ANNOUNCEMENT
Lumen Learning, Desmos partner to bring intuitive, accessible graphing to online homework system OHM
Online graphing calculator will increase interactivity and ease-of-use for students using Lumen OHM to learn graphing and related mathematical concepts
Portland, Ore. and San Francisco (November 13, 2019) – Today open education innovator Lumen Learning and digital learning tool creator Desmos announced they will partner to incorporate the Desmos graphing calculator into Lumen Learning’s online homework system, OHM. Initially the partnership will produce a set of well-designed interactive learning activities instructors and students may use inside or outside class to easily explore graphing and related mathematical concepts. By fall 2020, Lumen plans to introduce an in-assessment calculator tool powered by Desmos, providing students all the tools they need to work problems and interpret results within a homework assignment or quiz.
“Digital tools like the Desmos graphing calculator create powerful opportunities to enrich the learning experience for all students,” said Kim Thanos, CEO of Lumen Learning. “We’re using this technology to design ready-to-go interactive graphing activities that enable students to practice and learn graphing concepts more quickly through both instructor-led and self-guided activities within OHM.”
Learning design and flexibility are longtime strengths of Lumen OHM, an affordable online homework system that uses open educational resources (OER) to teach math. Lumen and Demos initially collaborated on a small-scale pilot to test how OHM users can benefit from embedding the graphing calculator within an online homework system. The pilot project confirmed the importance of building strong learning design around the Desmos tool to guide students through the learning process. It provided insight into different ways instructors want flexibility to adapt Desmos-powered learning activities to fit their classroom needs. The project also validated that students typically find the Desmos graphing calculator simpler and more inviting to use than traditional graphing calculators.
“The Desmos mission is to help every student learn math and love learning math. To that end, we’ve created learning tools that are fun, easy-to-use, and accessible for everyone.” said Eli Luberoff, CEO and Founder of Desmos. “We’re excited to work with Lumen Learning, as we share the commitment to affordable, high-quality math education. This partnership will allow even more students, faculty, and institutes to have access to Desmos, as part of Lumen OHM.”
A sample interactive activity designed using the Desmos online graphing calculator inside online homework system Lumen OHM
Desmos invests heavily in providing an excellent user experience for its graphing calculator and learning tools, asserting that well-designed tools help students feel the joy of learning. While Lumen OHM already meets accessibility standards for graphing, Desmos has distinguished itself by developing advanced features to support accessibility at the WCAG 2.1 AA level for individuals of varying abilities. Its graphing calculator includes screen reader support with intuitive language, high resolution scaling, and audio tracing, using Desmos-patented technology that uses sound to help visually impaired and blind students determine the position, size, and shape of graphed material. Other Desmos tools also support Braille display, high resolution scaling, reverse contrast, and other inclusive features that make its solutions effective for any user.
“Today, too many math students are struggling with outdated graphing tools that create unnecessary friction in the learning process,” said Deborah Hur, STEM Platform Product Manager for Lumen Learning. “By bringing Desmos into Lumen OHM, we can make graphing simple, fun, and intuitive, so students can focus on the math rather than wrestling with the multitude of keystrokes on outdated technology required to create and investigate graphs.”
As the Lumen-Desmos partnership develops, Lumen continues to seek input and validation from students and instructors about how their technologies combine to enhance learning. Eventually Lumen plans to use Desmos technology to add its advanced accessibility features to interactive graphs throughout OHM. Although OHM currently offers an accessible and robust graded graphing question type, Lumen also plans to use Desmos technology to extend its graded graphing toolset to more fully support higher order polynomials, rational functions, logistic growth, and beyond.
“The partnership between Lumen Learning and Desmos is going to change the face of math education for our students,” said Milagros Carrasco, assistant professor of math at Odessa College, where Lumen OHM is used extensively. “OHM already provides instant access to course materials on the first day of class, resulting in increased student achievement. With the addition of Desmos graphing, I am confident that students’ immediate access to effective technology tools will not only increase their success, but it will also increase student engagement learning mathematics.”
The Lumen-Desmos partnership aims to make the Desmos online graphing calculator an integral part of learning college-level math. Demand for Lumen OHM is growing rapidly, with over 100,000 college students across the U.S. using OHM for arithmetic through calculus in 2019. Millions of students and teachers around the world use Desmos-created online calculators, which the organization makes freely available through its website as well as through partnerships with content and assessment creators like Lumen Learning.
About Lumen Learning
Lumen Learning uses open educational resources (OER) to provide affordable course materials that improve learning and replace expensive textbooks in high-enrollment college courses. Adding timely updates, learning design, and technical support to OER, Lumen makes the transition to open content simple, reliable, and effective for instructors and students.
Lumen OER courseware includes Waymaker personalized learning course materials, OHM online homework system for math and other quantitative subjects. Over 300 colleges and universities across the U.S. use Lumen-supported digital courseware for in-person, online, and blended courses. Materials created by Lumen are published under Creative Commons Attribution licenses and contributed back to the education community. Learn more at lumenlearning.com, and visit our course catalog at lumenlearning.com/courses/.
About Desmos
Desmos provides digital mathematics teaching and learning tools to over 40 million people around the world. Along with its free, powerful calculators that are upending a multi-decade industry, Desmos offers interactive classroom activities for students to explore mathematics creatively and collaborate with their peers on problem-solving. Through strategic partnerships, Desmos powers core math curricula for major publishers and is the official calculator on national and international high-stakes assessments. To learn more about Desmos’s mission of making math education affordable and accessible for all learners, visit https://www.desmos.com.
©2019 This announcement is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license
Media Contacts
Julie Curtis, VP Strategy & Communication, Lumen Learning
+1.503.840.5569 | julie@lumenlearning.com
Ani Xu, Business Development, Desmos
+1.415.419.9864 | ani@desmos.com