Hello, Sketchpad is great, but I think that for an initial OLPC application, one has to focus on the future integration and subsequent transition from human instructor-based learning to computer-based learning.
I would think that the most simple mathematics will always be taught by a human teacher because that human teacher to the child is a logical extension (if not the same) to their human parent. At that age (1-6) the human cannot be replaced by a computer full-time --- however, the human can be supplemented and enhanced through an OLPC software tool. Sketchpad would be a perfect tool to facilitate/accelerate the transition from human to a machine-based learning paradigm (ages 6-12), thus freeing up the human resource to concentrate on the nurturing phase. In developing countries, educated human resources are very often a very scarce commodity. Isn't this a fundamental justification for OLPC? On 5/31/07, Don Hopkins <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
I would love to see something like Geometer's Sketchpad (based on ideas from Ivan Sutherland's original Sketchpad) on the OLPC. http://www.dynamicgeometry.com/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sketchpad "Sketchpad was a revolutionary computer program written by Ivan Sutherland in 1963 in the course of his PhD thesis. It helped change the way people interact with computers. Sketchpad is considered to be the ancestor of modern computer-aided drafting (CAD) programs as well as a major breakthrough in the development of computer graphics in general. Ivan Sutherland demonstrated with it that computer graphics could be utilized for both artistic and technical purposes in addition to showing a novel method of human-computer interaction." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geometer%27s_Sketchpad "The Geometer's Sketchpad is a popular commercial interactive geometry software program for exploring Euclidean geometry, algebra, calculus, and other areas of mathematics. It was created by Nicholas Jackiw. It is designed to run on Windows 95 or Windows NT 4.0 or later and Mac OS 8.6 or later (including Mac OS X). It also runs on Linux under Wine with few minor bugs. Geometer's Sketchpad includes the traditional Euclidean tools of classical Geometric constructions; that is, if a figure (such as the pentadecagon) can be constructed with compass and straight-edge, it can also be constructed using this program. However, the program also allows users to employ transformations to "cheat," creating figures impossible to construct under the traditional compass-and-straight-edge rules (such as the regular nonagon)." -Don Steve Fullerton wrote: A very simplified spreadsheet on the OLPC machine would be nothing more than a teacher's blackboard that is interactive. E.g. the child can experiment/interact with the blackboard. Traditionally, numbers are written on the board; solutions are given. The ability of the student to manipulate these would be a great advance. The bridge from rote learning to experimental learning. This is something we are thinking about at UCSD. On 5/31/07, Yoshiki Ohshima <[EMAIL PROTECTED] > wrote: > > Michael, > > > There are no plans for an official OLPC spreadsheet activity. At > > least, none that I have heard of (or could imagine). Largely because 6 > > year olds shouldn't have access to it. > > Can you explain why they shouldn't? > > Spreadsheet is a good way to experiment numbers and (usually) > provides simple rules to manipulate them. Thinking about patterns and > relationships, it can be a pretty good tool. > > A built-in graph feature would be a plus, but it is also good way to > make them "draw" a graph by usign each cells as pixels. Making a > graph feature should give them better understanding what a graph is. > > (For the making graph part, many kind of graphs can be done in Etoys > (and TurtleArt) by using the pen feature. Etoys has a "holder" object > that can hold a sequence of numbers as text, so you can do very > rudimentary spread sheet like thing by yourself...) > > -- Yoshiki > _______________________________________________ > Devel mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.laptop.org/listinfo/devel >
-- Regards, Steve Steven C. Fullerton email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] cell/voice mail: 619.339.9116 website: www.scfmetrics.com ____________________________
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