[IAEP] [Math 2.0] Re: Join Oleg Gleizer, the author of "Modern math for k-2" October 20th at 9:30pm ET

[Maria Droujkova]

On Thu, Oct 20, 2011 at 1:21 AM, Edward Cherlin <echerlin at gmail.com> wrote:

> The license is too restrictive, permitting no changes whatsoever, and
> forbidding use of this material in any other work. Only ShareAlike CC
> licenses are usable in my work. I cannot read this pdf or join this public
> session without exposing myself to charges of copyright infringement, since
> I intend to create something quite like it, based on Ken Iverson's book
> Arithmetic, now available under CC-BY-SA.
>

Come on, Ed! Be brave, read it :-) We will spring you from the jail if the
need arises.

But seriously, let's discuss this issue as a part of the conversation
today.


> However, I would note that Oleg Gleizer cannot copyright any of the math he
> covers, only the specific presentation.
>
> My first questions to teachers are, "What is a number?" and "What is a
> variable?"
>
> There is no such thing as a variable. There are variable names, behaving
> like pronouns whose essential function is to refer to something or someone
> different as often as we like, using several different methods for
> indicating the current referent, or their use as generic names without a
> specific current referent. Variables are not restricted to naming single
> numbers of whatever kind, but can refer to entire mathematical structures,
> including all of those listed above plus topologies, algebras, function
> spaces, categories, set theories, toposes, and much more.
>

What do you call a "thing" here (in the phrase "no such thing"), as opposed
to a "name"? I would like to explore your definition further.

>
> Naturally, we do not want to dump all of this on children of any age, but
> we need to know that this is all there waiting for those who become ready to
> advance. We must not limit our children's imaginations to just what is
> conventionally taught in schools.
>

In my experience, kids love to play "what if?" games that extend numbers.
What if you divide three by six, instead of the other way around? Just try
to tell a kid you can't take square roots of negative numbers... Kids like
new things, and also they like to name things, and (less so) to learn fancy
names others made up. That's one reason I am interested in your definition
of things and names.


> Other than that, the little I have read (the Table of Contents and
> Introduction) is excellent.
>
> On Wed, Oct 19, 2011 at 23:08, Maria Droujkova <droujkova at gmail.com>wrote:
>
>> Modern math for elementary students: An innovative, open book
>
>
> This is not the meaning of Open used in the Open Source Software movement.
> I consider it a misrepresentation of the work.
>

I call all Creative Commons licenses "open"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Open_content#Licenses

I appreciate the fact that some movements may use different definitions of
the word "open". I now added the specific license (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0) to the
description of the event, to be clearer on the matter:
http://mathfuture.wikispaces.com/ModernMathOlegGleizer Thank you for
bringing this up.

Cheers,
MariaD
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