This past week I spoke with many teachers who are being asked to implement an iPad program in their schools this coming year and feel as though they are lost in the woods. Although their schools are doing what they can to support math teachers in their endeavors, the truth is that the “mobile technology of the future” (i.e. the direction that most technology coordinators say that education is moving) really has not caught up with the needs of mathematics educators. In a presentation I gave last week, I made the distinction between three different types of apps that exist out there for math teachers to use. I believe that the “tool apps” are useful when you want the mobile device to replace an actual tool or a skill that students have learned or that you feel can be replaced but a short cut. Great examples of these are ruler or protractor apps. However, beware of apps that are tools for doing the quadratic formula – just pop in a, b, and c and 30 “practice” problems can be done in 5 minutes (although I could go off on having students do 30 of the same type of problem for homework too). These apps are not necessarily made to aid in the process of learning for students.

Secondly, there are the “review apps” – the ones that are created to help students prepare for standardized tests, name all the theorems in geometry from A to Z, list all the possible types of polygons and their interior angles, etc. These are helpful apps for reference once a student has learned the material and for reviewing for end of year exams, etc. However, once again they do not necessarily aid in the learning of the material.

The third kind of app is what I was truly looking for – these “teaching apps” are really “understanding apps.” They make the process of understanding a concept or whatever is going on in the classroom more productive, efficient, interesting or engaging. I have to say that sadly, these apps are far and few between. I have surfed many a math app blog on the internet and there is no distinction between these three categories and in my mind, teachers want a distinction. Many of the ratings in the iTunes store are made by students so I recommend reading the review and if it says something like “This app is great. It let me do my homework in 5 minutes” (5 stars), my guess is it’s not necessarily the app you are looking for. Here is the list of apps I gave out at my CwiC session that I found useful and within this third categories of math education apps.

The last thing I had to comment on was the fact that the iPad (and mobile devices in general) have a way to go before they catch up with the old Tablet PC when it comes to digital ink. Writing, for a mathematics teacher, is still the easiest way to put equations into lesson plans, tests, board presentations, problems, correcting papers, etc. So although we are not artists looking for the best stylus for drawing or sketching, we actually do drawing and sketching. We are not business-people who take notes during hugely important meeting with clients, but it still is annoying when your stylus makes noise on the glass screen in a meeting with administrators or even in class with students. And having a wrist guard or palm protector that actually works (and doesn’t make the screen move or leave marks) in the note-taking app, is extremely important to us. We also need drawing tools like geometry shapes, coordinate axes, and hopefully (dare I ask) access to symbolic text, like Greek letters.

At the conference I got into a great conversation with some teachers about different styli and which were the best. I found a Great Stylus Video Review online that I highly recommend if you are looking for a new stylus for your mobile device for writing or doing mathematics. I think I might actually order the Maglus from overseas to see how good it is.

Keep in touch about the mobile apps you are using, cause I’d love to hear about them. I do believe that someday the devices and their technology will catch up with the needs of math teachers, but for now, I sort of miss my Tablet PC and OneNote for writing – 🙁 But I am loving playing with all these new apps. I’m like a kid in a candy store, but hopefully more productive.