wolframalpha ictcm 2011
DESCRIPTION
How to use WolframAlpha, the computational knowledge engine, and the implications for teaching and learning math in higher education.TRANSCRIPT
WOLFRAM|ALPHAFacing the Future
Fred Feldon, Coastline CC
Denver, March 19, 2011
http://wolframalpha.com
“computational knowledge engine”
Introduced by Wolfram Research in May, 2009
$1.99 each
Is it controversial?
Yes! WA shows the answer--and explains every step in English--to any math problem from any course at any level that we teach
at the community college!
Will it change the way we teach?
Yes! Teach for concepts, application and deep understanding!
Will it change the way we test?
Yes! When it becomes pervasive exams can be open-book, open-Internet just like
the real world!
How are you feeling about the latest in math, technology and education?
How are you feeling about the latest in math, technology and education?
“Mathematics is not a careful march down a well-cleared highway, but a journey into a strange wilderness, where the explorers often get lost.”
-- W. S. Anglin, author of Mathematics: A Concise History and Philosophy, 1994
The problem isn’t that computers “dumb down” math; we have “dumbed down” problems! – Conrad Wolfram
http://blog.ted.com/2010/11/15/teaching-kids-real-math-with-computers-conrad-wolfram-on-ted-com
“Math educators are spending 80% of their time teaching how to do calculations by hand. But math has been liberated from calculation. Instead we should be teaching how to ask the right questions, how to model the real world and how to verify our formulations.”
Old: Two Ways
Thre
e W
ays
New
:
275 WolframAlpha Intermediate
Algebra Activities with Answers at
http://scr.bi/bvrEV9
Where can you learn how to use WA?
How do you keep up-to-date with the latest features?
Resources & Tools for Educators
The Community Forum
The Blog
SHOW ME THE MATH!From the basics to
everything we teachin the two-year curriculum
and beyond
Click on “Show Steps”
Note how WA
automatically finds a
nice viewing window
for you!
Click on “Show Steps”
“Less is More”
Type in your students’ names
