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.
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. I have to agree with Mitra that current education is preparing kids for a world that doesn't exist anymore. I also thought the conclusion of his speech was just about perfect. James Simmons On Mon, Mar 11, 2013 at 6:26 AM, Nicholas Doiron <[email protected]>wrote: > 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 system is obsolete!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! > > In the US, similar ideas led to the > unschooling<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unschooling>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? > > 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. > > -- > Nick Doiron > San Francisco, CA > > > On Sun, Mar 10, 2013 at 12:07 PM, Yoshiki Ohshima <[email protected] > > wrote: > >> On Sat, Mar 9, 2013 at 11:24 PM, Dominik Granada <[email protected]> >> wrote: >> > >> > Arthur Benjamin says: teach statistics before calculus (check on TED) - >> cant >> > paste link now >> > >> > Free and democratic schools experience indicates that strong testing and >> > guidance understood traditionally are at least .... obsolete. >> > >> > and btw children in free schools learn calculus when they see the need >> for >> > it >> >> I should have written: children won't "invent" calculus. (A big >> mistake, sorry about it.) As Walter wrote, that was what it meant. >> If you want to learn about the context of that statement, you can >> Google for it. >> >> Because calculus (and statistics, sure) is so cool that I'd hope that >> children learn it. If a child is in the project-based learning >> setting, I sure hope that he takes on a project that does give him a >> reason to learn it. If it is solely based on the "need" for it, >> however, surely most people are not going to need to learn calculus or >> statistics. >> >> > cheers DG >> > >> > Yoshiki Ohshima <[email protected]> napisał: >> >> >> >> On Sat, Mar 9, 2013 at 10:12 AM, Caryl Bigenho <[email protected]> >> >> wrote: >> >>> >> >>> Hi, >> >>> >> >>> When I was teaching I had a saying usually attributed to Confucius >> >>> (carefully hand drawn in calligraphy… no computers available to print >> it >> >>> then) and hung above the chalkboard (old technology). It was my motto >> for >> >>> teaching: >> >>> >> >>> >> >>> "I hear and I forget. I see and I remember. I do and I understand." >> >>> >> >>> >> >>> It may have been first said 2500 years ago, but I believe it is still >> >>> valid >> >>> today. That is why I do what I do! >> >> >> >> >> >> Invoking proverbs is fun as you can always find the one that argues >> >> for the other way. >> >> >> >> The above one probably was a somewhat liberal translation of what >> >> Xunzi (荀子) wrot >> >> e. But >> >> one other thing Confucius said was: >> >> "學而不思則罔、思而不學則殆", for which I found an English translation: "If you >> >> learn without thinking, you cannot understand truly. If you think >> >> without learning, you will be self-righteous." (I might translate the >> >> last word to "dangerous", as it is closer to the original meaning.) >> >> >> >> Alan Kay often says: Children won't discover calculus on their own. >> >> >> >> Doing is important, but in the learning process good checking system >> >> and guidance is essential. The above quote should be taken as "in >> >> addition to hearing and seeing, you should do things". >> >> >> >> -- >> >> -- Yoshiki >> >> ________________________________ >> >> >> >> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) >> >> [email protected] >> >> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep >> > >> > >> > -- >> > Wysłane z telefonu. >> >> >> >> -- >> -- Yoshiki >> _______________________________________________ >> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) >> [email protected] >> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep >> > > > _______________________________________________ > IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!) > [email protected] > http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep >
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