A company set by a Galway woman and her Cork partner - which provides an interactive online revision aid for ordinary level maths students - has just launched a nationwide giveaway of free introductory memberships for Leaving Certificate students. www.mathshead.com has contacted secondary schools offering pupils an account with 20 credits.
“Taking up the invitation is easy,” explains Lorraine Wade, a software developer from Heather Grove in Ballybane who now lives in Dublin. She developed the website with her partner Paul Ryan, a mathematics graduate.
“The schools just visit our website, enter the invitation code they received and tell us the number of memberships they would like. Any school that has not received their invitation code via email can request an invitation on our website or by contacting us directly.”
She describes MathsHead as an online “brain training tool” which is designed to help students get the most out of their revision.
“It is totally web-based with nothing to download - risk-free to your computer. Revise at your own pace, by answering computer generated questions with step-by step solutions on topics of your choosing from right across the exam syllabus. By using the power of technology and the internet, MathsHead will help you to build confidence and make the best use of your study time.
“All questions are unique and the solution is for that particular question helping you learn by example and test your coverage of the syllabus. You are presented with questions and are prompted to enter an answer. You can then check the step-by-step solution and monitor your progress over time. You can select questions by exam-paper, topic or question type.
“As for the cost to use this high tech website - prices range from €2 to €30. For €30 you get an account on MathsHead with 250 credits - enough to keep most students busy for the school year - not bad for less than the price of a one hour grind! Part of the ethos was to make it an affordable option and we believe it gives great value for money.”
Each time students answer a maths question they “spend” a credit. There are a number of ways to pay for MathsHead credits. They can pay in cash at their local post office with go & pay or by credit card using PayPal. They can also try MathsHead by texting the words REGISTER STUDENT to 57080 to get a username/password plus 10 MathsHead credits for a one-off charge of €2.
