[Edu-sig] seasonal challenge to calculator dominance in high schools

[C. Cossé]

Yes that must be disappointing if 'The House of Tomorrow' didn't convey or
do justice to the content of his work.


On Sun, Jun 23, 2019 at 11:50 AM kirby urner <kirby.urner at gmail.com> wrote:

>
>
> On Sun, Jun 23, 2019 at 11:28 AM C. Cossé <ccosse at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Hi Kirby,
>>
>> I think kids should write their own plotting routines to graph their
>> functions starting anywhere 3rd-7th grade.
>>
>>
> If they wish to, yes, so many optional branches.
>
> I'm coasting along using everyday office productivity tools that make use
> of code, scripts, nevertheless.
>
> But since when in school does a kid get an office, a place to focus on
> anything like coding?
>
> In math class, you get a tiny desk, rows and columns, book open.
>
> The calculator is designed to fit on that desk, and be a part of that
> whole dynamic.
>
> Very cramped ergonomics.  I question the ethics (= aesthetics).  The
> status quo has grown stale.
>
> In one lesson developing a simple solar system in pygame, for example, you
>> can teach everything from the meaning of pi, periodic motion, dynamic
>> graphics, orders of magnitude, scaling, OOP,  ... all kinds of stuff.  AND
>> basically lay the ground-work for developing their own 2D plotting
>> software.
>>
>> -Charlie
>>
>
>
> Yes, that's one way to teach that stuff.  I'm for continuing to curate
> content for the various audiences.  Some students love Coding Train and I
> can see why.  I've spent some hours with it myself.  Lots of great teachers
> out there!
>
> My current project (from whence that calculator page) is a take-off on the
> movie 'The House of Tomorrow' wherein the star kid is being raised by his
> Nana to be the next Buckminster Fuller.
>
> Of course I'm intrigued, given RBF and Ludwig Wittgenstein (LW) were two
> philosophers I've seriously studied.  We all have our hobbies, right?
>
> However, as usual with a fictional work, or even with most documentaries
> on the guy (not all): there's zero attention given the actual substance
> i.e. the "whole number volumes table" (a meme).
>
> In a 90 minute drama based on a fictional work, there's no time to look at
> an actual curriculum (our star is home schooled, but what is he learning?
> -- we have no clue, nice dome though -- tourists come check it out, set in
> the pre-internet era).
>
> 'The School of Tomorrow' is my Github repo designed to provide this
> missing puzzle piece, and add back the missing realism. [1]
>
> I explain it all on the videos.
>
> Kirby
>
> [1]  https://youtu.be/UpEJysjcLBY  (recounting the genesis of the project)
>
>
>

-- 

ccosse.github.io
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