GeoGebra

GeoGebra is an interactive mathematics platform for teaching and learning, used by teachers and students from school through university. Its About page describes the core as "a dynamic mathematics software for all levels of education that brings together geometry, algebra, spreadsheets, graphing, statistics and calculus in one engine." Around that engine sit free calculators and apps, a library of over 1 million free classroom resources created by its multilingual community, an authoring tool, and GeoGebra Classroom, where teachers run interactive lessons and follow student progress in real time. The homepage title calls these "free math tools used by over 100 million students and teachers," and the About page says GeoGebra has become "the leading provider of dynamic mathematics software, supporting science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education." The About page also says that "In 2021, GeoGebra became part of the BYJU’S family" and that it runs as an independent unit within the BYJU’S group under its original founders and developers.

What teachers and students actually use

The FAQ sums up the product plainly: GeoGebra "provides calculators and learning apps, ready-made educational resources, tools for creating materials, and features for interactive classroom lessons." In practice that means a student can perform calculations, graph functions, solve equations, build dynamic geometric constructions, explore 3D mathematics and work with data and statistics, while a teacher can pick ready-made activities, write new ones and share them with a class.

The approach is visual. A student constructs a shape, drags a point, and sees the related algebra change with it. The homepage frames the teaching sequence as "Try our exploration activities to discover important math concepts, then use our practice activities to master these skills," and the calculators are pitched as tools "that can be used to promote student-centered discovery-based learning."

The calculators and apps

GeoGebra splits its tools into several apps, all free for non-commercial use and available on all platforms.

• Calculator Suite: functions, equations and geometric constructions in one app. The FAQ recommends it for most teachers and students because it combines the main tools and works across devices.
• Graphing Calculator: equations and functions as interactive graphs and plots.
• Geometry: geometric concepts and constructions in a dynamic environment.
• 3D Calculator: graphing functions and calculating in three dimensions.
• Scientific Calculator: calculations with fractions, statistics and exponential functions.
• Notes: an online note-taking app with interactive graphs, slides and images.

There is also a Math Solver: "Take a photo of your math homework. Get step-by-step solutions with explanations and practice similar problems." For users who need a narrower app, or want to create advanced GeoGebra resources, the downloads page compares the options.

Resources and the K-12 library

The resource library is organized by topic: number sense, algebra, geometry, measurement, operations, and probability and statistics. Two kinds of material sit in it. The community resources are the large pool written by teachers around the world (the partners page shows new and recent items such as absolute value functions, the Pythagorean theorem, similar figures and the Poisson distribution). The newer GeoGebra Math Resources are a separate collection the homepage says was "meticulously crafted by our expert team for Grades 4 to 12," covering the same six strands. That collection is what makes GeoGebra relevant to a parent or a school looking for structured K-12 math practice, not only free-form exploration.

Teachers who want their own material can use the authoring tool, which the About page describes as a way "to create interactive learning resources as web pages." The partners page also carries a guide on how to create an assessment item.

GeoGebra Classroom and assessment

GeoGebra Classroom is the part of the product that turns it into an assessment tool. A teacher starts a lesson from GeoGebra materials, students join it (the site has a "Join Lesson" entry point), and the teacher watches their work as it happens. The homepage says the Classroom platform "allows teachers to view student progress real-time and provide individual feedback for personalized learning experience," and that it helps teachers encourage active participation and discussion. The FAQ adds that during a lesson teachers can follow students' progress and provide support.

The calculators are presented as tools "for an interactive learning and exam experience," and the Classroom page notes that integration with various LMSs is supported, so activities can sit inside a school's existing course system. Beyond its own site, the About page says GeoGebra's math engine "powers hundreds of educational websites worldwide in different ways from simple demonstrations to full online assessment systems."

Accounts, offline use and help

Many features work without an account. The FAQ lists creating constructions and visualizations, solving exercises, browsing resources and saving files locally. An account is needed to save work online, reach it from different devices, or use the online sharing features, and it can be created with an existing Google or Microsoft account. The homepage pitches the free account as a way to save progress and "access thousands of math resources for you to customize and share with others."

Once an app is downloaded and installed, its main mathematics tools run without an internet connection. Searching online resources, signing in, and saving or sharing online still need a connection, but work can be saved locally while offline.

Help comes through the GeoGebra Help Center, with instructions, tutorials and answers to common questions, and through the community, where users exchange tips. One teacher quoted on the homepage, from Oregon, says "I appreciate the responsiveness of the GeoGebra staff and the larger community."

Pricing and licensing

GeoGebra's calculators, apps and educational resources are free for non-commercial use, which the FAQ says covers most use by teachers, students and parents at school, university or home. The About page lists it as "Open source software freely available for non-commercial users." Commercial use needs a separate license, and anyone unsure whether their use counts as commercial is pointed to the GeoGebra partnerships team. The partners page is aimed at those commercial users, with information on the licensing and pricing structure and a list of services: software licensing, technical support, content services, assessment and training, plus use cases on accessibility and simple and advanced integration examples. No commercial prices appear on the pages.

Recognition

The About page lists a long run of awards. Among them are the Archimedes 2016 MNU Award in the mathematics category (Hamburg, Germany), a finalist place in the Microsoft Partner of the Year Award 2015 for Public Sector: Education, the MERLOT Classics Award 2013, the NTLC Award 2010 (National Technology Leadership Award), the Tech Award 2009 as a laureate in education, a BETT Award 2009 finalist place, the AECT Distinguished Development Award 2008, Learnie Awards in 2003, 2005 and 2006, Les Trophées du Libre 2005, the Comenius 2004 German Educational Media Award, and the EASA 2002 European Academic Software Award.

Teachers quoted on the homepage are all from the US: "GeoGebra brings mathematics to life!" and "GeoGebra has changed the way I teach," among others. One New York teacher says it "allowed us to provide access and equity to our diverse student population."

Who it suits

GeoGebra suits math teachers at almost any level, from Grades 4 to 12 through university courses, who want students to explore ideas visually and then check understanding in a live lesson. A teacher can run a whole lesson in GeoGebra Classroom, watch each student's work and give individual feedback, at no cost for school use. Students and parents get free calculators, a homework solver and a large practice library, on the web or offline on a device.

It is less of a fit for a school that wants a full LMS with grading, rosters and course management in one place: GeoGebra is a math tool and lesson platform that plugs into an LMS rather than replacing one. It also covers mathematics only. Companies building GeoGebra into a commercial product need a license through the partnerships team, since the free terms cover non-commercial use only.