Wolfram Alpha is on a mission to develop an "app for every course." The company launched its first three subject-specific iPhone apps on Tuesday, and all three — Algebra, Calculus, and Music Theory — look to be promising educational tools.
The apps are based on Wolfram Alpha's computational search engine, which can do things like solve integration problems, calculate flying times between cities or plot a person's life on a timeline. In 2009, the company attempted to wrap the engine's whole experience into one $50 iPhone app. Several months later, Wolfram dropped the app's price by 96% and launched a mobile-optimized website. The new subject-focused $2 to $3 apps make a better package for the power of the engine.
Educational apps are usually flashcard, textbook or calculator substitutes: They make games that help with memorization, are references for information, or give you the answer. What's exciting about Wolfram Alpha's new apps is that they sometimes give you not just the answer, but a step-by-step explanation of how they arrived at it. Instead of just spitting out an answer and a line for a one-variable equation, for instance, the Algebra app shows each step of the equation.
Both math apps could stand in for an expensive graphing calculator, and they provide more detailed information. The music theory app not only shows you correct chords and intervals, but allows you to hear them as well.
True, Wolfram Alphas's new apps make it even easier for students to cheat on homework. But they also give self-motivated learners an easy way to experiment with the relationships in equations by switching numbers and watching how results change — the purpose many homework assignments are meant to serve in the first place.
Apps for chemistry, physics, astronomy, multivariable calculus, accounting, and statistics are in the pipeline.