Edukomath: Times tables

EdukoMath is a useful app; which children can use in a variety of different contexts, including school or at home, with or without parents or teachers. The application can be used on a number of different devices and is compatible for Mac, Windows and Android. So for children who need to boost basic maths skills in the quiet of their homes in an engaging and self-competitive way, this could well be the one for them.

Downloading the app is straightforward and you are immediately confronted with a smiling, somewhat eccentric looking maths professor who asks for your name, this entered, you then have to insert your age. The professor then calculates your starting point depending on your age, however you will start at the two times table. The app is structured up to the 12 times table and features three different levels of difficulty, ‘Easy’, ‘Medium’ and ‘Hard’. The easy mode will offer you a question in a straightforward linear fashion, ‘2 x 1 =?’, ‘2 x 2 =?’, etc. The medium mode will present you with a random selection of calculations within the times table. The hard mode will present you with the answer ’11 x ? = 66’ for you to fill in the blank, these problems are also shown in a random order. When the child is in the easy mode they will just have to get the answer correct at any speed to graduate to the next level. Both the medium and hard levels will require the child to enter the answer within a particular time frame or they will have to repeat the questions again before they are awarded a star rating for the times table level.

When the child gets an answer wrong there are useful word bubble prompts from the professor designed for them to get an understanding of the patterns in numbers.

When a child completes the level at the required degree of difficulty the relevant star will light up in a flurry of sparkles. The professor then guides you to the next level of difficulty within the tables. At all stages the child can easily choose to jump to another level, or table using the neatly designed touch buttons provided.

The graphics and layout are good, with intuitive navigation between the different menus. The child can access their particular results board, which displays all the levels completed and the mastery of them. Of note are two special features, off line mode; the programme can be used without a WiFi connection, and the storing of information so that the child can come back to where they left off.

The application could be enhanced with the use of sound with perhaps a web based dashboard to store the progress of a class of children so that teachers could monitor the data and a randomizer across the times tables; having said that however the programme would be of use to any child who wants to practise their tables and become confident with numbers away from the classroom situation.