I watched this on my TV last night. Smart TVs and devices like the Sony
Net Player have a channel that lets you watch any TED talk, and that's
how I watched it. One thing I remember is that Mitra did think a
teacher was necessary to pose problems to the students. He suggested
asking a student how to tell if an asteroid was going to hit the Earth
and suggesting that knowing the tangent of an angle might be part of the
solution.<br><br>I have a niece (in the sense that I am a friend of her
father) who went to the Illinois Math And Science Academy. Her father
kept complaining that "the teachers don't teach!", and I think their
methods are a bit like Mitra is suggesting.<br><br>I have to agree with Mitra that current education is preparing kids for a world that doesn't exist anymore.<br><br>I also thought the conclusion of his speech was just about perfect.<br>
<br>James Simmons<br>
<br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Mar 11, 2013 at 6:26 AM, Nicholas Doiron <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:ndoiron@mapmeld.com" target="_blank">ndoiron@mapmeld.com</a>></span> wrote:<br><blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div dir="ltr"><div>I watched this video with some of the OLPC team at the Ministry of Education, Marshall Islands. As you might imagine, the video was enlightening but somewhat threatening. A speech saying the education system is obsolete! Students using computers without anyone deciding what they should learn!<br>
</div><div><br></div><div>In the US, similar ideas led to the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unschooling" target="_blank">unschooling</a> movement. There are a lot of smart kids and great programs, but I saw one interview where a parent argued that if their kids needed algebra, they would read about it and learn. How will they recognize an algebra problem when they see it (for example, the parabola of a flying baseball)? How will they know that it can be calculated at all?<br>
</div><div><br></div><div>When you're talking about implementing this in a school, that's a big risk for the principal and teachers to take. I want to make room for open-ended student-led research - like the DNA reading, the electrons project - in a standard classroom. Computers are making this possible for younger students. But I'm wary of telling teachers that students are going to learn best while they're on their own.<span><font color="#888888"><br>
</font></span></div><span><font color="#888888"><div><br>-- <br></div>Nick Doiron<br>San Francisco, CA<br></font></span></div><div><div><div class="gmail_extra"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">
On Sun, Mar 10, 2013 at 12:07 PM, Yoshiki Ohshima <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:Yoshiki.Ohshima@acm.org" target="_blank">Yoshiki.Ohshima@acm.org</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div>On Sat, Mar 9, 2013 at 11:24 PM, Dominik Granada <<a href="mailto:dgranada@frks.pl" target="_blank">dgranada@frks.pl</a>> wrote:<br>
><br>
> Arthur Benjamin says: teach statistics before calculus (check on TED) - cant<br>
> paste link now<br>
><br>
> Free and democratic schools experience indicates that strong testing and<br>
> guidance understood traditionally are at least .... obsolete.<br>
><br>
> and btw children in free schools learn calculus when they see the need for<br>
> it<br>
<br>
</div>I should have written: children won't "invent" calculus. (A big<br>
mistake, sorry about it.) As Walter wrote, that was what it meant.<br>
If you want to learn about the context of that statement, you can<br>
Google for it.<br>
<br>
Because calculus (and statistics, sure) is so cool that I'd hope that<br>
children learn it. If a child is in the project-based learning<br>
setting, I sure hope that he takes on a project that does give him a<br>
reason to learn it. If it is solely based on the "need" for it,<br>
however, surely most people are not going to need to learn calculus or<br>
statistics.<br>
<div><div><br>
> cheers DG<br>
><br>
> Yoshiki Ohshima <<a href="mailto:Yoshiki.Ohshima@acm.org" target="_blank">Yoshiki.Ohshima@acm.org</a>> napisał:<br>
>><br>
>> On Sat, Mar 9, 2013 at 10:12 AM, Caryl Bigenho <<a href="mailto:cbigenho@hotmail.com" target="_blank">cbigenho@hotmail.com</a>><br>
>> wrote:<br>
>>><br>
>>> Hi,<br>
>>><br>
>>> When I was teaching I had a saying usually attributed to Confucius<br>
>>> (carefully hand drawn in calligraphy… no computers available to print it<br>
>>> then) and hung above the chalkboard (old technology). It was my motto for<br>
>>> teaching:<br>
>>><br>
>>><br>
>>> "I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand."<br>
>>><br>
>>><br>
>>> It may have been first said 2500 years ago, but I believe it is still<br>
>>> valid<br>
>>> today. That is why I do what I do!<br>
>><br>
>><br>
>> Invoking proverbs is fun as you can always find the one that argues<br>
>> for the other way.<br>
>><br>
>> The above one probably was a somewhat liberal translation of what<br>
>> Xunzi (荀子) wrot<br>
>> e. But<br>
>> one other thing Confucius said was:<br>
>> "學而不思則罔、思而不學則殆", for which I found an English translation: "If you<br>
>> learn without thinking, you cannot understand truly. If you think<br>
>> without learning, you will be self-righteous." (I might translate the<br>
>> last word to "dangerous", as it is closer to the original meaning.)<br>
>><br>
>> Alan Kay often says: Children won't discover calculus on their own.<br>
>><br>
>> Doing is important, but in the learning process good checking system<br>
>> and guidance is essential. The above quote should be taken as "in<br>
>> addition to hearing and seeing, you should do things".<br>
>><br>
>> --<br>
>> -- Yoshiki<br>
>> ________________________________<br>
>><br>
>> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)<br>
>> <a href="mailto:IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org" target="_blank">IAEP@lists.sugarlabs.org</a><br>
>> <a href="http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep" target="_blank">http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep</a><br>
><br>
><br>
> --<br>
> Wysłane z telefonu.<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
</div></div><span><font color="#888888">--<br>
-- Yoshiki<br>
_______________________________________________<br>
</font></span><div><div>IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)<br>
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</div></div><br>_______________________________________________<br>
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