much richer feedback to teachers to let them see their students’ thought processes. Teachers never need to tell students to show their work, because the ONLY way for a student to solve the problem in ABH is to show their work

Daily now I see technology delivering on the promise of transporting learning across the boundaries of time and distance and, yes, to some extent even across the barriers of economic status. So, educational technology holds vast promise, immense potential and that is vitally important to each of us. Certainly, though, the technology is not an end and, at best, a technology deployment is only a starting point.

For close to 20 years, I have had the opportunity to travel across the country promoting the use of technology in the classroom and have worked with my own children’s teachers. I am passionate about sharing the opportunities technology offers to education. Michael is a kindred spirit; we share the same passion. Not only do we see this in his innovative technology, but on a more personal level, for several years he has volunteered to tutor challenged high school students.

For me, technology is the great equalizer, offering learning experiences beyond the classroom walls in ways not otherwise possible. It is a tool that engages students, promotes greater interaction and transforms learning through innovative teaching. Different styles of learning? We can do that, too! Today’s innovative learning environments allow faculty and students to be anywhere, use any device, and use multiple modalities for delivering and accessing content.