Emeryville, Calif. (Aug. 4, 2011) – Key Curriculum Press announces the debut of Sketchpad Explorer™, an iPad^® app offering an intuitive environment for exploring Dynamic Geometry^® mathematics. Sketchpad Explorer gives users access to the vast library of The Geometer’s Sketchpad^® mathematics content on the web—including Sketch ExchangeTM, the Sketchpad Resource Center and dozens of teacher-published websites—where they can view and share sketches across a diverse range of mathematics topics and levels.

In addition to providing unlimited access to a user’s own and others’ Sketchpad documents, Sketchpad Explorer comes with ready-made explorations, in which learners can dynamically manipulate visual mathematical representations to investigate and generalize their understanding of fundamental concepts in elementary mathematics, geometry, algebra, trigonometry and even calculus. Sketchpad users can also create and share documents with and for their iPad using iTunes^® File Sharing.

Sketchpad Explorer comes with many features that help further mathematical discovery and teaching. Touch indicators (accessible from the Settings menu) visibly track up to 11 finger locations on the iPad screen, which is especially useful when projecting the iPad screen to viewers who cannot see the presenter’s hands. Users can double-tap a digital picture to resize or replace it with an image from the clipboard, their photo album, or their iPad 2 camera. As with other apps, you can drag the background with two fingers to scroll, and pinch to zoom for closer exploration. Users can also listen to sine waves by dragging x to change the frequency and the amplitude. Users of The Geometer’s Sketchpad on desktop computers can create and design mathematical sketches that can be shared with iPad users by email or over the web. Sketchpad Explorer will be available for free until September 1, 2011, after which date the price per unit will be $3.99.

Sketchpad Online Resources
Sketchpad Explorer connects directly to Sketch Exchange, a free, online community for sharing Sketchpad activities, tips, questions and ideas. Visitors to the site can browse sketches by grade level, topic or tag. A discussion forum is also available for Sketchpad users to encourage the exchange of best practices and new models for learning. In the forum, users can find helpful guidelines for iPad sketch design. For more information, visit http://sketchexchange.keypress.com.

The Sketchpad Resource Center at www.dynamicgeometry.com offers sample activities to help instructors teach a wide range of mathematical topics, from counting techniques for third graders to calculus applications and beyond. The site provides a wealth of information, including tips for getting started with Sketchpad, access to technical support, libraries of sketches, user groups, links to presentations and related news and websites.

About Dynamic Geometry Software
In 1991, Key pioneered the direct manipulation of mathematics with the invention of Dynamic Geometry. Today, The Geometer’s Sketchpad is the world’s leading software for teaching mathematics. This Dynamic Geometry software gives students an opportunity to visually explore mathematical relationships, deepening their understanding and making potentially abstract concepts tangible. The software’s tangible expression of math concepts continues to inspire and support math students, and the Common Core State Standards specifically recommends its use.

In bringing Dynamic Geometry to the iPad, Sketchpad Explorer increases both Sketchpad’s ease of use and its impact on learning, as multi-touch interaction opens up entire new horizons of mathematical interaction and manipulation.

“We enthusiastically embrace tablet technology, in particular the iPad,” said Karen Coe, president of Key Curriculum Press. “Dynamic Geometry’s move to the iPad is a perfect fit for Sketchpad. This development tangibly increases the accessibility and power of Dynamic Geometry, benefiting math students, teachers and fans of robust tablet applications.”

For more information about Sketchpad Explorer, visit http://www.dynamicgeometry.com. For more information about The Geometer’s Sketchpad, visit http://www.keypress.com/gsp.

About Key Curriculum Press

Key Curriculum Press develops effective, high-quality mathematics and science educational materials. The company is a leading publisher of inquiry-based textbooks, software and supplemental materials for elementary, middle and high school students. In addition, Key Curriculum Press offers professional development workshops and online courses to provide mathematics and science educators with the training, experience and support they need to incorporate effective teaching strategies. The company was founded by mathematics educators in 1971 and is headquartered in Emeryville, Calif. For more information, call 800-995-MATH or visit www.keypress.com.

About KCP Technologies, Inc.

KCP Technologies, created by Key in 1998, conducts educational technology research and is the developer of The Geometer’s Sketchpad^®, Sketchpad Explorer™ and Fathom^® Dynamic Data software.

Contacts

Key Curriculum Press
Lainie Johnson
510-595-7000, x278
ljohnson at keypress dot com
www.keypress.com

C. Blohm & Associates, Inc.
Emily Embury
608-216-7300 x19
emily at cblohm dot com
www.cblohm.com

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