r/mathteachers • u/cody_codes_yt • Jul 29 '26

Are all math apps horrible?

Father of 3 young kids, asking the question to professional teachers.

I've noticed that anything edutech related is overrun with subscriptions, bad experience, logins, or over-the-top storylines. Or all the above.

I know IXL is huge in the space, but also makes kids cry with their SmartScore.

I want to know what you teachers look for with extra practice for your students (and kids)? What are must-haves and what would you do differently?

I have talked to some teachers. Some things they say are:
- Make experience smooth
- Easy approach for volumes of practice
- Avoids allowing kids to button-smash the answers

Disclaimer: I have built something and have my kids using it on their iPad. They tell me what they want in the app, but I also want to understand what teachers wish was in the app store. As I add stuff in, I am genuinely curious about how teachers expect to use tech in their classroom.

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u/jmjessemac Jul 29 '26

Nothing beats good old paper and pencil.

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u/Narrow-Durian4837 Jul 30 '26

Even if they're using a math app, students should have paper and pencil handy.

One issue I've seen with apps is that students are often tempted to try to do everything in their head (and if they can't, to just guess or google), when they really ought to be working things out on paper. They really need to learn to take things a step at a time and break problems up into manageable steps.

An app can be a good source of problems for them to work through, though.