2009/4/2 gabriel <[email protected]>: > There seem to be different philosophies behind educational software. There > are games where the educational content is tangentially related in an effort > to make the content itself more appealing, and there are quizes or programs > which try to explain and test understanding of material.
Generically known as shovelware. I first wrote about the problem in 1981. > What I've found most useful/enjoyable as a student, however, were computer > programs that were integrated into a lesson in a way that allowed the > teacher to guide students in their own exploration. Exactly. > My favorite examples of > computers coming into the classroom have been: > > 1. Using graphing calculators to get a sense of what polynomials look like, > to get a sense of what happens when you transform a polynomial (i.e. > pre-composition vs post-composition), asymptotics etc. > 2. Using sketchpad to get a sense of Euclidean geometry, invariants, areas, > etc. > 3. Using mathematica to program a Fibbonacci number generator. I'm programming Turtle Art to illustrate topics in plane geometry, analytic geometry, group theory, set theory, logic, and computer science. I finally got the current version working under Ubuntu Linux, so I can provide the equivalent Logo programs plus pictures on any topic. > These lesson-types involved a specific tool on the computer used by the > student to explore and compute. I understand Sugar already has such a > calculator. The question is, what kinds of lessons for the 4th grade > classroom could really benefit from using a computer. Yes, a graphing calculator. > What about a lesson that involves cryptography? It would have to be able to > be significantly pared down to a 4th grade level-- Not at all. Secret codes were a favorite topic in the Cub Scout and Boy Scout type magazines when I was that age. You start with the simplest of Caesar ciphers, mjlf uijt, where you replace each letter by the next one in the alphabet, wrapping z to a. You can add complexity to the systems under study year by year right up through graduate school, where they are working on elliptic function cryptography, Zeta functions, and lots more. I have a book, Babbage's Secret, which explains a sequence of more complex systems using examples that Charles Babbage solved from the newspaper "agony" columns. For each, the author provides executable and understandable code for encryption, decryption, and cryptanalysis. > but I know of a friend (in > elementary ed) who's working on such a program at UIC. The point is the > program would be a modified calculator that allows one to encrypt/decrypt, > or gives instructions to do so, etc. Such a program is written with many > possible lessons in mind: the program itself becomes a tool for the > student's own learning/discovery. > > It would also be great, as Stephen suggested, for us to highlight different > kinds of lessons that can be given with the tools that already exist on > Sugar. Wouldn't it be cool to have a wiki devoted to lessons ideally suited > to Sugar? Teachers, students could update and give feedback and their own > ideas. Does this exist already? No, but it will. Go for it. > gabe > > On Thu, Apr 2, 2009 at 9:29 PM, Stephen Jacobs <[email protected]> > wrote: >> >> Some good resources and references on the Concord page... >> http://www.concord.org/publications/detail/ >> >> 1. The article on the "Broken Calculator" on this page, with web links to >> a >> flash version >> >> 2. The Third White paper "1:1 Computing In Support of Science and >> Mathematics Education ‹ Recommendations for Large-Scale Implementations" >> >> References the need to provide support materials for teachers, not just >> software. An "obvious" point that is often overlooked. >> >> >> Stephen Jacobs >> Associate Professor >> Game Design and Development >> Rochester Institute of Technology >> Building 70 >> 102 Lomb Memorial Drive >> Rochester NY, 14623 >> 0ffice: 585-475-7803 >> >> >> >> >> _______________________________________________ >> FourthGradeMath mailing list >> [email protected] >> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/fourthgrademath > > > _______________________________________________ > FourthGradeMath mailing list > [email protected] > http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/fourthgrademath > > -- Silent Thunder (默雷/धर्ममेघशब्दगर्ज/دھرممیگھشبدگر ج) is my name And Children are my nation. The Cosmos is my dwelling place, The Truth my destination. http://earthtreasury.net/ (Edward Mokurai Cherlin) _______________________________________________ FourthGradeMath mailing list [email protected] http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/fourthgrademath
