[Edu-sig] It IS about the technology: mathematics has computational objects

[michel paul]

Thanks very much for sending this. Besides this one, his other posts are
also worth reading.  This one is especially useful for pinpointing a
fundamental reason for the disconnect between (relevant) technology and
secondary mathematics:

Maybe in language or English teaching the technology is “only a tool”. I
want to argue a point of view that, for certain parts of mathematics the
technology, the practice and the pedagogy cannot sensibly be separated.

Yeah, that is precisely the point.  It is extremely difficult to have dialog
with the attitude that the technology is 'simply a tool' that we use to help
us solve math problems, that the math and the technology are two different
things, and that different people like different tools.  I might like
programming, but someone else might like to use a graphing calculator, for
example.  And though that point of view is quite understandable, it presents
an obstacle when advocating a serious look at computational thinking.
'Computational thinking' gets equated with simply some other way of  'using
a tool', and we've already got these nifty hand-held tools that do what we
need within our curriculum, so why complicate matters?  When the APs and
SATs endorse 'using hand-helds so long as they don't have a QWERTY keyboard'
as some kind of status quo, talking about Python/Sage seems like an
unnecessary addition.  It seems like an overly complicated 'tool' that can't
be used on high stakes tests, so why waste one's time?

Seriously, that really is the best argument I've ever been provided.  How to
answer it?

My tendency in response has been to emphasize the importance of language.
(I tend to be an idealist.)  I've been saying, "It's not about the 'tool' or
the 'gadget'.  It's about language!  Technology is actually language!
That's significant for education!  Literacy is all about language!"

But that doesn't go very far.  Education, it seems, is really not about
literacy.  So this guy's point is perfect.  You want technology?  OK!  Why
not make it RELEVANT???

And in his other posts he discusses how in the real world you're not going
to get a job where they hand you a sheet of problems to do!  More than
likely you'll be working on projects with groups of people, and though you
won't get 'tested', you will have to prepare a report on your project.  So
he's advocating courses based on projects rather than tests.  I like that -
math courses as project-based.

- Michel


On Tue, Feb 2, 2010 at 6:54 PM, Daniel Ajoy <da.ajoy at gmail.com> wrote:

>
> http://republicofmath.wordpress.com/2010/02/02/it-is-about-the-technology-mathematics-has-computational-objects/
>
>
>
>
> Daniel
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-- 
"Computer science is the new mathematics."

-- Dr. Christos Papadimitriou
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