On Sat, Jul 3, 2010 at 6:22 PM, Wayne Mackintosh
<[email protected]> wrote:
>
>
> On 4 July 2010 06:46, <[email protected]> wrote:
>>
>> I, for one, would love to work with a partner or partners on the project I
>> promised...an adult education textbook.  Otherwise it probably will not get
>> done given time constraints and my tendency to volunteer for too much.
>> Joyce McKnight, SUNY/Empire State College
>
> Hi Joyce -- great idea - -why don't you just start work on an adult
> education textbook -- just do it and we will help make this happen.  Why not
> list this as one of the CollabOERate strategic projects
> (http://wikieducator.org/OERF:CollabOERate). I'm pretty sure that around the
> world we can identify a few institutions who would like to work on an OER
> course / textbook for Adult education.

<< snip >>

I was exposed to a new-to-me word not so long ago:  andragogy.  This
in contrast to pedagogy, where peda means child or children..Andragogy
was to be used for adults.  Yes, here it is on Wikipedia so it must be
legit (smile):  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andragogy

>> I like this idea. I do think that new members enjoy and benefit greatly
>> from early collaboration with others in the WE community. I think we've
>> talked about identifying some straightforward projects...for example
>> glossaries...that could be suggested as good places for new members to join
>> in. I don't have much experience with L4C workshops. Thoughts from
>> someone(s) with more experience in L4C on adding this element to the L4C
>> workshop structure?
>>
>> Warm regards,
>> Alison
>> User page: ASnieckus

To some extent I think WE pages are iceberg tips in ecosystems that
only tenuously overlap with one another.  I came to WE around the same
time I started contributing to Wikipedia extensively, to one entry in
particular.  I was drawn to the Wiki technology, even adopted the look
for the Grunch.net web site (thanks to my associate Trevor Blake
of synchronofile.com ).

As a member of the Python Software Foundation (PSF), I was also
interested in the state of the Python materials on WE.  This was
my first exercise in collaboration, as I found a page that was
already well along and started elaborating on it, with communications
to the original author (in India as it turned out).

Mostly I've been working on an approach to spatial geometry
pioneered by R. Buckminster Fuller.  Many people know about
the geodesic dome, but fewer know about the octet-truss, which
was also important to Alexander Graham Bell.  Connecting these
dots is essential to the future of K-16 mathematics education
in my estimation.  I work with what I call "radical math" teachers
on this topic, with 'radical' a pun on 'root' and the 'radical sign'
used in algebra (Al Jabber, radical = surd).  Our logo is a
backwards R under a radical sign.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/17157...@n00/4585728237/in/photostream/

Having some baseline heuristics for teachers on WE then
allows me to point back from places like mathfuture (a
Google group) and math-teach (forum 206 in the Math
Forum).  My global reach has improved thanks to this
WE technology and its ease of use.  When I do workshops,
I can project the content, spark discussion, invite more
participation.

The Bucky Fuller stuff is packaged as "Martian Math" in
this curriculum, and is part of a larger Digital Mathematics
curriculum (synonymous with "discrete math" in some
lexicons -- math-thinking-l is another list where we've
hashed through some naming conventions).  I've got
other ways of categorizing math topics, and these
partially overlap.  I point back from Python community
discussion lists such as edu-sig, showing where a
specific approach to digital math fits in to this broader
schema (for example, we like to teach about SQL as
a topic in Supermarket Math, not just in "computer
science" (the division between these two is harmful
and artificial -- in the lower grades especially)).

Anyway, that's a lot of detail about my very specific
projects involving WE.  I just wanted to illustrate my point
that WE pages can be integral within a network (or
"graph") of interlinked resources, without this being
readily apparent to "outsiders" (including to other
members of the WE community).

I would encourage other educators to come forward
with use cases i.e. descriptions of how they're using
this technology.  That would help others get some ideas
about how they might more effectively network perhaps.

Kirby Urner
http://wikieducator.org/User:KirbyUrner

PS:  speaking of glossaries, here's some of the
nomenclature Bucky Fuller came up with, still alien
enough to be considered Martian.  For more
background I'd recommend my essay 'Aristotle
was Right!' on geometry-precollege /Math Forum:

http://mathforum.org/kb/thread.jspa?threadID=2084375&tstart=0

Quoting from a dialog on another math-related
e-group:

"""
> Enuff neologisms/names flying around in here already.

Just about the right number if you ask me.

> (Too many, for my taste.)

Mite = AAB

Mite + Mite = Sytes

Sytes:
Lite (skewed trigonal dipyramid)
Bite (monorectangular tetrahedron)
Rite (disphenoid tetrahedron)

Kites:
Kit = 2 Lites
Kate = 2 Bites
Kat = 2 Rites or 2 Bites

Coupler = 2 Kits, 2 Kates or 2 Kats.

Volumes
A 1/24
B 1/24
Mite 1/8
Sytes 1/4
Kites 1/2
Coupler 1

Cube 3
...

and so on.

So memorable, so lucky tomorrow's students, to have something this
well-crafted opening doors into spatial geometry! They'll leave us
in the dust with this simpler more economical beginning. The
"right brain" is finally getting something more wholesome to chew
on (it's not just about "algebra" any more, or "flatland").
"""

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