Ap(p)t for Homework: Paving the way for teaching amid COVID pandemic

When in doubt, download an app. We have apps to remind us to take deep breaths and to drink water, to facilitate extra-marital affairs and even get over a breakup. Naturally, the exam season has led to a proliferation of homework apps. However, teachers are not dismissing these tech innovations because they believe that most of these are designed to retain the student's attention.

Rajeshwari Bandaru, Hyderabad-based maths teacher who has trained many, including the world's fastest human computer Neelakanth Banu, believes that as long as students know how long and how much to use these apps, there is no harm. "In fact, they could make it fun for them, a good engagement during the summer holidays," she says.

Brainly: This online learning platform with 55 million monthly unique users in India has a Q&A platform where students and parents can  pose questions to subject experts in maths, science, history, English, biology etc. In April 2021, the app released the findings of its latest survey titled, 'Lockdown and Learn-from-Home Model'.

"The survey indicated that every one in four students in India primarily cleared their doubts through such platforms. Others also took support from their school teachers (17 percent) and parents (8 percent)," says Rajesh Bysani, Chief Product Officer of the app.

Mathway: This app helps users find instant answers to their maths problems. Users post a picture of their question by using the phone camera and the app promptly provides answers in algebra, trigonometry, calculus, statistics etc.

BYJU'S: This app recently introduced a new update to enable parents to take part in learning activities. The progress cards feature indicates tasks completed by their child and a “skills” section displays their strengths in different skills. Parents and students can also engage in fun subject activities.

Photomath: True to its name, this app asks users to take a picture of a printed or handwritten question and gives a step-by-step explanation on how to solve it. The app does not require one to be online to resolve some problems. It covers basic arithmetic, integers, fractions, decimal numbers, powers, roots and algebra.

Socratic: This Google AI-powered app is for high school and university students. It provides visual explanations to problems and students can pose doubts using voice notes or videos.