[Edu-sig] New articles on Medium.... (not all by me :-D)

Wed Mar 22 11:27:30 EDT 2017

PS -- in my last months of k-12 teaching the best (commercial) software
i've seen is "kahoot".  It surely influenced my idea about a R-Pi Bingo
Server ... this would be a great thing to reproduce as an Edu-FLS
(FreeLibreSoftware) platform, IMO.

On Wed, Mar 22, 2017 at 8:45 AM, Charles <ccosse at gmail.com> wrote:

> Hi Kirby, just read your article on Medium.  Interesting thoughts, as
> always.   I read something the other day which pointed out that in Chinese
> high school calculators are not allowed … possibly ever? It seems like a
> no-brainer to me to eliminate calculators from the K-12 system entirely,
> but apparently not to the powers-that-be. I’ve been in several math
> classrooms lately while subbing and the button sequences required to do
> simple things are just ridiculous, far-outweighing any emphasis on what one
> is doing via such sequences.
>
> One question about code schools that I have is: Are their certificates
> recognized? I hate the thought of all the middle-man certification industry
> being imposed upon something good like PDX Code Guild, but it seems like
> the first potential issue that would come-up, i.e. how transferable and
> recognized is that accomplishment? I’m curious because I’d like to start
> one here in New Mexico, but I can already hear the skeptics and nay-sayers
> that I’ve heard so many times before … and I can see an efficient model
> getting bloated with collaborations with corporations which “certify” and
> “accredit” etc etc.
>
> The last couple months have been interesting for me, as an education
> software enthusiast substitute-teaching in the k-12 system. Many teachers
> purchase their own software and set of licenses because the school system
> won’t. Many teachers also pull-up free, online materials during class, and
> some of those are spewing flat-out incorrect information. For example, I
> was visiting a middle-school science class doing a “block” on renewable
> energy and the class began with a visit to a website (projected on the
> screen) in which the site defined torque as “a special kind of energy” and
> proceeded to build upon that (incorrect) definition over the rest of the
> “lesson”, culminating in questions that couldn’t be answered or were
> at-odds with the initial definitions provided.
>
> Another quick story: about 10 yrs ago my daughter was in middle school in
> the same public school system as I’m now teaching in. One day she told me
> that the sky was blue because the sunlight reflected off the ocean(!!!).
> Fast forward to a couple weeks ago, when I was covering science class at a
> different school (now 10 years later) and talking about Sun-Earth
> interaction and so forth. Out of curiosity I asked the class if they knew
> why the sky was blue? Everyone knew! It was because the sun reflects off
> the ocean! I asked other classes that day and got the same damn answer from
> each class. What do you call that? “Institutionalized mis-information”?
> Where is it coming from? These things are set in their minds by the power
> of the first impression or first encounter, in this case. This is just one
> example, and not the only one. This does not bode well for the future of
> our country.
>
> One last reflection: I’m now a long-term sub as a music teacher in the
> same elementary school that both my children attended. Irrelevant except
> that I love the school. I’ve never taught music and I’ve got up to nine
> classes per day with 20–25 kids per class. That’s 200 students from k-5
> every day. I am regularly scrambling for cool things to do in class. I
> developed a music bingo game <https://github.com/ccosse/MusicBingo>
> (original to me but not the first) in the first weeks. That went-over very
> well and I’ve been thinking of ways to extend and improve upon it. I
> borrowed an iPad from the school and I’ve got a Raspberry-Pi3 setup as a
> server already. I’m thinking that a good software activity would be to have
> the kids sitting in a circle with their iPads and a bingo screen served by
> the R-Pi in the middle of the circle (or wherever). In other words, digital
> music bingo, whereas it’s currently just printed paper sheets and drawing
> notes etc from a hat. This type of setup appeals to me software-wise, as it
> would remain an interactive group activity and still make use of
> technology. The tech is right there in-their-face, still, but it might as
> well be a physical game board made of card stock. The benefit is that the
> teacher wouldn’t have to run around checking all the answers, and things
> like that.
>
> Code schools. Once again, it’s gonna come down to the teachers at the code
> school. God help us!
>
> On Wed, Mar 22, 2017 at 12:53 AM, kirby urner <kirby.urner at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>>
>> Useful summary of on-line Python 3 tutorials, starting with the one in
>> docs.python.org itself:
>>
>> https://medium.com/@lockpaddy/10-resources-to-learn-python-3
>> -9a735db7aff9#.mabvr7g8l
>>
>> Is it just me or am I sensing a strong pull towards Python 3, away from
>> 2.x?
>>
>> My meditation, also on Medium, published today, is a more generic
>> meditation on code schools.
>>
>> https://medium.com/@kirbyurner/is-code-school-the-new-high-
>> school-30a8874170b
>>
>> I mention Python quite a bit, in my appraisal of the looming digital
>> divide and how to bridge it.
>>
>> I've invited more math teachers to comment as what I write concerns them:
>>
>> http://mathforum.org/kb/thread.jspa?threadID=2845880
>>
>> None of these are new themes on edu-sig.
>>
>> If you check my other Medium writings, you'll find a lot more (also
>> blogs).
>>
>> Kirby
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> _______________________________________________
>> Edu-sig mailing list
>> Edu-sig at python.org
>> https://mail.python.org/mailman/listinfo/edu-sig
>>
>>
>
>
> --
>
> Linkedin <https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-cosse> | E-Learning
> <http://www.asymptopia.org>
>
>
>

-- 

Linkedin <https://www.linkedin.com/in/charles-cosse> | E-Learning
<http://www.asymptopia.org>
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <http://mail.python.org/pipermail/edu-sig/attachments/20170322/a6275933/attachment-0001.html>