So, first things first. Watch this video.
We were astounded by what Wolfram had said here. Especially because he's totally right. But, instead of reading about it, which Carr tells us our age is no longer capable of doing efficiently, we also made a video describing our take on it.
Also, here is a link to the site. Have fun!
Thank you for posting this!
ReplyDeleteI am extremely impressed with this technology and the implications it has on the future of education. It brings up some real questions with how we are teaching elementary, middle, and high school student. Do we really need to drill the calculations into their heads? Or should we be more focused on teaching them the "bigger picture"?
ReplyDeleteI'm not saying that we need to stop teaching addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. But some of the higher level maths, the ones where students ask "when will I ever need this?" may need to be reconsidered. What is more important, that we force students to find the derivatives of equations over and over again, or that we teach students the real-world applications of derivatives. There will always be a calculator, or Wolfram Alpha, nearby to help students with the calculations. I think the important think to teach students is what you do with the answer the a calculator has just spit out.
It is undeniable that the growth of technology is exponential. This growth leads the evolvement of education to become more "tech friendly" by implementing different technologies in the classrooms. I believe there is a fine line between supplements and replacements, especially in an educational sense. For brain development purposes, it is important to continually engage in critical thinking, as our brains experience great plasticity, as we learned in Carr's The Shallows. If educators limit the higher levels of mathematics, for example, the analytical reasoning needed to comprehend will be less developed. However, once our brains have experienced at least some levels of analytics, I feel that Wolfram Alpha becomes a great complement to our learning. If used as a crutch for understanding, the viewer has not used this site to it's potential. Oppositely, if used to further understand and analyze the information, Wolfram Alpha allows for our brains to delve deeper. As Anna said, this leaves room for more real world applications to be applied in the classroom; although, it should not be used to bypass learning the deeper levels of education such as Calculus, because the development of our critical thinking may suffer.
ReplyDeleteI really liked this technology and think it is perfect for a society that is moving at a faster pace. While it does give you the answer and save time it also shows you how to work the problem, lessening that worry of losing part of the learning process. I've used it in the past and felt it very helpful in not only giving me answers but showing me how. I do think this may lessen human interactions as less people actually seek help from their peers. It's like smart Google, why more people don't use it is beyond me. You guys gave a great presentation.
ReplyDeleteAs a math major, I see value in calculation. The routines and algorithms we use create neural pathways that allow for more efficient—and even more creative—thought. I agree with Wolfram’s statement that “calculating is the machinery of math,” but I believe it is still crucial to understanding math’s inner workings, not something that we should relegate to a computer. With the programming of Wolfram|Alpha and computers hiding these procedures, we are taking valuable connections out of students’ brains.
ReplyDeleteMath is an art and is driven by curious, creative thought. Wolfram stresses the importance of the creative steps surrounding computation, but I believe that there is creativity in computation. Some of the most thoughtful experiences I’ve had solving problems involved exhausting all of my techniques and being forced to try new things. Math is a patient subject: after “hitting the wall” while solving a problem, students should experiment and alter their perspective until they break through to a solution, as there is much to be gained mentally by doing this. Until there is proof that an absence of calculation in our minds is beneficial, then I think that the patterns we learn and thought processes we develop are more useful than the time we save by using a computer.
I think this is a great technology if used responsibly. IF. Many students use it only to get the answer and move on, either because they don't have the time to finish it or they don't care (or both). I think the best way to utilize this technology is after you've "hit the wall" on one problem for long enough that you know you need help. We all know when we truly need to turn to help, and when we can probably do it ourselves if we take the time and are patient. If we follow our intuition and use this technology as a learning aid, rather than a learning substitute, we can actually sharpen our math skills and improve our confidence and speed in problems.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Tyler and Louis, as far as the negatives go, but there is so much more to WolframAlpha than calculus. My initial interpretation of this technology was that it would replace "Google researching." Instead of searching for a key word and trying to find the information you need from there, you just ask it for precisely the information you need. If you need to know the date the Constitution was signed for some research project (or maybe even a disagreement among friends, if you feel the need to argue such things) you can just ask for what you're looking for instead of sorting through endless information that you weren't looking for. My favorite part of WolframAlpha is that it powers Siri. Whenever you ask Siri a question, she searches using the computational knowledge found with WolframAlpha. Siri by herself is greatly impressive, but without the power of WolframAlpha, she's just voice recognition.
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