Archive for March, 2011
[disclaimer]This is a ramble, full of internal inconsistencies, born of a weary mind. I post it into the ether like fresh meat thrown to a pack of wolves – go ahead and tear it to shreds![/disclaimer]
I guess you all know about Khan Academy. If not: it’s one man’s collection of 2100 video lectures on maths, science, finance and more – all freely available. In maths, it purports to provide a full progression from the basics of counting and place value up to some areas of university maths.
Bill Gates has endorsed it, whilst many educators are throwing their hands up in horror.
A heretical thought that popped into my head today. What if young people decide one day that they want to spend all of the limited amount of time they devote to maths actually learning how to do maths instead of learning how to collaborate effectively, design bridges, play Mario Kart, be good time-keepers, produce presentations or whatever latest thing might be? And what if they then start using Khan Academy in large numbers to fulfil their needs? And what if they find that Khan Academy is actually much more useful to them than their school maths lessons in providing them with the exam passes that will open the doors to employment and/or further education?
How relevant will school maths look then?
As I look back over my 20 years of teaching, I can’t think of that many youngsters who have been motivated enough to spend time at home on maths beyond homework assignments, so it’s probably just a crazy, passing thought.
The broader purposes that we pursue as educators these days (under the banner of “A Curriculum for Excellence” in Scotland) are very noble – more than that, they address the real needs of young people growing up into a world of accelerating change. But how good are we are getting buy-in to these broader purposes from parents, employers and the learners themselves? Without that buy-in the project runs the risk of becoming irrelevant despite it’s worthiness – because our customers can now get what they think they need elsewhere.
Stumble it!
Scottish Mathematical Council Conference Brain Dump
2 Comments Published March 5th, 2011 in Education, mathematicsLearning Together Maths with Graeme Logan
- exploratory talk is an important feature of good practice in maths lesssons
- I could do a weekly email to all staff listing main numeracy skills being learned in maths each week in S1/S2
- key changes in CfE for maths include more “uncertainty”, impact and history and problem solving as a tool across maths
- reformat self assessment traffic light sheets as mind maps/trees to show structure of LIs
- good Learning Outcomes do not confuse learning with activity
- outstanding LIs include what, how and why (revisited in plenary)
- LIs can be verbal
- Scottish survey of numeracy is coming in May
- AFL is critical to CfE – don’t be afraid to revisit it in CPD
- Developing/Consolidating/Secure should NOT be used about individual E&Os, and were not designed for tracking/target setting
New National 4/5 Maths Qualifications with Mr Topping
- no more NABs! Items will be on NAR and we’ll have to assemble them into unit assessments
- Nat 5 will not be Int 2. Carving off of apps into Lifeskills Maths means that the harder stuff can permeate all 3 units better
Other random stuff that occurred to me or was said to me through the day:
- make textbook work richer by having pairs take it in turns to answer questions, explaining their thinking to their partner as they go
- use local carry-out menus for money work
- use a google docs form to perform something like a diagnostic interview with a whole class at once (pupils logged into GAE)
Quite a lot of ideas for one day. I guess it made the early start on a Saturday morning worthwhile!
Stumble it!
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