Tools & Technology

We now have a set of GeoGebra applets for specific units in the materials and some that are general applets to be used. Following that will be other outside applets that we have used over the year that we wanted to provide instructors as other options in their DE classroom.

GeoGebra Applets

Below is a list of links for the GeoGebra applets, some of which are specific to specific problems/units, while others are general (e.g., Slope Field Viewer, Vector Field Tool). See the student materials and teacher materials that describe these applets in further detail. The materials also include QR codes that can work on mobile devices.

NOTE: Recently Google Chrome fixed an issue that made GeoGebra not work. The issue appears to have been resolved but if you get the “Aw Snap” issue please use Safari or Firefox.

Outside & Previous Applets/Tools

DE Vector Applet

  • The applet below allows users to create tangent vector fields for first-order differential equations. You can adjust the size and number of segments that show up and click on points to add new segments. Please note, when you click on this link a file will download onto your desktop, open that file to run the applet.

Interactive Differential Equations

  • Another Java-based set of animations for DE is “Interactive Differential Equations.” Shows the parametric plots as well as the phase plane.

DE Explorer for Systems of Differential Equations

  • The following applet allows users to explore tabular and graphical numerical approximations to solutions to systems of differential equations. Unfortunately, this is an older java applet and running it will require you to adjust Java’s security settings.
  • Directions to get systems DE Explorer java applet to run on a Mac:
    • Open the Java control panel from System Preferences
    • Go to the Security tab
    • Click on “Edit Site List…” under Exception Site List
    • Add www4.ncsu.edu/ to the list
    • Make sure to have pop-ups enabled for the website before you start up the applet (you may need to refresh the page after enabling pop-up.

Other plane plane and slope field generators:

DIY White Boards for Students

  • Here is a blog post on how to make 24 small (12″x16″) whiteboards for small group work for less than $15. These are great tools for promoting collaborative work.