In the article, "New PhotoMath app that solves math problem by taking a picture could lead to new era of student cheating, change instruction methods, teachers say", it talks about the new app, called "PhotoMath". PhotoMath is an app that can solve any math problem(excluding handwritten ones) on your smartphone right after you take a picture of it. The app even shows you step by steps on how to do the problems. Obviously, this app got 2 million downloads during the first 24 hours, and most of the reviews were good, but what about the reviews from the teachers' perspectives? The creators insist that the app is just designed to be an educational tool and hope that it can be successful, but with too much sophistication, will teachers have to change the questions to real word problems? Someone also states that if you're not keeping up with the world of math technology, then it is reaching a tipping point of changing what we do.Yet to some teachers' surprise, they found out that there are some questions that the app can't solve, since it has only a range of 9th to 10th grade math for now. Izet Zdralovic, co-founder of a company that developed the product says,"A lot of people are saying 'oh my God, kids will cheat. When calculators were first introduced people were afraid of that, but now you can't go to school without a calculator". He also says that if you were a cheater, you would definitely try to find a way to cheat on everything, which means that not everyone will use this app to cheat. The company later on explains how it will make the app able to solve high levels of math in the future.
Analysis~
I personally just downloaded this app a few days ago, and it worked perfectly on this really complicated math problem that I needed help with. But I still think that most students from this generation will cheat with this app, since most of them have smartphones nowadays(you can quickly hide it in your pockets), and the app is very different from the calculator. This app even shows you steps on how to do the question, which I find really amazing, and students can also learn more from it than just by using a calculator. I hope that the creators of the app can not only realize how some teenagers are about to get into serious trouble because of this app, but at the same time convince more people about how they want this to be for educational purposes only.
Discussion Questions:
1. Do you agree or disagree with teachers changing math questions to math "word" problems(like arguments and world problems) just because they're scared of students cheating with this app?
2. How do you feel about technology becoming "one with" our life now in the 21st century?
3. Would you want to download this app and why?
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This is a really cool app. I feel like the teachers are wrong and we don't always understand what they teach us in class so this is a great thing that helps us with us getting frustrated and confused. This app is our future and its leading to a greater good.
ReplyDeleteI think that this app is awesome for help reasons only. I think that cheating with it would be a stupid move because pulling out a 6 inch Galaxy Note in the middle of class would likely get you caught. I believe that teachers should just watch their students rather than make problems into word problems. Overall I think that the app should only be used at home to help you out on homework.
ReplyDeleteI actually did download the app and haven't gotten much of a chance to use it because, well I haven't had to. I am not someone that would take the easy way out in math i find it better for me if I write the problems out or do them myself, it helps me learn better. I disagree with the teachers to some degree that it could be used for cheating but it should not be used just to get through your homework fast and easy
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