Switched

Give it a break Hope and appreciate that these kids, who are smart enough, built this app with no training.

Hope, the app is basically like using flash cards. You guess your answer then click the answer button to see if you are correct. Flash cards are very effective...

Hope, You are way off the mark here. Kids today are pressed to learn more and more at younger ages. We start teaching geometry and algebra concepts in Kindergarten. They are assessed on these concepts, as well as on basic facts. Standardized tests include both conceptual knowledge as well as basic facts knowledge. Instead of listening to the stereortypical (and uneducated) whining about what is taught in public schools, you might want to take a look at their curriculum and mandatory testing. Also, what statistics fail to tell you about education is that the US includes EVERY public school child in their results, including special education children, whereas other countries do not. This vastly skews results. Yes, our public schools have problems, but the majority of those problems stem from behaviors driven by disinterest, neglect, television, video games, violence, and a generalized lack of engagement with our children. Studies show, that the most valid indicator of reading ability (found so far) is time spent reading in a caregiver's LAP before age 4. Now there's a stat which tells the REAL story.

You apparently used some sort of spell checker to review your post, but even spell checker didn't tell you that "are education" is glaringly incorrect. Now, had you written "our education", I might have been more in agreement with your comments.

Hope, flash cards are a study strategy and a very effective tool for memorization. A flash card has a question on one side and an answer on the other. The program that these boys created has the same concept. How can anyone learn anything if they are not first given the answer? How did you learn how to add? Flash cards can be used by anyone. I'm currently a sophomore in college, and many of my peers and I make our own flash cards to study for our various courses.

By the way, you're not supposed to use multiple question marks or exclamation points. Maybe you need some grammar flash cards.

Thanks. I am 16 and I feel as though I have matriculated in the proper schools to recieve the education that would bring me up to be a good American citizen. Please do not judge all people based on the idea that all American children have had the same upbringing and education.

Coming from a background of not understanding match, and ending most homework nights in tears-I can see how this app works. It gives the kids the problem, as u can see in "display problem", and then the kid answers it out loud, or thinks of the answer in their mind, to check if they're right, they click "display answer".

Or another way to do this is to look at the answers and study from it like that. I think this is very useful and good for them for utilizing technology to help their friends like that!

I can not only spell and do arithmetic, I can do it better than you. Then again, my basic United States based education only allows for a basic understanding of quantum physics and Schrodinger's Equation. Sorry for not being up to your caliber. Oh, and your grammar sucks, it's "our education". Peace, foreigner.

Hope I have to agree with the others. Education is not a problem in this country, what is the problem is the approach this country takes to educate our children. It's from one extreme to another. When I was in school [I'm 29 now] and in PreK and KG and 1st, 2nd grades we did a lot of fun things coloring, cutting, pasting. In PreK besides snacktime and naptime we played and learned perhaps our ABCs and our names perhaps even going so far as learning to spell our names. Today, our youth are faced with education being forced down their throats from the time they are able to walk they are being pressured to succeed. My son was in PreK 6 years ago and he was beginning basic math facts. My daughter who entered PreK 2 years ago was already having to understand pre-algebra. Education is being forced down the kids throats, in this rush for this country to catch up with other countries, when in fact we are letting our children down. They are failing at faster rates because they are in fact too young [at the ages of 4, 5, 6] to be under such pressure to succeed. Children should be encouraged to do well in school, encouraged to view learning as a fun experience. As adults I'm sure others agree with me that learning is exciting, reading a book brings in a whole new world to explore to use your imagination. This country attempts [while failing to do so] to balance all the main distractions that our country has that others don't with the education that other countries provide. Our country has video games, fast food at every corner even by home delivery, internet connections, cell phones, and yet with all our technology we have yet to accomplish the task of gaining more time. In fact, today we seem to have less time. The bottom line is this: Children who are encouraged to do their best in school, provided an education that balances fun and relaxation with learning -- is the only hope this country will ever have. We are NOT other countries, we need to stop trying to be like everyone else...which is ironic in a country which is considered the land of the free. We aren't very free in our thoughts and ideas when we are pressured to be like everyone else. These two boys in this article came up with an idea and ran with it. That's wonderful -- thats innovation. Anything that helps children learn on their own is a wonderful tool...I just fear that we are relying too heavily on electronics to teacher, as opposed to actually teaching children...

Hope,
This is a Flashcard-style app. Flashcards usually have the answers on the back anyway. These boys skillfully crafted an iphone version of a flashcard. Bravo to them. Your poor grammar was very comical, especially while complaining about the education system. I pray you wrote that poorly to seem ironic. Forgetting apostrophes, misuse of are/our, incorrect plural usage...pure comedic gold!!! Next time you rip our education system, please have someone check your grammar, possibily by the use of a red pencil (teachers still use them.) Well , I'll off to study the latest pedagogical techniques, so i can be prepared for the next school year.

The concept is the same as printed flash cards which have the problem on one side and the answer on the other. The child looks at the problem, figures out an answer, then checks the back to see if it is correct. Meantime, the problem and answer are imprinting in their mind each time they look at them. This teaching method has been around for generations and is not part of the concern that learning is too easy. It's just getting their attention with technology and taking them through the same learning process used on us and our parents. Chill.

How this apps supposed to be good for kids when it gives answers ???????

Hmm, Hope, I'm no Sherlock Holmes here... but perhaps it gives the answers so they know if they answered the question correctly? A person can sit there and say 1+5=7 all they want, but if they are not corrected, how do they know its wrong?

Students are just too lazy to learn and rely too heavily on gadgets. Ask an American student to spell or do simple additions and they will flunk.

Well I am quite insulted at a statement like this one. I was an American student. I am 26 years old now, and if I DO remember correctly, I never "flunked" spelling or math.

Instead of tightening are education standards, we seem to be lowering them because we don't want to use the red pens/pencils because it might hurt a child's feelings,

Instead of tightening "are" education standards? Are you the one that flunked spelling?

all students must pass regardless if they have studied or not, students need to be paid to study, yada, yada, yada, Then we complain our students can't compete against students in other countries.

No sweetheart, our education system can only go so far. If the studies are not reinforced at home, parents are to blame. My children read, write, and can do math by the age of 3.
We cannot compete against students in other countries because we have a completely different system. We use inches, they use metrics. We speak English, they speak their own lanuage.

That is why Bill Gates wants to bring in foreign workers because he thinks they are so smart !!!!!!!

No, we don't think they are smart, we think they are cheap. I work for a very large company, which I cannot state which here (No its not microsoft).We hire non-us citizens because they accept a lower salary. A dollar here in America, usually doubles in most countries. They send their money back home, and their family is well off after a few years and they can return. Americas greed is what has us firing John Smith, to bring in Jesus Hernandez or Cheng-Wang. Get it now?
Maybe you are the one that needs to go back to school and enjoy a nice cup of coffee so you can smell the roses.

Even store-bought flashcards have the answer on the back. It's to drill so the answer comes on sight later. Give your anger a rest.

Didn't you ever use flash cards? First you see the problem, then you flip the card over to check your answer. This is the same thing, just electronic. I understand that our moral/education system sucks and is promoting retardation before hurt feelings as its better for the child to learn nothing as long as his/her feelings are intact, but think before you post. After all, the one thing US schools haven't taught in a very, very long time is critical thought... and you're showing it.

Before you go berating children for using flashcards, a practice that has been used for years, check your own spelling. It should be "our," not "are."

I can tell you how! Seeing the answer allows the brain to see the "answer"! While this is a shortcut the brain still learns and it does so without the hard work and this isn't always a bad thing because 'not seeing the answer' can lead to a child not understanding how the equation works.. if a child endures this type of 'failing' at math.. it will turn the child off math altogether! So, if showing answers makes it easier for a child to learn it's better than the child not learning at all!

I know because this worked for me!

Hope,

First, please re-read the app description. It works much like flash cards work. The answer to the problem is only given once the user prompts for same. Second, please note your own ignorance prior to trying to point out laziness and ignorance in others. Your post uses incorrect grammar, even using the word "are" for "our" - two completely different words. So, while I understand that everyone is entitled to their own opinion, I guess you have just proved that "You Can't Fix Stupid!"