In 2018, high school senior Timo Timmi co-founded 99math with his mentor Tõnis Kusmin. Combining eSports style gaming with math problems, the founders united their passions for gaming and education to change how students learn math.
The fast-paced competitive nature of eSports, when joined with solving math problems, motivates and inspires students to learn math in new ways. Timo explains “We’re aiming to radicalize math learning with the emotionally engaging side of gaming psychology. If math were as engaging as gaming, the next generation would far exceed the previous with powerful problem-solving skills. We’ll have more engineers, scientists and astronauts”.
“Math Game Day”
99math’s “Math Game Days” bring thousands of students together globally to compete in live online math battles. The real-time competition provides students with a fun and social way to develop their math skills. In their first year, over 30,000 students from over 22 countries competed in the eSports events and the number of teachers, students and nations on the platform continues to grow every day.
A Helpful Tool for Teachers and Parents
From the beginning, founder of 99 math created the game with teachers and students in mind and engaged both of the roles in the game development. “There is a broad range of math topics with different levels and difficulties, so all K-12 educators in the US will be able to implement it in their classrooms with just a few clicks. A teacher can set up a game in under a minute and challenge another class in the same school or across the world. After each game, teachers can see detailed results on every students’ performance and identify learning gaps that need to be addressed. Most importantly, kids will actually have fun and be excited to play which generates a positive and efficient learning environment” Timo explains. 99math is already used in classrooms in over 100 different countries. Any student can play for free with internet connection and a smartphone, tablet or a computer.
Lifesaver during COVID
The pandemic has taken a toll on so many students’ education. Many kids are not getting enough practice and are struggling to stay motivated at home. 99math helps to remedy this by making learning simple and accessible. As an online platform available to everyone with a smartphone, 99math allows kids to practice and teachers to teach remotely at any time from anywhere.
Fun for Students and Helpful for Teachers
Above all, Timo wants to encourage young students and help them feel positively about math: “I would like kids to finish school being balanced individuals who have the freedom to accomplish their goals and career aspirations. They should not be afraid to pursue the most ambitious STEM careers if they want. Everyone can be good in math if they have the right tools and environments to learn it in”. By making a game based on math problem solving, 99math combines an activity that kids love and an activity that kids struggle with, to make learning entertaining and exciting. The game relieves the pressure of learning something difficult and allows students to have healthy, competitive fun.
How Does it Work?
The free math games can be started by a teacher or student at any time on any smartphone, tablet or computer. There are no apps or downloads, simply follow a link and sign up. With one click you can browse games and start playing!
The 99math game is now available in the US for free and can be played in both physical and digital classrooms.
Visit https://99math.com/ to learn more about 99math and try it out!