The computational knowledge engine Wolfram|Alpha is launching the first three of a series of new “course assistant” apps today. These apps, available for iPhone, iPod Touch, and iPad, are designed to take advantage of the Wolfram|Alpha technology in the service of supporting some of the most popular courses in high school and college.
The idea is to be able to quickly access the pertinent capabilities of Wolfram|Alpha relevant for specific subject areas. Currently, these subject areas are Algebra, Calculus, and Music Theory. But the company says it plans to add apps for other subjects – “for every major course, from elementary school to graduate school,” – including those fields outside math and science.
The Wolfram Course Assistant apps guide users through coursework in order to help them solve problems – not just provide answers. As with any query you enter via Wolfram|Alpha, a lot of additional information is generated in order to help you understand the answer – and the context of the answer.
Each app is organized according to some of the major curriculum units of a particular subject area. And within each of these units, are sub-sections that cover some of the types of problems learners are likely to face. But rather than a study guide that only provides a stock set of questions and answers, these new apps actually solve problems, computing the solution to whatever is asked, by using the Wolfram|Alpha technology.
The apps are built using the Wolfram|Alpha computational engine, its API and the Mathematica-based development pipeline.
The Algebra and Music Theory apps cost $1.99. The Calculus app is $2.99
