A math application originally intended to teach math to pupils in Malawi is making waves in the United Kingdom.

The app was developed by the charity organization OneBillion that aims to teach math to elementary pupils in Malawi's severely deprived education system. It's intended to give Malawian students the opportunity to learn.

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The OneBillion charity was started by Andrew Ashe, a believer in the need for mathematics.

"If you're not even numerate, you can't do anything," he said.

A trial program was tested at the Biwi Primary School in Lilongwe, Malawi. Students took turns using a tablet PC loaded with the app, spending only 30 minutes listening to the app's instructions and interacting accordingly.

A quiz was given that challenged students to score a perfect 10 to advance in the app.

Researchers from Nottingham heard about the app and decided to replicate the test in their part of the world.

They tested teaching with the app, with alternative apps and with no apps at all. The OneBillion app produced better results than the average Malawi pupil in a class of 90 students.

Researchers also found that only six weeks of usage at 30 minutes a day allowed students to learn the equivalent of 12 to 18 months of education.

Dr. Nikki Pitchford, psychology professor at the University of Nottingham, was amazed at how one week of working on iPads for 30 minutes a day equaled three months of formal education.

Dr. Pitchford attributed the success of the app to its big yellow check marks that appeared when a student got a correct answer and the fun music.

She also said children got positive feedback immediately after getting a question right; a very rewarding experience for a child.

TagsOneBillion, math, App, Malawi, UK, Nikki Pitchford