Great iPhone Apps for Developing Mathematical Concepts

As both a homeschooling mom and a math educator, I feel strongly about providing students (whether they are my own or otherwise) meaningful opportunities to practice and further develop their mathematical knowledge.  In this age of technology, many educators are spreading their wings by developing iPhone applications that allow students to do just this.  There are many apps out there, however, two really stand out as fun, exciting ways to harness the excitement of the iPhone/iTouch while providing valuable learning experiences for students.
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Instant Counting by Arithmaroo

Recommended Age: Pre-school to 2nd grade

In February, the team at Arithmaroo launched the first of five iphone apps aimed at helping students develop number sense while improving their understanding of basic operations.  The first app, Instant Counting, focuses on transitioning from counting to recognizing and assigning values to numbers.  There are 4 levels involving the numbers 1-50. Up to four people can race against the clock while testing their numerical prowess in this fun, counting game.  This game takes a right-brain approach by providing visually stimulating images in a fun, learning environment.  Watch kids gain confidence in their mathematical ability right before your eyes.

**Look for Instant Adding, Instant Subtracting, Instant Multiplying and Instant Dividing to be released this spring! 

iLive Math by iHomeEducator

Recommended Age: 1st-6th grade

Earlier this month, iHomeEducator released the third in a series of applications focusing on real world problem solving.  The three apps include: Winter Sports, Animals of Africa and Animals of Asia.  Each application offers three levels of play and provides opportunities to compete wirelessly with others and post high scores on various social media sites.  In addition, these applications can easily be integrated into the classroom by providing teachers a means to track student progress.

iLiveMath:Winter Sports targets the four basic operations as well as data analysis.  Students are provided the opportunity to rework incorrect responses and teachers are able to track incorrect responses via email for each student.  There is also a way for teachers to determine if incorrect responses are due to misconceptions or simply accidental errors.  From ice sculpting to moguls, this app links math concepts to extreme sports while providing extreme fun for the student.

iLiveMath Animals of Africa allows for collaboration with other students through various social media while solving over one million questions about 26 different animals that roam Africa. What fun!  According to the creators, this application focuses on the basic operations as well as percentages with difficulty increasing with each level.

Level 1: Addition and Subtraction with numbers 1 to 10
Level 2: Includes Multiplication with numbers 1 to 50
Level 3: Includes Percentages with numbers 1 to 100

iLiveMath Animals of Asia carries in the same tradition as the previous iLiveMath apps.  Classroom "drill-n-kill" is replaced with engaging problems that integrate zoology with various mathematical concepts.  The basic operations are covered along with measurements of time.  Once again, difficulty increases with each level.

Level 1: Addition and Subtraction across beginning concepts in time
Level 2: Includes Multiplication across mins, hrs, weeks, months
Level 3: Includes difference between years

Like the other apps, Animals of Asia allows educators to track student responses as well as share answers via Twitter.

Each of these three iLiveMath apps are engaging and succeed in making mathematical connections to real world scenarios thus allowing math to "come alive" for students.  This is a great alternative to traditional practice while still providing meaningful problems to further develop concepts.

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I am always looking for new and exciting ways to make math interesting and to engage our children.  These two groups, Arithmaroo and iHomeEducator, should be commended for taking risks and striving to tap into this new media of e-learning.  Either application could easily be implemented into the classsroom while providing authentic learning opportunities for students. Check them out and enjoy watching students smile while doing their math!