Francesco Bonelli , 43, from Cagliari and resident in Sestu , a programmer in a leading company in the Public Administration sector, decided to invest almost all his free time in 2019 to create an application. "In particular - he says - I wanted to explore the potential of developing hybrid apps. I was fascinated by the idea of trying my hand at a single development that could be used in different operating systems such as Android and iOS. Having a son who is almost 2 years old, I opted for an educational app in the hope that, in a few years, he too would be able to benefit from the fruit of my work".
So Francesco Bonelli, married to Alessia and father of Diego, created Tixoo , a math application to learn how to perform column operations through an innovative step-by-step method. "The concept - says Bonelli - is simple: you enter the operation you want to perform and the program takes the user through a guided process that divides the operation into steps and simultaneously provides a small text description that explains in detail what is done in each step. It's like having a tireless virtual teacher at your disposal who explains what to do and why. The typical target is certainly children but over time, reading emails and reviews that were written to me, I understood that parents and teachers also liked it a lot and that, something I frankly hadn't thought of but of which I'm proud, it was an excellent tool for children with DSA".
The App is available in its Android version on the Google Play Store. «Just search for “Tixoo” and it is completely free - says the programmer from Sesto -: it is also free of annoying advertising banners. For a while it had some advertising inside, then I deliberately decided not to earn a cent from it . I thought it was right because I realized that between a review and the monthly check from Google, what gave me the most satisfaction was precisely that little thought that users dedicated to me. It has been translated into eleven languages and is highly appreciated not only by Italian users but also, in particular, by Russian, Japanese, French and English speaking users. Despite this, on the main screen, regardless of the language, it proudly displays the words “Made in Sardinia».
It currently has almost 200 thousand downloads and has more than 3,300 user ratings with an average of 4.8 stars. "A great result - says Bonelli -: over time I have also added other functions, in particular short training sessions to learn the multiplication tables, essential for performing multiplications and divisions in the best way.
Now I'm waiting for Diego, my son, to be at the right age to be able to use my app. At that point I will have achieved all the goals I had set for myself and I think even something more".
Technology
Sestu, an application to learn how to do column operations: the project of the programmer Francesco Bonelli
"It's like having a tireless virtual teacher at your disposal, useful for young students but not only"