Swedish teacher releases iPhone maths app
Emboldened by the success of his online instruction videos, a teacher at a school in Gävle north of Uppsala on the east coast has released a maths education application for the iPhone.
Mikael Bondestam, a teacher at Gävle's Polhemsskolan, released the application on Friday, newspaper Gefle Dagblad (GD) reported on Wednesday.
Students can do math homework on the bus home instead of playing other games on their phones.
"It gives personal encouragement. As a teacher, I cannot give all 32 students individual attention at every lesson," Bondestam told GD.
Buoyed by the positive response he received for YouTube clips of maths problems that he had filmed, Bondestam forged ahead with the idea of an iPhone app.
"If the films did not receive such a warm reception, I would not have done this," said Bondestam, who spent much of the summer holidays working on the app.
Users of the programme can access assignments, tests and videos on YouTube. On completion of a successful test or task, the programme awards the student a star or other function.
The application contains the entire upper secondary school mathematics curriculum. On Tuesday, five customers bought it, four in Sweden and one in Norway.
Bondestam is responsible for the tests and exercises, while Johan Isaksson looked after the programming.
"There is a competing app in Sweden, but it only has assignments," Isaksson told GD.
Bondestam is planning ahead for future courses depending on reception for this application.
"I have to get feedback on this first and see what is good and bad," he said.
The program is currently only available for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
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Mikael Bondestam, a teacher at Gävle's Polhemsskolan, released the application on Friday, newspaper Gefle Dagblad (GD) reported on Wednesday.
Students can do math homework on the bus home instead of playing other games on their phones.
"It gives personal encouragement. As a teacher, I cannot give all 32 students individual attention at every lesson," Bondestam told GD.
Buoyed by the positive response he received for YouTube clips of maths problems that he had filmed, Bondestam forged ahead with the idea of an iPhone app.
"If the films did not receive such a warm reception, I would not have done this," said Bondestam, who spent much of the summer holidays working on the app.
Users of the programme can access assignments, tests and videos on YouTube. On completion of a successful test or task, the programme awards the student a star or other function.
The application contains the entire upper secondary school mathematics curriculum. On Tuesday, five customers bought it, four in Sweden and one in Norway.
Bondestam is responsible for the tests and exercises, while Johan Isaksson looked after the programming.
"There is a competing app in Sweden, but it only has assignments," Isaksson told GD.
Bondestam is planning ahead for future courses depending on reception for this application.
"I have to get feedback on this first and see what is good and bad," he said.
The program is currently only available for the iPhone and iPod Touch.
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