Monday, March 30, 2015

Stop Teaching Calculating, Start Learning Maths!

"We've got a real problem with math education right now. Basically, no one's very happy. Those learning it think it's disconnected, uninteresting and hard. Those trying to employ them think they don't know enough"
This might seem totally off topic for our blog, but in this world of connections, we think that this talk touches upon an important issue, the need for 21st century education to be relevant in today's world.
In this presentation Conrad Wolfram discusses how re-conceptualized maths in education can step up to real-world needs. The importance of maths to jobs, society and thinking has exploded over the last few decades, but maths education fails to match-up. Why has this chasm opened up? Computers are central: when they do the calculating, people work on harder questions, try more concepts, and play with a multitude of new ideas. Conrad explains why this fundamental shift is needed in education, and  presents his radical idea: teaching kids math through computer programming.
Conrad Wolfram runs the worldwide arm of Wolfram Research, the mathematical lab behind the cutting-edge knowledge engine Wolfram Alpha.
-- Watch Conrad TED talk Teaching kids real math with computers

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