WILLARD, Mo.-- People all over the world are remembering Apple founder and visionary Steve Jobs, who passed away Wednesday from pancreatic cancer. He affected the way we listen to music and use computers and phones. He even changed the tools teachers use in the classroom.
Mr. Chip Gann teaches 5th grade math at Willard Intermediate School. "I would recommend either the tenths or the hundredths, and you are welcome to practice rounding decimals for your test tomorrow," says Gann. Willard 5th graders are practicing their math skills on iPods.
"I like them, because it's better than just doing problems all day," says Aiden Davis.
"It was our turn to spend some money to purchase new text books and new supplies for the classroom, and we just really began to think outside of the box of what we could use those same funds for," says Gann.
"I like it a lot, because it's studying for tests and stuff, but in a game form, so we're having a lot of fun doing it," says Grace Creed.
There's an app for almost every math skill the students study, thanks in part, to Mr. Gann. "We had a situation where we began rounding, and I noticed there just wasn't a whole lot of apps for rounding," says Gann.
So he contacted Apple and got the necessary software. "Painstaking as it was, I began the process of this new thing of creating apps," says Gann.
Now Mr. Gann is not only a math teacher, but a math app designer. "I think it's cool, because he's made them, so we get to do things that he's done," says Creed.
Gann's apps are used not only in his classroom, but also all over the world. People are downloading them on devices like iPods, iPhones, and iPads.
"Once I had the success of completing my first app, I thought, well, let's see if I can add some more," says Gann. He's now working on his ninth app, but knows his success, and his students' excitement for learning wouldn't be the same without the man who started it all, Steve Jobs.
"I have an iPod and I like to use it for games, and like, I have a multiplying app on it," says Davis.
"Without his pioneering spirit and his willingness to think outside of the box, none of that would have been possible," says Gann.
You can find Mr. Gann's math apps by searching "William Gann" in the App Store. Most of his apps cost 99 cents. But they're not the only ones used in his 5th grade math class. Mr. Gann says sometimes students discover a new app and suggest one to him.
