Category: General

“This application firstly combines outdoor activities with mathematics tasks. Students can walk mobile math trails for the first time. This is motivating and supports learning.” – Matthias Ludwig, Project Manager.

After MathCityMap was honored as Landmark 2019 in the Land of Ideas in May 2019, the team visited us. On their website, they present MCM with a video and interview. Find most of the contents translated into English in the following part:

Outdoor Mathematics for Scavenger Hunters

Solving formulas, determining vectors, learning the multiplication tables – all this is part of math lessons. And for some it is really annoying. But what if the tasks are posed by smartphone and solved in a team – and outdoors? The MathCityMap (MCM) app sends students in their city on math trails. For learners, this means leaving the classroom, finding their way via an app, solving tasks in different places that are connected to their own reality, receiving direct feedback and – if necessary – using digital hints. This is how math is fun and real. If you want, you develop your own tasks for the MCM portal and its EU-wide community.

Good to know:     

• There are also paths in Asia and the USA. The app is translated into eleven languages.     
• 9000 tasks can be solved according to the current state.     
• The community currently has 3200 members. In five years it will be 25,000, which solve more than 100,000 tasks on all continents.    
•  The system will be opened for other subjects and offer additional features.

Three questions to Matthias Ludwig

How did you come up with the idea for your project?

On 4th of July, Matthias Ludwig and Simone Jablonski presented MathCityMap for 40 Spanish Math Teachers at 19JAEM. With a variety of Spanish maths problems, the teachers ran two math trails around the conference building near the harbor of A Coruna.

Obviously, the teachers had a lot of fun while solving the tasks. In accordance, we received good feedback and are optimistic that many new  “Rutas Matematicas” will be created in Spain!

From 13th till 15th June 2019, the third annual meeting of the Erasmus+ project Mobile Math Trails in Europe (MoMaTrE) took place. Being hosted by our Slovakian partners in Nitra, the participants discussed and worked on open tasks and new ideas for the project’s final year.

Many important technical, conceptual and content-based ideas were thematized and exchanged. Also the events for next year were planned. Especially the international teacher training in April in Granada, Spain and the final conference on STEM in June in Porto, Portugal will be two important highlights of the project. Further information will follow!

Apart from the working phases, we also conducted the mandatory Math Trail in the streets of Nitra, visited the castel and enjoyed traditional Slovakian food.

Copyright for the photos: Lubo Balko

MathCityMap is one of the ten innovative winners of the competition “Landmarks in the Land of Ideas” 2019. According to the annual theme “Digitalising. Revolutionising. Motivating. Ideas for Work and Education in Germany and Europe”, the project shows how future-oriented innovations in the field of education and mathematics lessons can emerge. The initiative “Germany – Land of Ideas” and the Deutsche Bank have been organizing the competition since 14 years.

An independent jury selected MathCityMap out of around 600 applications. We are very pleased with this recognition and would like to thank all members of the MathCityMap community for their dedication and cooperation. This applies above all to our partners in the strategic partnership “Mobile Math Trails in Europe”, but also to many other national and international interested persons and task designers.

Digitization promotes progress

Christian Sewing, CEO of Deutsche Bank, congratulates the winners: “The ten winners of the “Landmarks” 2019 impressively demonstrate how important education and flexible working models are for our prosperity. For us, Deutsche Bank, it is important to make a positive contribution here.” [Translated from German].

Dieter Kempf, president of the Bundesverband der Deutschen Industrie (BDI and president of Land of Ideas e.V.) emphasizes: “Digitization is an important driver of innovation for tomorrow’s state-of-the-art and efficent working. Technical innovations and innovative collaboration projects open up great opportunities, but also make fitting preparations for the next generation and lifelong learning for the challenges of the future.” [Translated from German].

Innovations are promoted

The ten winners are looking forward to a competitive year full of highlights and professional support: “Germany – Land of Ideas” and Deutsche Bank will let the winners benefit from their network. They are invited to professional events in order to network with multipliers from politics and business, to promote themselves with the seal of approval “Landmarks in the Land of Ideas” and thus gain new customers, partners, sponsors and members. As part of the Made for Good Program, mentors from Deutsche Bank advise the award winners on their business plan, financing and communication issues.

Dedicated Partners: “Germany – Land of Ideas” and the Deutsche Bank

“Germany – Land of Ideas” is the joint innitiative of the Federal Government and the German economy, represented by the BDI. Deutsche Bank has been a partner and national sponsor of the competition “Landmarks in the Land of Ideas” sind 2006. The aim is to make innovations from Germany at home and abroad visible and to strengthen the performance and future of the location.

On May, 7th, the students from the German-Spanish student exchange organized by Heinrich-Heine-School in Dreieich were visiting MathCityMap.

After a short technical introduction, the students ran a math trail with MathCityMap at Campus Westend. The mulitlingual groups solved tasks in German, English and Spanish – no problem for the teams!

Not only the German students, but also the guests from Jaén had obviously a lot of fun!

On April 22, there was a small premiere at the University of Semarang, Indonesia. For the first time a lecture took place completely over the Internet and was transferred into several rooms. By invitation of Adi Nur Cahyono (MCM Educator for Indonesia), Joerg Zender gave a lecture on outdoor education in the field of mathematics didactics, introducing MathCityMap and its research findings. In general, the challenges of quantitative research have been addressed and, in particular, the open questions associated with research work have been discussed. After the approximately 90-minute presentation there was still room for questions. The participants were particularly interested in the possibilities to use MathCityMap in class. Most of the questions involved the process of organizing and organizing a mathtrail with MCM, as well as possible topics and response formats that could be used to translate mathematical questions.

Today, MCM talks with Philipp Larmann about the task of the week in Frankfurt/Main, Germany. He studied mathematics education for secondary and grammar schools at Goethe University and was a participant in the MoMaTrE Intensive Study Program 2019. The task was awarded the Most Mathematical Task Award in the category Lower Secondary. The task was developed in collaboration with Kristína Galová (SK), Silvia Haringová (SK), Maria Joana Monteiro (P) and Clément Guérin (F).

What is the task about?

The task is about a sandbox and the area of its surface, because you want to cover it during the winter. The special thing about the sandbox is that it has the shape of a general rectangle, so it has no right angles and all sides have different lengths. The students who work on this task therefore have to think for themselves how to best divide the surface of the sandbox into well-known geometrical forms, the area of which can then be calculated.

For what purpose was this task created?

That a right triangle can also be considered as half of a rectangle should be experienced by the students working on the task and it is essential to solve this task at this grade level.

What do you like about MathCityMap?

MathCityMap is a perfect enrichment for math lessons. The learning and working on real objects, the possibility to use elements of gamification, and the versatility of possible tasks are highly motivating for the students. With the use of MathCityMap interesting introductions into new topics can be created as well as well-known contents can be further deepened and practiced.

Thank you for your Engagement for MathCityMap!

We are planning to deliver a new update this Thursday morning. Since data structure changes are involved, technical malfunctions cannot be excluded during this day.

If you have disabled automatic updates for your apps, please check manually for available updates on this day on the app stores (App Store for iOS, Google Play for Android). We advice against using an outdated version of the MCM app, since technical malfunctions could occur.

MathCityMap certifies active members within the MCM community. The most comprehensive MCM certificate is the “MCM Educator”. In order to be certified as an “MCM-Educator”, it is necessary to have created tasks and trails, as well as a whole series of task reviews according to the MCM criteria. In addition, the successful participation within an official MCM training is necessary. As an MCM Educator, you have the right and the obligation to provide official training in the name of MathCityMap, and you have access to the materials of MCM.

On the occasion of the certification as “MCM Educator” MathCityMap interviewed Jörg Kleinsteuber.

Hello Jörg, could you briefly tell us something about you and your experience with digital media in school?

I am a teacher of math, physics and computer science at the Elisabeth-Gymnasium in Eisenach. I am happy me and my students various digital aids in my lessons, e.g. we work on our school with: bettermarks.de, lo-net², phyphox, Geocaching, APP clevery (Ma and En), TI-nspire CAS, TI Innovator & Rover, padlet.com, Lego mindstorms, KAHOOT, scratch, calliope mini, learning snacks, among others.

How did you hear about MCM?

I discovered MathCityMap in March 2018 during a workshop at the MNU conference in Erfurt.

What convinced you about the system? What do you think is special?

I was fascinated by the combination of classical mathematics with digital support. Mathematics does not have to be complicated calculations and effortful applications. Small tasks with practical relevance, where learners themselves have to become ACTIVE by measuring, modeling, estimating, discussing in small groups offer plenty of potential for student activities.

The possibility to use the smartphone as a support is of course a matter for the learner but also motivating. At the same time this reduces my effort in the care, because the APP provides feedback in the form of clues, model solutions and also offers gamification (points). A great mix! In the follow-up in the classroom very stimulating discussions appear.

What do you intend to do as an MCM Educator? What are your plans for MCM?

As an MCM Educator, I would like to introduce other teachers to this opportunity of “change” for their lessons. At the SINUS Conference in Apolda (Thuringia) at the end of October 2018 , for example, interested teachers in a workshop test these possibilities themselves.

So far, we have already created a pool of about 30 tasks around our school in Eisenach. This may take some work, but first of all, everyone can now use these tasks and secondly, there are already some tasks created by students. When students themselves develop such tasks, the intensity of their engagement with the content, as well as their digital implementation is much higher. For example, Grade 10/11 students prepared for the Open House, which was then enthusiastically resolved by the visitors.

Also, in Eisenach there are already 2 public trails, which can be used by all those interested.

Gladly, I also examine new tasks of other users. As a result, I often get suggestions for great types of tasks and at the same time help to ensure that even more ready-made tasks and routes are available for public. Although MCM is mainly relevant to the subject of mathematics, during the review I have already seen tasks from other departments – there is no limit to the creativity of the users.

Thanks for the Interview and your encouraged effort for MCM!

MCM Educator Jörg Kleinsteuber, Teacher at Elisabeth-Gymnasium in Eisenach