Graham Glass, etc.

Pirate Math

I mentioned in a previous post that I'm working on a new way for people to learn Math. I've decided to use an online Pirate game as the delivery mechanism because it provides plenty of opportunities to introduce Math concepts in a natural and fun way.

For example, following a map to find buried treasure introduces the concept of 3D Cartesian coordinates, playing a game of cards below deck introduces probability, and steering a ship between islands introduces geometry.

I'm only in the planning stages right now, but it feels promising. I'll blog regularly about the evolution of the Pirate Math game. Arrrrrrrr!

New ways to learn

I believe that education in the US will only improve significantly when we challenge some of the fundamental assumptions about learning, such as:

• students should learn the same subjects at the same pace
• students should learn primarily in 8 hour blocks of time
• students should learn subjects in 50-minute blocks of time according to a schedule
• students should not be systematically taught useful topics such as critical thinking and finance
• students should learn primarily from teachers in a lecture-style setting

I've decided to focus some of my time and energy on a new edu2.0 initiative that will experiment with some new learning approaches and initially focus on Math.

It's only in the planning phase, but the main goals are:

• use a self-paced game as the learning vehicle
• introduce most of the key concepts in K-9 Math (5-14 years old)
• avoid getting bogged down in formalism and nomenclature
• introduce students to the big picture early on
• make it fun and intuitive whenever possible

If it goes well, I think that the approach could be applied to more advanced Math as well as other topics such as science.

I'm going to blog regularly about the development of my Math game. If you're interested in being an active participant, join the Curriculum Design group on edu2.0 where we're using wikis and forums to share ideas.

How to *really* teach Math

Here's a great paper by Paul Lockhart about how to really teach Math. It's very much in line with my own thinking about education, and I would love to work with Paul in the future.

Shift Happens

Check out this thought provoking video related to education and the future of humanity:

Mr. Rogers goes to Congress

Here's a great video (via Digg) of Mr. Rogers testifying in Congress in order to get a $20m grant. It's inspirational; watch it right to the end!

Brainstorming Curricula, Part 2

Here's a list of some of the things that I think should be in a curriculum. I came up with it over lunch today, so it's by no means complete:

• Money: learn how to save, invest, avoid too much credit or debt.
• Happiness: learn what kinds of things typically make people happy and which don't.
• Basic Math: adding, subtraction, multiplication, division
• Reading and Writing: the basics
• Critical Thinking: learn how to separate fact from fiction, design experiments to validate theories, debate topics with others, and understand the difference between correlation and causation
• Games: learn how to play several different kinds of games, including video games, board games and card games. learn useful strategies and challenge other teams around the world
• Sports: learn several different sports including football, tennis, and basketball
• Religion: learn about world belief systems, including atheism. understand their main tenets, their history and their geographic distribution
• Personal Relations: discussion of family relationships, friendships, dating, etc.
• Sex and Love: learn about different kinds of contraceptives, abortion, the consequences of having a child, ways to communicate about sex, how to avoid being pressured, etc.
• Your Body: learn how your body works and how to take care of it, with emphasis on exercise, portion size, daily intake, healthy foods, common ailments
• Self-Defense: learn various techniques for protecting yourself, including martial arts, the use of diplomacy, and simply running away
• Introduction to Technology: an overview of technology past, present and future
• Arts and Crafts: try some arts and crafts such as woodwork, painting, and jewelry making
• Introduction to Science: an overview of science past, present and future plus a discussion of how science works and what scientists do
• Altered States: discussion of altered states of mind induced by meditation, high altitudes, prescription drugs, alcohol and recreational drugs. addiction and treatment. relative risks.
• Politics: an introduction to various political systems, past, present and future. includes a discussion of communism, democracy, federalism and libertarianism
• Music: try several types of instrument, learn to play a simple melody on one and then play a piece together in a small group
• The Universe: a brief overview of the Universe
• History of Earth: an overview of the history of Earth from when it was formed until today. includes topic like continental drift, mass extinctions, and geologic eras
• History of Mankind: a brief overview of the history of Mankind, from nomads to tribes to big cities. includes topics like the formation of countries, wars, inventions
• Trekking: get outdoors and walk through a forest or through the hills, learn orienteering skills including how to use a compass and navigate using landmarks
• Introduction to Foreign Languages: learn a few phrases in several different languages and have a simple conversation with foreign students around the world
• Media: how to create and combine various media types, including audio, photography and video
• Introduction to Computers: learn how to use a keyboard and a few key computer applications, including a browser, an instant messenger, a word processor and a spreadsheet

My guiding philosophy is:

• They should all be taught with an emphasis of actually putting things into practice. In other words, they should all be oriented around hands-on activities.
• Most introduce the student quickly to the big-picture in a particular area. That way, the student can get a feel for what within the big picture takes their fancy. In addition, my own experience is that big-picture presentations can be fascinating and entertaining when done right.
• Many of the subjects are just plain useful in everyday situations.
• I think that learning games, sports and other kinds of playful activities have a large educational benefit. For example, they encourage students to think about strategies, how to form effective teams, and how to think quickly. They're also a lot of fun!
• Rather than avoid or skirt around talking about subjects like drugs and sex, I think it's better to discuss them in an open, calm and considered manner. Fear, ignorance, or bad information about these areas doesn't do anyone any good.
• Remain neutral with regards to any particular ideology.

I look forward to any feedback on the items in this list plus hope to add some more items over the next few weeks. I already have 16 more items on the list - see if you can guess any of them!

Brainstorming Curricula, Part 1

If you were going to create a school curriculum from scratch, what would it be like?

That's the question that I'm going to tackle in this series of blog posts, along with anyone else who would like to participate. I have a feeling that my ideas in this area will be quite controversial to anyone who's in the teaching profession.

Presenting EDU 2.0 at Educared

I'm currently at the Educared conference in Madrid, Spain. It's the largest education conference for Spanish speaking people in the world, so I was honored to be invited to present my views on the future of education.

Most of the 2,000-member audience were Spanish, so fortunately they provided simultaneous translation via radio units. Here are a couple of photos taken during my talk, which show the huge projection screen at the back of the auditorium.

Most of my presentation was about general trends in education, such as open resources, distance learning, personalization, web-hosted platforms, project-based learning and virtual worlds.

I finished up with an overview of my own company, EDU 2.0.

Now that the system has been translated into other languages, I hope that similar speaking opportunities will pop up all over the world!

Presenting edu 2.0 in Madrid

I've been invited to present my experiences with education and web 2.0 concepts at the fourth International Educared Conference in Madrid, Oct 29-31. It should be great fun, and we'll have a Spanish version of the edu 2.0 site running before the conference.

Web Maze: Adventures in History

Here's another fun web maze I found: Henry II and Thomas Becket. I highly recommend trying the game; it's a lot of fun! I'm still trying to figure out whether this approach to teaching/learning would make a good fit for the current edu 2.0 site.