The consequences of the coronavirus epidemic forces us to confine ourselves to our homes, often with school-age children. They have been left without their usual classes for a period that can last from the fifteen days initially planned to more than a month.

These unforeseen circumstances have caught the teachers by surprise, who are hardly trying to provide remote work materials. In this post we are going to discuss some national and international initiatives that can lend a hand.

One of the lessons to be learned from this crisis is that our centers are not prepared for this distance learning.

The cuts in education at the time of the so-called economic crisis were brutal. If something can be verified, it is that many educational centers have obsolete computer material and that not all the teachers have been trained in these subjects with the desirable constancy.

On the other hand, distance learning requires that there is a good internet connection in homes, which is also not widespread. And the situation is much worse in smaller towns.

Once the coronavirus crisis is over, the competent authorities should make a state of the matter and invest as necessary.

Projects to learn mathematics online

But let’s go to what was promised. In social networks there are many teachers who are making their resources available to everyone in a commendable way. To this we can add different blogs with mathematical content (like this one) that anyone can use.

However, I will first refer to three important initiatives that are freely available to everyone on the internet:

• NRICH, Enriching Mathematics . It is a British initiative. It poses mathematical problems of all kinds, ordered by different intervals of eaddes. It is in English, but it is a good way to also practice the language and kill two birds with one stone.

View of the NRICH website. NRICH

• PHET . It is a project of the University of Colorado, founded by the Nobel Prize in Physics Carl Weiman. It is in several languages, also in Spanish. Contains interactive simulations to learn mathematics and physics. It is like accessing a laboratory without leaving home.

View of the tools available in PHET. PHET

• The main a la pâte . This project of the Paris Academy of Sciences consists of an interactive program that includes various sciences, and with a Spanish version.

Logo of the La main à la pâte Foundation. La main à la pâte Foundation

Apart from the previous ones, there are other pages that offer very interesting mathematical content:

• The website of the Federation of Teachers of Mathematics (FESPM) . In it you can also find a lot of documentation about math problems and games. Furthermore, being a federation, materials are available in the different languages ​​of our country.

Logo of the Spanish Federation of Societies of Teachers of Mathematics. FESMP

• The Mathematical Looks collection . It is an initiative of the FESPM with the Institute of Mathematical Sciences and the Catarata publishing house, which so far offers eleven books of interest to any student or professor of the discipline.

Author Bio: Manuel de León Rodríguez is Research Professor at the CSIC, Royal Academy of Sciences at the Institute of Mathematical Sciences (ICMAT-CSIC)