TELEVISION personality and maths aficionado Johnny Ball has joined forces with a former Northern Ireland school teacher to inspire a new love of mathematics in the north's classrooms.
Famous for popularising maths on TV, Ball is backing Izak9 - an innovative resource designed to put 'play' back into classroom maths while promoting competence with numbers among young children.
Izak9 is the brainchild of former secondary school teacher, Franz Schlindwein, whose Derry-based company Qubizm has invested years of research into developing the unique teaching tool.
The product consists of 27 cubes - with different combinations of colour, number and shape - and is designed to stimulate mathematical thinking with the help of animated on-screen characters named Helix and Abacus.
Mr Ball, former host of the popular ‘Think of a Number', said Izak9 engaged children in mathematics in a "new and exciting way".
"For 40 years I’ve been engaging young people in mathematics and I think I’ve found something now that can really deliver," he said.
"In education, young people need to build confidence and competence in handling mathematics and I’m not sure the curriculum on its own can do that for them.
"What teachers need are materials and ideas which enrich their mathematics teaching and I think I’ve found them in Izak9."
Qubizm director Franz Schlindwein who as a child was "transfixed" by Ball’s puzzles and quizzes, met the legendary presenter at the BETT education technology show in London in 2014.
"Johnny paid a visit to my stand and was inspired by the great potential of Izak9," he said.
"Within minutes he was in full flight, delivering a demonstration of how Izak9 worked to an enthusiastic audience.
"I was instantly transported back to my school days when I watched him on ‘Think of a Number’ - but this time he wasn’t on the television, he was performing live and using my cubes."
Mr Schlindwein, who has more than 25 years’ experience in the teaching and learning of mathematics, said Izak9 had in development since 2009.
"It is a unique, radical and innovative maths resource which puts 'play' into mathematics and is designed for use by children in primary and post-primary schools and for the delivery of teachers’ personal and professional development training," he said.
Qubizm is currently working with several universities, the Education Authority in Northern Ireland and education centres across Ireland.
