iPod touch and Math Practice

The App Store for iPod touch and iPhone is quickly becoming filled with software for math drill and practice. Many of the applications are free or just 99 cents. Unlike Palm and Windows Mobile software, Apple actually approves each and every app before it is included in the App Store. While this is comforting in that you won't install something that doesn't work, many of the math drill and practice applications leave a lot to be desired. For math facts practice, I really wanted something like Palm's MathAce. Some apps come close to allowing control over what problems are presented. Unfortunately, the apps that are currently available usually give a multiple choice selection when I'd prefer students to input the number themselves.

Anyhow, there are a few dozen programs in the App Store for math practice. Here are some I like:

miTables Lite Straight-forward flash card game. Tap the i to set a variety of options. (Free)	Math Tables Math flash card game where you find the problem instead of the answer. ($1.99)
EDU Blaster Tap the numbers that fit the equation in the top-left corner. You can set the difficulty on the options screen. ($0.99)	FlowMath Build a problem that matches the given answer. ($0.99)
Math Tricks Read quick lessons on mental math tricks and then complete short quizzes. ($0.99)	Number Crunch Use the given numbers to create an expression that is as close to the target number as you can get. ($0.99)
Math Trainer Improve mental math skills by completing one of three kinds of exercises. ($1.99)	AddNumber Choose one or more numbers to add up to the goal. Includes negative numbers. ($0.99)

You probably noticed that most of the apps I chose to share above are not free. Most of the free apps are not exactly what teachers are looking for. Undoubtedly there will be more and more math practice applications and better free apps are bound to appear. You can keep up by searching the iTunes Store for math apps. Or, I prefer to search the AppShopper website. AppShopper lists your search result's icons, short descriptions, average ratings, and dates updated. I find AppShopper a little more useful when searching for a specific kind of software than browsing the iTunes Store. Once you find something you want to download, click the Buy Now button on the AppShopper page. The details page for that specific app will open in iTunes where you can download or buy the app.

Found a favorite math app? Tell us about it in a comment to this post!

12 Days of iPod touch continues tomorrow when we explore putting apps on multiple iPods and/or iPhones.