Talking Times Table

Talking Timestable is perfect for introducing and practicing times tables. 

Upon opening the app, children are first required to register as a new student and select their desired language.  They are then guided, by written and spoken instructions, through the setup process.  The standardised computerised voice seems strange initially, however after a short while, children will be comfortable listening.  After setup, children have two main options: the first represented by images of a child studying (Study) and the second shown as a child with their hand up as if answering a question (Test). 

The Study section first asks children to select their desired times tables and then introduces them.  This introduction is straightforward, simple and slick: a calculation is displayed across the centre of the page; the picture representing this calculation appears beneath it; and the electronic voice speaks the calculation too.  After the initial introduction, children are asked to repeat the task, however, instead of being shown the answer, they must answer each question themselves.  Here, once a correct answer is entered, a simple but efficient feature, allows the child to continue to the next question automatically without clicking any further buttons.  If an incorrect answer is entered, the child is informed of their mistake and the correct answer is displayed.  These incorrect skills are recorded and displayed again at the end of the session, assisting with the child’s learning.  However, at present, when a child begins to enter a two-digit number incorrectly, there is no option to edit this and they must submit an incorrect answer, the addition of a delete or backspace button would be essential next step in the apps development. 

Returning to the homepage, the second option, Test, allows the child to practice or test themselves on their times tables, with random questions from a chosen level (which includes all previously learned tables).  After completing this, children can view the statistics area where all their performance data is recorded and displayed.  Although extremely detailed, with individual skills listed alongside correct, incorrect and total questions, it would be nicer to see this information displayed as a chart so that children can immediately see the skills they need to practice.  Also from the homepage is a link to a help feature, in the form of a talking robot; a list of the developer’s other apps; and the option to add multiple users.  The multi user option is useful, both in the classroom or at home in a family environment, as it allows different users to practice and record their scores. 

The app itself is full of features which support the learning process or that are designed to support the child mathematically, for example, within the study section, children are first shown their times tables, then asked to practice these, then given them in a random order.  This process, first introduces a new subject with pictorial examples and correct answers, it then removes a level of support and asks the child to practice independently (but still in order), finally, it removes the support completely by asking questions with no assigned order.  This level of scaffolding is designed to replicate the adult support.  Indeed, with iOS 10 and above, the developers report that children will be able to answer using speech recognition, again attempting to mimic this one to one support. Overall, this app deserves its 4-star rating.

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