Created by mathematicians and educators at the JKU, GeoGebra is now used by over 100 million people worldwide. The program offers a range of interactive tools used around the world to teach and math and natural sciences. The newly released app “GeoGebra Augmented Reality” for iPhones and iPads makes it possible to connect the real world to the abstract world of math.

Math Hype in Social Media
Univ. Prof. Markus Hohenwarter (Linz School of Education, Dept. of STEM Didactics) created a short video and in a very short time, the video was viewed on Twitter over 41,000 times and over 420,000 times on Facebook. Prof. Hohenwarter added, “Meanwhile, GeoGebra has now established itself worldwide.” In 2017, Apple approached him at a conference in the US

This year, two researchers from Prof. Hohenwarter’s team, Mag. Melanie Tomaschko and Balázs Bencze, BSc, were invited to Apple’s headquarters in Cupertino to work on the latest developments in educational tools. “With great success,” Prof. Hohenwarter added as the JKU GeoGebra developments have now been officially recommended by the company as outstanding educational apps.

JKU Rector Meinhard Lukas is pleased about GeoGebra’s global success and remarked: “GeoGebra is a completely new approach to making complex math topics more easily accessible. The solution is simple but it takes commitment, creativity, and courage to think outside of the box. This is exactly what distinguishes our academics and scientists here at the JKU.”

What exactly was created at Apple’s headquarters? The JKU mathematician explained, “A new examination mode for our apps. In other words, we are currently in the process of replacing conventional high-end calculators, such as TI-84 or TI-Nspire, with free GeoGebra apps.” Exam mode trials are currently underway in Austria, Germany, and in the USA.