Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
UCT duo’s mobile apps make learning easier
TWO scientifically inclined youth continue to find means to simplify education and making learning resources accessible to all through creating free mobile apps.
UCT first-year students Raphael De Sousa and Tiago Brazier started off with a simple Delta Calculator in 2020 which has since grown into two more separate apps for maths and physics. The evolutionary growth resulted in a change of name to Delta Education.
Complementary to their calculator trademark, the new addition comprises detailed summaries of subjects, as well as past papers on top of trademark calculators.
Both apps’ subjects are broken into 10 key sections, focusing on the Caps syllabus.
“Each app has its own set of calculators built for solving unique subject problems, from finance to analytical geometry calculators for maths, and Newton’s law to cell potential calculators for physical sciences. Each calculator has been built specially by us, using our own algorithms. The final part of our applications package are the past papers,” said De Sousa.
“I know that I have been lucky enough to have all the resources I needed in order to get a good high school education. I also know that there are millions of students globally who don’t have easy access to resources. This motivates me to keep building this project, as I know I could help them. This is also why our mobile apps are completely free to download and require no internet connection to use,” he added.
The duo were inspired by the challenges they faced with schoolwork during the lockdown, and over time, they believe the apps are showing growth, especially during the exam period worldwide.
“We are starting to see more signs of growth and success. As of this month, Delta Education has a combined total number of 31 683 worldwide downloads between the maths and physical sciences on iOS and Android apps. We see common trends since the beginning of last year that our peak downloads start around this time. This indicates to us users’ interest in Delta for achieving exam success. It has taken us a while to achieve this feat, as Raphael is an entirely self-taught developer,” said Brazier.
They plan to further develop app for each subject in the Caps syllabus, “but we are still looking for the right people to correctly summarise future subjects. These people need to be qualified and familiar in the Caps syllabus,” De Sousa said.
Robyn Liversage, one of the students using the apps, said: “I found it extremely useful, especially for mathematics. It is a learning tool which guides the learners in solving the problem, or helping them check their own solutions. Unlike many other calculator apps, Delta is free and userfriendly.”