Comment Re:Why software? (Score 1) 605
Hi,
my personal opinion is that computers are very much like pen and paper ((un)fortunately, the current technology still requires use of pen and paper -- computer screens and input devices just do not have large enough resolutions to be just as nice as pen and paper for sketching solutions or charts or graphics).
As for open software for math (high school or not) I would recommend scheme (the lisp dialect). It is easy to teach students how to write programs for symbolic differentiation and lots of other simple, interesting things (linear algebra stuff, finding zeros for a function -- there are many examples even in Structure And Interpretation Of Computer Programs, and many more can be found quite easily).
It is a language which complements nicely the pen and paper approach -- you do your initial solution on paper then try to do the tedious calculations on a computer, with a program you've written yourself -- hey, if you know enough math to do it yourself you'd better know how to program it :))
The opinion that one learns a lot by explaining things to one's peers is pretty popular. Well, programming is "explaining to someone else" taken to an extreme. Why not use it as an educational tool?
So I guess computers ought to be just as useful as pen and paper, if used properly.
Or maybe I'm just a Lisp/Scheme zealot :))
Miron
my personal opinion is that computers are very much like pen and paper ((un)fortunately, the current technology still requires use of pen and paper -- computer screens and input devices just do not have large enough resolutions to be just as nice as pen and paper for sketching solutions or charts or graphics).
As for open software for math (high school or not) I would recommend scheme (the lisp dialect). It is easy to teach students how to write programs for symbolic differentiation and lots of other simple, interesting things (linear algebra stuff, finding zeros for a function -- there are many examples even in Structure And Interpretation Of Computer Programs, and many more can be found quite easily).
It is a language which complements nicely the pen and paper approach -- you do your initial solution on paper then try to do the tedious calculations on a computer, with a program you've written yourself -- hey, if you know enough math to do it yourself you'd better know how to program it
The opinion that one learns a lot by explaining things to one's peers is pretty popular. Well, programming is "explaining to someone else" taken to an extreme. Why not use it as an educational tool?
So I guess computers ought to be just as useful as pen and paper, if used properly.
Or maybe I'm just a Lisp/Scheme zealot
Miron
