My comment in response to a 10/27 post in eSchoolNews, Survey: Mobile Learning At a Tipping Point:

Part of living now is learning to use phones appropriately and to put them away, whether you’re a child or adult. It’s healthier to consider them already part of our social selves and environments, and then develop and practice etiquette/a basic code of behavior.

As an iphone app developer I see iphone technology and design for it in its infancy. Apps are a relatively new medium, evolving as I write this. We parents and teachers develop educational tools, learn from each other, and develop more. As the technologies merge–phones, tvs, laptops, wiis, etc.–and they are merging now, everything changes. Mac apps are coming in Jan/Feb and iphone app developers are developing for the mac. The ipad and the mac are merging. I haven’t even looked at Apple TV. Phones, laptops, tvs will be simply at different scales, used for different purposes–information, production, social viewing/playing.

No wonder teachers are overwhelmed. It’s a whole new, continually evolving world. It’s easier to just say no until it’s all sorted out. But the problem is that it may never be sorted out.

We’ve moved into a culture that requires continual design of everything–our tech, our relationships to our tech and to each other.
The design curriculum is under development, and qualifications for expertise are questionable. It’s all in flux.

I like it.

Ashley Alain @aaalain , homeschool mom with an MA in math education, wrote a beautiful review of Addition House in her HyperHomeschool blog. My favorite part:

As with all of the apps I review, they are field tested on our children, the gymnastics team, the soccer kids and the kids I tutor.  The overwhelming response was “This is fun! I wish I could do this for math homework.”  Our second grader was quoted as saying it was “addicting.”  Imagine that, being addicted to learning math!  That is every educators dream!

Then Heather at theiPhoneMom.com reviewed Addtion House, writing about her own experience:

I was a bit rusty at first but was surprised at how quickly things came back after a few rounds of practice. My speed actually really increased. I’ve told you about the addition part of the app but what about the house? Each player is given a blank house to decorate. Paint, doors, windows, accessories, etc. can be purchased with the hearts. The more hearts you’ve got the fancier your house can become. When you tilt your iPhone on it’s side you can sync up your MathGirl Number Garden so you’ll have flowers and trees beautifying your yard. MathGirl Addition struck a chord with the little girl side of me, it was great fun to decorate my house.

We can’t do any better than this!

Yay! Addition House is climbing in the rankings. It’s New & Noteworthy in education, educational games, and kids games in iTunes’ App Store.

There’s an #edchat going on in Twitter about mathphobia. The question: Does “mathphobia” exist – How do we deal with it?

It exists. Take a look at Disturbia Parody: Mathphobia on youtube.

When my children were young, I helped in their public school. I became fascinated with how children learn, particularly with math. I went deep. I read up on everything I could find about teaching numbers and arithmetic.

I witnessed the origins of mathphobia. I began to see how some kids get it and some kids don’t. Here’s my list:

• Poor instruction. Teachers with a strong feel for numbers, who enjoy math and play with it, engage and inspire their students. Teachers who lack confidence in math and who just follow the textbooks, lose their students. But kids and parents often don’t know that the problem is the teacher. If and when they do figure it out, it’s too late.
• Life and the system. Sometimes kids with strong teachers fall behind. They may get sick, their families may move and change schools, or there may be a divorce or death in the family. Or they just may be too young. School marches on.
• Fear. It’s scary to get wrong answers, feel lost, and then get more wrong answers, while the rest of the class gets it moves on. Fear messes up thinking. When every time they look at their math work, kids think, “I hate this,” “I’m bad at math,” and “I’ll never get this,” they miss even more and get even farther behind. It’s a terrible reinforcing feedback system.
• Pressure. At a very early age kids are told that doing well in school is essential for their future. That they won’t make as much money, won’t be able to afford a family, and won’t find a job. And all that increases fear.
• Loss of confidence and avoidance. Conscientious, smart kids begin to think that they’re stupid. They lose confidence and avoid classes and professions that they may otherwise be very good at.
• It becomes a big deal. The “behind” in No Child Left Behind is a horrible place to be. Kids not only have to go to math class, but they have to go to afterschool tutoring and maybe even summer school. Not only are they responsible for current classwork that they really don’t know how to do, but they have to do extra work. Play time is cut.
• The nature of the subject. Math is abstract. It requires a personal experience with numbers and symbols, with how they work and how they relate to each other. It requires experience and an open mind to make the connection between the concrete and abstract and to develop the ability to go back and forth.

The Cure: When people experience what the simplest number operations really are, then they see that math is not rote memory and not just about memorizing rules. When they discover that math is about patterns, numbers have lives of their own, and problems are really puzzles to be figured out, they find their own way to learning what they need to learn.

Here’s how to help kids get there:

• Lighten up. Don’t say that you’ll have to work hard and struggle to get it. Say that you missed it when you were little and that now you’ll find it’s not that hard.
• Play with numbers. Give kids an experience with numbers. Find ways to show them that numbers are simpler, more elegant, and interesting than they realized. Look for the “aha” that comes when they get it. (That’s what we try to do in MathGirl!)
• Don’t teach math. Show how to learn math. There’s a difference. I often have to refresh myself on how to do some aspect of math. Kids are interested when I tell them that I do it and show them how I do it.
• Treat problems as puzzles. Show kids how to get curious, not discouraged. Good math students don’t just know the answers. They search for different ways to find the answer. Then they test if the answer’s right.
• Put their bad math experience in context in their lives. Tell them that all of us are continually learning and that lots of perfectly happy adults think that they’re “bad at math.” It’s possible and can even fun to catch up, and there are many ways to do it. There are basic math classes in high school and even in college.
• Reflect on old thinking vs. new thinking. After you’ve given kids a positive experience with math, discuss what happened in school and how their old negative thoughts got in the way of seeing how to do math. It’s a lesson for every aspect of life.

Do you agree? Any thoughts to add? What should I change?

MomsWithApps.com is promoting MathGirl!! AppFriday is a special promotion day featuring an app every week.

Moms With Apps is a group of outstanding app developers for children and families. You can find fabulous apps. Take a look at the pages:  Apps for Reading, Apps for Travel, Apps for Learning, Apps for Special Needs, Apps for Fun & Creativity, and Apps for Parents.

We’re so proud to be part of it!

We put MathGirl out without a limitation on age. Wired’s GeekDad review said, MathGirl Number Garden is a really fun game for everyone, and quite useful.”

Although it starts with 1 through 5, the game is not all that easy. It is more than counting, addition, subtraction, and multiplication. It is a journey in abstraction.

Steven Strogatz said in his NY Times post on math, “Numbers have lives of their own.” He also said that numbers are “more like lofty concepts (e.g., truth and justice), and less like the objects of ordinary life.”  Number Garden offers an experience of that idea.

I’ve watched very bright math students play Number Garden, then light up with interest and say, “Oh, I see!”

Playing the game causes a shift from left-brain thinking to right-brain thinking. A real understanding of math and numbers requires that shift. It’s not measurable. It’s not something that I can describe with words.

So, yes, MathGirl Number Garden’s girly and simple, but it’s also profound.

Please tell us if you’ve had this experience!

I wrote this week’s post on MomsWithApps.com.  I really think that we are seeing a revolution from worksheets, homework, and workbooks to games. Think about it:  The old-fashioned paper-and-pencil worksheets are games too. You play the game and then you get a score. It’s just slower, not as fun, and not customized. It’s part of a bigger, not-very-well-designed game with levels. It would never pass Apple’ s User Interface Guidelines!

As back to school approaches, the topic of learning takes center stage. Lynn Rasmussen; parent, app developer, and creator of math apps Arithmaroo and MathGirl Number Garden, offers her insight on how characteristics of apps can open up new pathways for learning and new resources for traditional education systems.

Developers just got the notice from Apple yesterday:  We can offer our apps for half off to educators.  Apple put out a page for educators describing the offer.  We signed up but we’re not sure that it’s a benefit for anyone but Apple.

MacLife said, “Developers Can Finally Give Students a Break in the App Store.”  We’re not sure that students will really get a break.

Here are my questions:

1.  Is this the end of the really good deal for educators?

Teachers have been downloading one purchased app into banks of 30 to 90 iPods.  Officially Apple allows 5 downloads. Now are they going to have to spend $15 to $45 for a 99¢ app? Or will each purchase work for 5 devices and they’ll have spend $30 or $12 per app?

2. Will this limit a developer’s ability to price apps?

If the new cost to schools for 30 $1.99 apps is $30 and the cost for 30 99¢ apps is $15, our $1.99 app looks too expensive. We can’t afford to sell to the general public at 99¢ and we want room for special offers. We’d like to give our apps to schools!

3. Will this add the school bureaucracy and more hassle for teachers?

The volume vouchers are purchased by and mailed to the school’s “Program Facilitator.” Here’s AppleInsider’s summary:

Purchasing software through the App Store Volume Purchase Program will result in the facilitator being sent an e-mail with app-specific codes, one code per license. End-users, such as students or faculty with an iOS device, can then redeem the codes in the same manner in which users redeem a gift card on the App Store.

The Volume Purchase Program also includes an optional, separate agreement that allows institutions to use one or more iTunes accounts to sync multiple iOS devices. Using this, an institution can set up devices with generic iTunes accounts and control what apps are available on a device.

Once the volume vouchers are received, they can be given to the Program Facilitator, a new account type that allows individuals — such as a dean, a professor, a school principal or a teacher — to redeem vouchers through the program.

The words “program,” “facilitator,” and “institution” are red flags.

4. Will this be an additional expense that put iPods even farther beyond the reach of schools and students who could most benefit?

Many schools are trying to find money in their increasingly tight budgets for iPods. This new “discount” makes iPods much more expensive.

5. Will this limit a school’s ability to try new apps?

Schools will be buying fewer apps and have less flexibility to try out new apps. Wouldn’t it be better to have more apps in the schools? We developers can consider apps in schools as a great marketing opportunity and make our profits off of parents and grandparents who can afford it.

It’s official today!  ParentingPink.com loves MathGirl! The contest starts today for a free MG app and a $20 iTunes gift certificate.

ParentingPink says:

MathGirl Number Garden ($1.99), is no ordinary phone app. – it’s fun, cute, AND will actually teach your 4-18 year old daughter MATH while she plays it! Finally, a game that is both fun and educational. This math app is for girls of all ages and skill sets and helps fill in the gaps missed in school with addition and multiplication, and subtraction. As we all know, girls love their phones and iPods and what better way to ensure they are actually learning along with playing?

We feel honored to partner up with this great site that promotes parenting for strong, resilient girls.

A great review of Number Garden from theiphonemom.com:

I want my girls to think of themselves as Math Girls. I want them to realize that not only can they do math but they can also excel at it. I’m thrilled to have an app on my iPhone that allows them to practice and build on their skills and confidence.

It’s so wonderful when someone with integrity and who sees so many great apps gives our game a compliment like that!