Mobile math lab for cell phones created

HAIFA, Israel, July 10 (UPI) -- Israeli scientists have developed a mobile math lab application for cell phones, providing students with experiential, interactive ways to learn math.

The University of Haifa researchers said problems, graphs and functions can be sent to others via text messaging, with the applications available online.

The program was developed by Professor Michal Yerushalmy and colleagues at the university's Institute for Alternatives in Education. He says the program can be installed on most cellular phones, enabling the phones to function as computers, able to perform mathematical functions ranging from elementary school geometry to high school level calculus.

"I believe that mathematics needs to be learned in creative ways, and not by memorization and repetition," said Yerushalmy. "Just as physics and biology labs teach through experimentation, I believe that there should also be math labs, where learning is experiential."

The applications, developed in collaboration with Arik Weizman and Zohar Shavit of the University of Haifa Computer Science Department with support from Eurocom Israel, are available at www.math4mobile.com.