App making it easy to learn times tables

OXFORD education technology start-up Edplus has launched a cellphone app that allows children to learn their times tables for free in a new way, challenging and complementing traditional teaching methods.

It is aimed particularly at helping children between the ages of 6 and 12. Developed by Francis Brown, a professor of mathematics at the University of Oxford, the technology uses an algorithm that creates a learning pathway unique to each child, adapting and improving as they play.

Times tables are typically learnt by heart in a prescribed order but Edplus incorporates an adaptive algorithm. This permits a more fluid and personalised approach.

Brown said that instead of dictating an order in which children should learn their times tables, the Edplus algorithm takes a flexible approach. It takes into account the fact that a child might grasp one concept quicker than another without any predefined expectation of what that might be.

It then builds out from this using the idea of “topology of knowledge”. A simple example is if a child shows that they know 2x7, the algorithm might introduce the related question 7x2.

This might sound obvious but the national curriculum expects children to know their seven times table only by the end of year four, some two years after their two times table.

As more questions are answered through Edplus, the topology of knowledge of different children – in other words, a map of what they know and how they learn – is progressively built. In essence, the software promises to get smarter and more effective with use.

Times tables are a basic building block of more advanced maths and it is vital that children attain mastery in them as efficiently and enjoyably as possible.

Times tables are often learnt outof-school where there is a sizeable inequality of opportunity.

The technology makes out-ofschool learning easier for parents, more fun for children and can ultimately help reduce the attainment gap.