Exploring and understanding the abstract by direct manipulation of the concrete

In schools and in universities, there will always remain a certain very abstract, but highly relevant content. Remarkable percentages of learners, therefore, are facing severe difficulties and need some substantial support. The paper demonstrates an involved case of learning some of the most abstract contents in higher education by means of exploratory direct manipulation. Direct manipulation technologies allow for touching media objects, for moving, modifying and combining them, and for-even playfully-exploring the behavior of mechanisms. Webble technology has been used to represent content and to implement direct manipulation functionalities. The implementation reported is in practical use within some moodle environment.