By Matthew Shepherd, ’19
A majority of the time, YouTube advertisements never appeal to me, as they are usually for products, apps or services I would never want or need. Recently though, as I was browsing the website, I clicked on a video only to be greeted by an intriguing app named Socratic.
According to the ad, this app was capable of taking a picture of homework, be it math, english, science or history, and assist in solving problems and answering questions. Not only did Socratic give the answers like many similar apps I’ve seen, this app pulled up multiple resources and walked through each step of the solving process.
Interested, I looked it up on my phone, and I was surprised by the amount of positive attention it had received, with a five-star average rating from over one thousand reviewers, so I clicked the download button and waited.
I had been stuck trying to figure out an Algebra II problem for half an hour, so I opened the app and took a picture of the sheet. Within seconds, the app showed me how to solve the problem and gave an explanation on how it worked out the problem.
While Socratic seems to be a way to assist with the overload of information we students tend to deal with on a daily basis, there is a possibility that this app could be used in the place of actual learning.
According to math teacher Julie Hiner, I am not the only one who feels this way. When I talked to her about Socratic, Hiner said, “We would want to use it in the learning process but not rely on it as a crutch. That being said, I definitely see this app as helpful for the learning process.”
Depending on the use of this technology and its integration into school life, I see it becoming either the next big step in learning or simply being used as another way to circumvent the process. Still, this app is definitely worth the download.