[Edu-sig] presenting python at math conference

[michel paul]

Last Friday I got a chance to present Python and Sage at the California Math
Council annual conference in Palm Springs.

I discussed 3 things - what 'computational thinking' is and why it should be
in the math curriculum, Python, and Sage.

Here's a link:  http://standalone.sagenb.org/home/pub/20/

It's a Sage file.  To be able to interact with it, create a notebook account
at standalone.sagenb.org.  Just choose a username and password.

Once you've opened the file in your account, you can evaluate the cells,
change them, do whatever you want.

It went really well - although the network was a bit sluggish.  However,
people were really amazed.  They had heard of Python and so were a little
curious, but they had never seen Sage before.

The theme of the conference was 'Equity in Mathematics', and we had to
address 'Access, Achievement, Identity, and Power'.

So, I said "All of this stuff is FREE.  OK?  Free and cross platform.
 Anyone with internet connection has access to it.  And, this stuff is
really powerful.  You'll see.  And once you learn your way around it, you'll
have a great sense of achievement!"  : )

- Michel



-- 
"Computer science is the new mathematics."

-- Dr. Christos Papadimitriou
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