The free Maple Companion mobile app is a calculator and math learning tool that handles problems from basic math to university level. First launched in September 2019, Maplesoft has expedited development in response to the pandemic so they can provide students with as much functionality as possible to support their efforts to learn math at home. Today, students can use the Maple Companion to solve and visualize mathematical problems from many different subjects, including algebra, precalculus, calculus, linear algebra, and differential equations. The app is used by students all across the world, and is available in English, Spanish, French, German, Russian, Danish, Simplified Chinese, and Japanese.
Students can even check their homework with the app by using the phone’s camera. They can take a picture of their homework problem, even when it is hand-written, and the app will then solve it. By comparing their response to the answer given by the app, students receive immediate feedback on their work. Where applicable, they will also see a graph illustrating the problem, which will help strengthen their understanding of the problem and its solution. As of the most recent version, released in mid-May, the app now also provides instant solutions and plots for many problems even when the user is working off-line.
In addition to accelerating development on the free Maple Companion app, Maplesoft has also been allowing any student enrolled in an accredited academic institution to download fully functional versions of Maple, in order to help them finish their school year. This gives students unlimited access to Maple’s capabilities until the end of June. This offer is available to students all over the world, even if they attend schools which are not currently Maplesoft customers.
Maplesoft has also been working with its customers to provide flexible virtualization and home use licenses so faculty and students can continue to access their school’s license while working from home. As well, Maplesoft has increased staffing in their Client Success team. This team offers free supports to customers to help them work effectively with Maple, including online Maple Bootcamps, and tools to help students learn how to use Maple effectively on their own.
Maplesoft also provides a variety of resources on its website and inside Maple itself that are designed to help students learn math. Some of these are accessible to all students and educators, even if they do not have Maple. In particular, the MapleCloud contains a wide selection of free applications for exploring hundreds of concepts from math, science, engineering, and more. These interactive, highly visual tools are built in Maple but accessible to anyone with a web browser.
“These are incredibly challenging times for students, educators, and administrators, as schools continue to deal with the consequences of the abrupt shift to remote learning, and gear up for the start of a very unusual new school year,” says Karishma Punwani, Director of Academic Product Management at Maplesoft. “We hope that the Maple Companion mobile app, together with Maplesoft’s other products and services to support remote learning, will help make life just a little easier for everyone involved.”
For more information about Maplesoft's resources to support remote learning, visit https://www.maplesoft.com/products/maple/academic/remotelearning/
