using math software to learn math

[maxirater]

There are many software programs that are used by mathematicians, engineers, scientists, physicists to crunch complicated math problems, Matlab and Mathematica I believe are the two most popular. But many math teachers say these programs are very helpful for students to learn math also and should be used in the classroom. A program that is more oriented for students would be something like Maple. Of course I believe that a student should first learn the basics of math by hand with pen and paper. But once the concepts are learned I think a student can make great strides in learning math by using math software. Im curious what the opinions here are on math software.

[Alazor]

I like Microsoft Mathematics and I know of 3 different softwares, apps, and addons with the same name. I like them a lot.

[Ridge Rider]

Alazor, what do you like about them? Im just curious since recently getting some math courses.

I think math software is one of the best things available to people who want to explore mathematics without making everything a pen-and-paper exercise.

What I especially like is being able to experiment. Graph something, change the numbers, try a different equation, see what happens, and then start asking why it happened. You can also take mathematics you've learned and actually apply it to much bigger or more realistic problems without spending forever doing arithmetic and algebra by hand.

It would be cool to get a list going of useful math software and applications people have tried.

[maxirater]

I think it would be good for students to use something like Python with Jupyter. Jupyter is so much better than just a regular console in that it allows you to make text comments along with the calculations you do as a long permanent readable record. I personally prefer Julia over Python which is really just a big improvement over Python in every respect. Its just as readable as Python but the language is more powerful and and math programming built into the language much like Matlab. Its also very fast and has IJulia which is basically Jupyter for Julia.

[Alazor]

Alazor, what do you like about them? Im just curious since recently getting some math courses.

I think math software is one of the best things available to people who want to explore mathematics without making everything a pen-and-paper exercise.

What I especially like is being able to experiment. Graph something, change the numbers, try a different equation, see what happens, and then start asking why it happened. You can also take mathematics you've learned and actually apply it to much bigger or more realistic problems without spending forever doing arithmetic and algebra by hand.

It would be cool to get a list going of useful math software and applications people have tried.

What I like about Microsoft Mathematics the Calculator is it's like a TI 83, but on the computer. The Word Add-In is nice, because it can solve variables in terms of other variables for you. It's a good addon if you want to make any math curriculum yourself. Finally, although I have not used it, the phone app Microsoft Mathematics you can apparently take a picture of the math problem and it can solve it for you. All 3 programs have the same names, but are different programs altogether.

There are also programs that make math questions and answers for you as well, but now AI can do that for you!

[Ridge Rider]

Alazor, what do you like about them? Im just curious since recently getting some math courses.

I think math software is one of the best things available to people who want to explore mathematics without making everything a pen-and-paper exercise.

What I especially like is being able to experiment. Graph something, change the numbers, try a different equation, see what happens, and then start asking why it happened. You can also take mathematics you've learned and actually apply it to much bigger or more realistic problems without spending forever doing arithmetic and algebra by hand.

It would be cool to get a list going of useful math software and applications people have tried.

What I like about Microsoft Mathematics the Calculator is it's like a TI 83, but on the computer. The Word Add-In is nice, because it can solve variables in terms of other variables for you. It's a good addon if you want to make any math curriculum yourself. Finally, although I have not used it, the phone app Microsoft Mathematics you can apparently take a picture of the math problem and it can solve it for you. All 3 programs have the same names, but are different programs altogether.

There are also programs that make math questions and answers for you as well, but now AI can do that for you!

Oh yeah! My cousin used Microsoft Math the other day in his class and he's in 10th grade. His teacher is over the top and not helpful, so he uses it for cw/hw and that way he doesn't even have to go through the teacher who is sarcastic anyway.

I hadn't realized there were three distinct versions under the same name for Microsoft.

[maxirater]

All 3 programs have the same names, but are different programs altogether.

I hadn't realized there were three distinct versions under the same name for Microsoft.

Can you give links to these 3 programs, I cant find anything in the Microsoft Store