Cool Tool Entry V: Geoboard

Geoboard is an educational app created by The Math Learning Center. The Math Learning Center, or MLC, is a non profit organization the contributes to the education community. Their mission is to inspire and enable individuals to discover and develop their mathematical confidence and ability. For more information on MLC you can check out their website or follow them on twitter @MLCmath.

MLC has created multiple apps to help enhance math education. The names of these apps include:
Geoboard, Pattern Shapes, Number Line, Number Frames, Number Pieces, and Number Rack. All of these apps are free to use and are compatible with both iOS (iPad and iPhone) and Windows.

Default Geoboard

 If you've never used a geoboard, or forgot what what they were I'm sure that the picture above will give you a great understanding or reminder of what they are. For classroom use real geoboards are usually made out of plastic and have pegs placed on them equidistant apart. Geoboards can come in different sizes and even in circular shapes and students wrap rubber bands around the pegs to create shapes. Geoboards are used to explore basic concepts of geometry and can be used for students in both elementary and middle school. It can be used to help students learn about algebra, perimeter, area, properties of triangles, congruence, translations, as well as many other topics.

As you can see from the pictures posted, the app has some nifty features. You have the option to choose from a square 25 peg board , a rectangular 150 peg board or a 13 peg circular board. The circular board can help open exploration into time measurement, angles and fractions. There are eight different colors to choose from and you can fill individual shapes with a transparent color. You can also duplicate, rotate, flip, or move shapes. The ability to leave notes on the board is, in my opinion, a great addition to the app. 
The app is easy to use and will take little to no time at all to teach how to use to your students. It also comes with a well made tutorial just in case there may be a question or concern on how to use a certain feature. Also with this app you don't have to worry about student's rubber bands breaking and you don't have to worry about any classroom mischief (like students shooting the rubber bands at each other). I think that this app is very convenient  can prove to be quite beneficial to classrooms that have access to the technology to use it.