Conrad Wolfram: Teaching kids real math with computers

http://www.ted.com From rockets to stock markets, math powers many of humanity's most thrilling creations. So why do kids lose interest? Conrad Wolfram says the part of math we teach -- calculation by hand -- isn't just tedious, it's mostly irrelevant to real mathematics and the real world. He presents his radical idea: teaching kids math through computer programming.

TEDTalks is a daily video podcast of the best talks and performances from the TED Conference, where the world's leading thinkers and doers give the talk of their lives in 18 minutes. Featured speakers have included Al Gore on climate change, Philippe Starck on design, Jill Bolte Taylor on observing her own stroke, Nicholas Negroponte on One Laptop per Child, Jane Goodall on chimpanzees, Bill Gates on malaria and mosquitoes, Pattie Maes on the "Sixth Sense" wearable tech, and "Lost" producer JJ Abrams on the allure of mystery. TED stands for Technology, Entertainment, Design, and TEDTalks cover these topics as well as science, business, development and the arts. Closed captions and translated subtitles in a variety of languages are now available on TED.com, at http://www.ted.com/translate. Watch a highlight reel of the Top 10 TEDTalks at http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/top10

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  Science & Technology

[Yasmina Roberts]

TO use calculators or not to use is not important. Important is to teach kids to think. Which can be done by :

* asking children questions instead of providing them with the answers

* guiding children to the right solution instead of telling them what to do

* involving children in non-standard and inquiry-based problem solving

* showing children different methods and approaches to solving a problem

* simply asking children “Why do you think this way?”

Yasmina, math4u.ca

[John Robertson]

As a real oldie, I love this thesis. It is spot on.

Maths is THE universal language and those who use it best will succeed most. A mental sense of the rough magnitude of things is important to realise when you have done something wrong and got nonsense. Given that proviso, computation should be by calculator or computer - they keep accurate track of the decimal points for one thing. Understanding the concepts and formulating them correctly is what matters.

Thank you Wolfram!

[Deepak parmar]

Excellent video. I found this coz my associate grew to become a lady-magnet He went from a no-one into being outstanding. He behaved as if it was standard for a little bit. Then he explained it to me while he was wasted. Turns out he makes use of the Jake Ayres Master Attraction Formula. Google it and you will get it... He's dating a stunner... Lucky man! Where are the most useful movies online?

[IARRCSim]

Asking kids to select life insurance would be pretty funny. 14:30

[anmahek]

Awesome Talk! So funny the camera man in the back! Go camera man!! (Y) (Y)

[Assassin57]

What colleges teach math like this?

[Ault Matthew]

stay in charge. Why would i if i were a fortune 500 ceo want the average person to do my job then there would be no difference and my TITLE would be rather moot. Terefore te class cache system of the middle ages is still the main deciding factor in the decision making of the elite. They have the information and they can bend it all they want.

[Ault Matthew]

In most private schools students are using ipads and laptops to do thier math why? because they are from wealthy families and they are going to grow up into successful educated WEALTHY adults. Knowledge is power but only half of power MONEY is the other half. In order to bridge the gap the elite would have to succumb a portion of thier wealth to the common layman. But they dont want to. I agree with what this man is saying but I doubt any real change in education will take place if the elite

[Ault Matthew]

In other countries cildren are taugt to use a form of a calculator caled an abacus. this has ben the norm for centuries. so my question is why is it that in the " most technologically advanced" counries children are taught to use no technology whatsoever to solve problems that they will never encounter in the real world? my answer is to keep the elites above the common person. The education system is one of the biggest scemes in america and it is purposefully done to kep average people stupid.

[ordnascrazy]

[Esperanto] Ankaŭ mi kredas, ke matematiko estus plej amuza kaj interesa kak utila, se oni povus vivi ĝin per iloj kiel Wolfram Mathematica (kaj aliaj similaj). Mi studis fizikon ĉe la universitato kaj mi faris multajn permanajn kalkulojn. Kaj tamen, mia sperto parolas klare: kiam mi estas fronte al komputilo, mi kapablas vidi kaj ludi kun la funkcioj kaj mi tuj akoras intuician ideon pri ĝi, kiu estas tre utila pri la aplikado.

[STEM Homeworkhelp]

Loved the video. Couldn't agree more.