A big thank you to Alistair McNaught for flagging this up on the Apollo Mailing List. In his words...

"From Utah State University - a collection of online interactivities demonstrating a wide range of basic maths and numeracy skills. You can buy a desktop version or go online and use the web version for free. Pity about the title (national library of virtual manipulatives) but otherwise it's perfectly normal and seems very good."

As I'm sure you will agree "Mathematics is not a spectator sport" and too much of current instruction fails to actively involve learners.

One way to address the problem is through the use of manipulatives, physical objects that help students visualize relationships and applications. Computers can now be used to create virtual learning environments to address the same goals.

The Utah State University team have created exciting new approaches to interactive mathematical instruction.

The National Library of Virtual Manipulatives is a resource from which practitioners may freely draw to enrich their mathematics/key skills/family learning/ classrooms. I also feel that the materials are also of importance for those engaged in Initial Teacher Training.

Find out more and get engaged by visiting the National Library of Virtual Manipulatives at http://nlvm.usu.edu/en/nav/vlibrary.html.