Etoys Video's for Khan Academy

Previous Topic Next Topic
 
classic Classic list List threaded Threaded
7 messages Options
Reply | Threaded
Open this post in threaded view
|

Etoys Video's for Khan Academy

Steve Thomas

In the OLPC News article How Khan Academy Can Help OLPC it was stated:

A. In terms of The Basics

Khan Academy covers almost every basic academic subject in its videos. In addition, it has one hundred sets of math exercises. OLPC could either use the exercises from the website or rewrite the programs to make them work offline in Sugar. Problem Solved.

Okay, well how much disk space would that take?

I like the idea of re-writing them. The videos as introduction to concept via demonstrations, visual models, playthinks and excercise that can (and should) be done w/o a computer.  For exercises I am working on basic configuration/generation engines for creating exercises so teachers can easily generate their own exercises using a set of "playthinks" for particular concepts.  For example: Cuisenaire Rods (some with vector arrows) is a great tool for learning.  I built a number line where you can set the unit to a particular rod and provide a playfield so things snap to grid. Another example is my OOO tools where you have "operation blocks" that you can drag numbers or other objects that represent numbers into the operations and play games/excercies like "How many ways can you name 15.


I could use some help and collaborators as there is a lot to do to create an OER that is a textbook/workbook replacement.




D. In terms of the Teacher/Developer Communication Dilemma

I was talking to Bert Freudenberg the other day about developing video tutorials for eToys, and he said there would need to be about 100 to give a complete tutorial of the program. Imagine if Khan Academy could help us pull those videos together. With video tutorials, developers and teachers wouldn't have to communicate at all! I'm sure this a big relief for both parties. Problem Solved.

Name the 100 topics and I will start making the videos (I already have a number of "Etoys Minutes")

B. In terms of Motivation into Exploratory Learning

In an ideal world, kids would pick up the laptops and go to town on all the amazing programs available on the XO. But that just isn't how it works, because there is more immediate gratification to be found in simple games and Facebook. You and I know that exploring the world of science, art, math, and literature is much more satisfying than whatever instant satisfaction Facebook or (non-educational) online games can provide. But kids don't yet, so we need to get our hooks in first. Khan Academy does this through a system based on gaming, with badges and rewards, just like Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network. Problem Solved.

Yes providing game mechanics (like bages and awards) and tracking is a nice touch and hooking into the Khan Academy system (or Sugar providing its own system) would be nice. Also I like the idea of "disconnected from the network" XO so there are less "distractions" (no I am not suggesting that kids can't access the internet, but as a parent and working with kids, having no TV/Computers/Electronics time has its advantages.  Perhaps a "Internet is turned off until you do the following tasks option. For those who don't like this and think kids should have full access to everything all the time, think of it as a motivation for hacking and getting peer-to-peer networking working so they can find other distractions ;)

C. In terms of the Impending Evaluation and Testing

The people want proof. If governments or private schools are going to employ this system, they’re going to want evidence that the program works in some measurable way. We can talk all day about the evils of evaluation but the fact is that it exists and we need to deal with if we want this to work. 

Testing is already built into the Khan System, so teachers and students can track their own progress. The system is measured whenever it is employed in a new school, and the statistics show that it WORKS. Problem Solved.

   
I agree wholeheartedly with the first comment "people want proof" and yes I know and agree with the "evils of testing," but we need to deal with the political realities if we want to have a larger impact.

My question is how exactly do we use/hook into the "Testing" in Khan Academy?  Should Sugar provide some method of tracking (as anathema as I imagine this may be to some)?

How do you folks envision working together with Khan Academy? Would they be open to it?


Stephen

_______________________________________________
squeakland mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/squeakland
Reply | Threaded
Open this post in threaded view
|

Re: Etoys Video's for Khan Academy

Karl Ramberg
The feeling of achievement is important and will help motivate students.
In Etoys you have the full environment available at all time.
It has a steep learning curve and quite error pron.
To not pace out the way to use the system can demotivate and give students a hard time.
It's a big project to make it seam like a game to unlock the secrets without crippling the system at the same time. Also to measure or give a test automatically of how much a student know or can solve problems is hard when the possible ways to solve problems are almost infinite. One goal of the system is to make it possible for students to be creative and find their own ways to solve problems. 

Video lectures can be a nice way to introduce both easy parts and hard-to-discover parts of Etoys

Karl

On Fri, Jun 3, 2011 at 9:15 PM, Steve Thomas <[hidden email]> wrote:

In the OLPC News article How Khan Academy Can Help OLPC it was stated:

A. In terms of Theways of a Basics

Khan Academy covers almost every basic academic subject in its videos. In addition, it has one hundred sets of math exercises. OLPC could either use the exercises from the website or rewrite the programs to make them work offline in Sugar. Problem Solved.

Okay, well how much disk space would that take?

I like the idea of re-writing them. The videos as introduction to concept via demonstrations, visual models, playthinks and excercise that can (and should) be done w/o a computer.  For exercises I am working on basic configuration/generation engines for creating exercises so teachers can easily generate their own exercises using a set of "playthinks" for particular concepts.  For example: Cuisenaire Rods (some with vector arrows) is a great tool for learning.  I built a number line where you can set the unit to a particular rod and provide a playfield so things snap to grid. Another example is my OOO tools where you have "operation blocks" that you can drag numbers or other objects that represent numbers into the operations and play games/excercies like "How many ways can you name 15.


I could use some help and collaborators as there is a lot to do to create an OER that is a textbook/workbook replacement.




D. In terms of the Teacher/Developer Communication Dilemma

I was talking to Bert Freudenberg the other day about developing video tutorials for eToys, and he said there would need to be about 100 to give a complete tutorial of the program. Imagine if Khan Academy could help us pull those videos together. With video tutorials, developers and teachers wouldn't have to communicate at all! I'm sure this a big relief for both parties. Problem Solved.

Name the 100 topics and I will start making the videos (I already have a number of "Etoys Minutes")

B. In terms of Motivation into Exploratory Learning

In an ideal world, kids would pick up the laptops and go to town on all the amazing programs available on the XO. But that just isn't how it works, because there is more immediate gratification to be found in simple games and Facebook. You and I know that exploring the world of science, art, math, and literature is much more satisfying than whatever instant satisfaction Facebook or (non-educational) online games can provide. But kids don't yet, so we need to get our hooks in first. Khan Academy does this through a system based on gaming, with badges and rewards, just like Xbox Live or the PlayStation Network. Problem Solved.

Yes providing game mechanics (like bages and awards) and tracking is a nice touch and hooking into the Khan Academy system (or Sugar providing its own system) would be nice. Also I like the idea of "disconnected from the network" XO so there are less "distractions" (no I am not suggesting that kids can't access the internet, but as a parent and working with kids, having no TV/Computers/Electronics time has its advantages.  Perhaps a "Internet is turned off until you do the following tasks option. For those who don't like this and think kids should have full access to everything all the time, think of it as a motivation for hacking and getting peer-to-peer networking working so they can find other distractions ;)

C. In terms of the Impending Evaluation and Testing

The people want proof. If governments or private schools are going to employ this system, they’re going to want evidence that the program works in some measurable way. We can talk all day about the evils of evaluation but the fact is that it exists and we need to deal with if we want this to work. 

Testing is already built into the Khan System, so teachers and students can track their own progress. The system is measured whenever it is employed in a new school, and the statistics show that it WORKS. Problem Solved.

   
I agree wholeheartedly with the first comment "people want proof" and yes I know and agree with the "evils of testing," but we need to deal with the political realities if we want to have a larger impact.

My question is how exactly do we use/hook into the "Testing" in Khan Academy?  Should Sugar provide some method of tracking (as anathema as I imagine this may be to some)?

How do you folks envision working together with Khan Academy? Would they be open to it?


Stephen

_______________________________________________
squeakland mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/squeakland



_______________________________________________
squeakland mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/squeakland
Reply | Threaded
Open this post in threaded view
|

Re: Etoys Video's for Khan Academy

Edward Cherlin
In reply to this post by Steve Thomas
I have been wishing for this, particularly the Cuisenaire rods and the
full tutorial on eToys. I'm in. You have the full cooperation of the
Sugar Labs Replacing Textbooks project, all both of us. ^_^ Plus
whomever we can recruit now that we have a specific OER project to
talk about.

On Fri, Jun 3, 2011 at 15:15, Steve Thomas <[hidden email]> wrote:
> In the OLPC News article How Khan Academy Can Help OLPC it was stated:
>
> A. In terms of The Basics
>
> Khan Academy covers almost every basic academic subject in its videos. In
> addition, it has one hundred sets of math exercises. OLPC could either use
> the exercises from the website or rewrite the programs to make them work
> offline in Sugar. Problem Solved.

Problem correctly posed.

> Okay, well how much disk space would that take?

In what encoding at what resolution?

> I like the idea of re-writing them.

I like the idea of challenging students to animate them, without using
language if possible.

> The videos as introduction to concept
> via demonstrations, visual models, playthinks and excercise that can (and
> should) be done w/o a computer.  For exercises I am working on basic
> configuration/generation engines for creating exercises so teachers can
> easily generate their own exercises using a set of "playthinks" for
> particular concepts.

We will want to collect such exercises along with lesson plans for
reuse and remixing.

> For example: Cuisenaire Rods (some with vector arrows)
> is a great tool for learning.

We have Caleb Gattegno's old company, Educational Solutions, on board
with Replacing Textbooks for both math and language teaching. Gattegno
color-coded every spelling of every speech sound in several languages,
and put them on wall charts, as part of his more general plan for
teaching language using Cuisenaire Rods. The company has since done 80
languages in all, and is willing for us to put out the charts and code
text accordingly.

> I built a number line where you can set the
> unit to a particular rod and provide a playfield so things snap to grid.

Another thing I was specifically wishing for but hadn't gotten around
to asking. Thank you.

> Another example is my OOO tools where you have "operation blocks" that you
> can drag numbers or other objects that represent numbers into the operations
> and play games/excercies like "How many ways can you name 15."

I know a countably infinite number of names for 15, and I can probably
think of more--yes, I did.

Peter Hewitt has a Numbers game based on the converse of that idea,
challenging users to make a specific number using three or four
starting numbers and the + and × functions. Parentheses are avoided by
allowing calculation of intermediate results.

3 5 6 2   27

3×5=15

15+6×2=27

APL programmers play the Game of the Year by seeing how long an
initial segment of the natural numbers can be generated with
expressions of the form (this year)

f 2 g 0 h 1 i 1

where f, g, h, and i are any combinations of the built-in APL
primitive functions, or are omitted in order to make two-digit or
larger numbers. No parentheses, no precedence. Strict right-to-left
evaluation.

2×0×1×1 --> 0

2 min 0 max 1 = 1 --> 1

2 max 0×1×1 --> 2

2+0+1×1 --> 3

2+0+1+1 --> 4

2+0+1×floor circle 1 --> 5

  where circle 1 is pi.

etc.

20*11 --> 204,800,000,000,000

*2011  is beyond the range of IEEE floating point, but we can continue
with **2011, ***2011, etc.

One can adapt this challenge to a wide range of computer languages
with a wide set of choices about what functions to use.

> I could use some help and collaborators as there is a lot to do to create an
> OER that is a textbook/workbook replacement.
>
>
> D. In terms of the Teacher/Developer Communication Dilemma
>
> I was talking to Bert Freudenberg the other day about developing video
> tutorials for eToys, and he said there would need to be about 100 to give a
> complete tutorial of the program. Imagine if Khan Academy could help us pull
> those videos together. With video tutorials, developers and teachers
> wouldn't have to communicate at all! I'm sure this a big relief for both
> parties. Problem Solved.
>
> Name the 100 topics and I will start making the videos (I already have a
> number of "Etoys Minutes")
>
> B. In terms of Motivation into Exploratory Learning
>
> In an ideal world, kids would pick up the laptops and go to town on all the
> amazing programs available on the XO. But that just isn't how it works,
> because there is more immediate gratification to be found in simple games
> and Facebook. You and I know that exploring the world of science, art, math,
> and literature is much more satisfying than whatever instant satisfaction
> Facebook or (non-educational) online games can provide. But kids don't yet,
> so we need to get our hooks in first. Khan Academy does this through a
> system based on gaming, with badges and rewards, just like Xbox Live or the
> PlayStation Network. Problem Solved.
>
> Yes providing game mechanics (like bages and awards) and tracking is a nice
> touch and hooking into the Khan Academy system (or Sugar providing its own
> system) would be nice. Also I like the idea of "disconnected from the
> network" XO so there are less "distractions" (no I am not suggesting that
> kids can't access the internet, but as a parent and working with kids,
> having no TV/Computers/Electronics time has its advantages.  Perhaps a
> "Internet is turned off until you do the following tasks option. For those
> who don't like this and think kids should have full access to everything all
> the time, think of it as a motivation for hacking and getting peer-to-peer
> networking working so they can find other distractions ;)
>
> C. In terms of the Impending Evaluation and Testing
>
> The people want proof. If governments or private schools are going to employ
> this system, they’re going to want evidence that the program works in some
> measurable way. We can talk all day about the evils of evaluation but the
> fact is that it exists and we need to deal with if we want this to work.
>
> Testing is already built into the Khan System, so teachers and students can
> track their own progress. The system is measured whenever it is employed in
> a new school, and the statistics show that it WORKS. Problem Solved.
>
>
>
> I agree wholeheartedly with the first comment "people want proof" and yes I
> know and agree with the "evils of testing," but we need to deal with the
> political realities if we want to have a larger impact.
> My question is how exactly do we use/hook into the "Testing" in Khan
> Academy?  Should Sugar provide some method of tracking (as anathema as I
> imagine this may be to some)?
>
> How do you folks envision working together with Khan Academy? Would they be
> open to it?
>
> Stephen
> _______________________________________________
> squeakland mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/squeakland
>
>



--
Edward Mokurai (默雷/धर्ममेघशब्दगर्ज/دھرممیگھشبدگر ج) Cherlin
Silent Thunder is my name, and Children are my nation.
The Cosmos is my dwelling place, the Truth my destination.
http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Replacing_Textbooks
_______________________________________________
squeakland mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/squeakland
Reply | Threaded
Open this post in threaded view
|

Re: Etoys Video's for Khan Academy

Edward Cherlin
In reply to this post by Karl Ramberg
On Fri, Jun 3, 2011 at 16:04, karl ramberg <[hidden email]> wrote:
> The feeling of achievement is important and will help motivate students.
> In Etoys you have the full environment available at all time.
> It has a steep learning curve and quite error pron.

I have a page at Sugar Labs called The Undiscoverable, which mentions
Etoys but does not give many details. I would like help filling it in.

http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/The_Undiscoverable

http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/The_Undiscoverable/Etoys

> To not pace out the way to use the system can demotivate and give students a
> hard time.
> It's a big project to make it seem like a game to unlock the secrets
> without crippling the system at the same time.

But totally worth the effort.

> Also to measure or give a
> test automatically of how much a student know or can solve problems is hard
> when the possible ways to solve problems are almost infinite. One goal of
> the system is to make it possible for students to be creative and find their
> own ways to solve problems.

You are asking for the solution to an undecidable problem.
Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations is devoted entirely to the
question, "How can we tell whether another person understands us?"
(Short answer: You can't, except to a very limited degree in very
limited  areas, and you have to make do with that. Longer answer, even
though in fewer words: We will be able to do this to a fair degree
when we solve Strong AI.)

Within the limits of what we can verify, we can do a much better job
than is conventionally attempted, but it will be quite difficult to
convince the political authorities and much of the populace of that
fact. Sometimes the problem is not with evidence, as in the case of
tests for creativity and for racism, which are well-established, but
not acceptable to the Religious Right, among others.

> Video lectures can be a nice way to introduce both easy parts and
> hard-to-discover parts of Etoys

+1

> Karl
> On Fri, Jun 3, 2011 at 9:15 PM, Steve Thomas <[hidden email]> wrote:
>>
>> In the OLPC News article How Khan Academy Can Help OLPC it was stated:
>>
>> A. In terms of Theways of a Basics
>>
>> Khan Academy covers almost every basic academic subject in its videos. In
>> addition, it has one hundred sets of math exercises. OLPC could either use
>> the exercises from the website or rewrite the programs to make them work
>> offline in Sugar. Problem Solved.
>>
>> Okay, well how much disk space would that take?
>>
>> I like the idea of re-writing them. The videos as introduction to concept
>> via demonstrations, visual models, playthinks and excercise that can (and
>> should) be done w/o a computer.  For exercises I am working on basic
>> configuration/generation engines for creating exercises so teachers can
>> easily generate their own exercises using a set of "playthinks" for
>> particular concepts.  For example: Cuisenaire Rods (some with vector arrows)
>> is a great tool for learning.  I built a number line where you can set the
>> unit to a particular rod and provide a playfield so things snap to grid.
>> Another example is my OOO tools where you have "operation blocks" that you
>> can drag numbers or other objects that represent numbers into the operations
>> and play games/excercies like "How many ways can you name 15.
>>
>> I could use some help and collaborators as there is a lot to do to create
>> an OER that is a textbook/workbook replacement.
>>
>>
>> D. In terms of the Teacher/Developer Communication Dilemma
>>
>> I was talking to Bert Freudenberg the other day about developing video
>> tutorials for eToys, and he said there would need to be about 100 to give a
>> complete tutorial of the program. Imagine if Khan Academy could help us pull
>> those videos together. With video tutorials, developers and teachers
>> wouldn't have to communicate at all! I'm sure this a big relief for both
>> parties. Problem Solved.
>>
>> Name the 100 topics and I will start making the videos (I already have a
>> number of "Etoys Minutes")
>>
>> B. In terms of Motivation into Exploratory Learning
>>
>> In an ideal world, kids would pick up the laptops and go to town on all
>> the amazing programs available on the XO. But that just isn't how it works,
>> because there is more immediate gratification to be found in simple games
>> and Facebook. You and I know that exploring the world of science, art, math,
>> and literature is much more satisfying than whatever instant satisfaction
>> Facebook or (non-educational) online games can provide. But kids don't yet,
>> so we need to get our hooks in first. Khan Academy does this through a
>> system based on gaming, with badges and rewards, just like Xbox Live or the
>> PlayStation Network. Problem Solved.
>>
>> Yes providing game mechanics (like bages and awards) and tracking is a
>> nice touch and hooking into the Khan Academy system (or Sugar providing its
>> own system) would be nice. Also I like the idea of "disconnected from the
>> network" XO so there are less "distractions" (no I am not suggesting that
>> kids can't access the internet, but as a parent and working with kids,
>> having no TV/Computers/Electronics time has its advantages.  Perhaps a
>> "Internet is turned off until you do the following tasks option. For those
>> who don't like this and think kids should have full access to everything all
>> the time, think of it as a motivation for hacking and getting peer-to-peer
>> networking working so they can find other distractions ;)
>>
>> C. In terms of the Impending Evaluation and Testing
>>
>> The people want proof. If governments or private schools are going to
>> employ this system, they’re going to want evidence that the program works in
>> some measurable way. We can talk all day about the evils of evaluation but
>> the fact is that it exists and we need to deal with if we want this to
>> work.
>>
>> Testing is already built into the Khan System, so teachers and students
>> can track their own progress. The system is measured whenever it is employed
>> in a new school, and the statistics show that it WORKS. Problem Solved.
>>
>>
>>
>> I agree wholeheartedly with the first comment "people want proof" and yes
>> I know and agree with the "evils of testing," but we need to deal with the
>> political realities if we want to have a larger impact.
>> My question is how exactly do we use/hook into the "Testing" in Khan
>> Academy?  Should Sugar provide some method of tracking (as anathema as I
>> imagine this may be to some)?
>>
>> How do you folks envision working together with Khan Academy? Would they
>> be open to it?
>>
>> Stephen
>> _______________________________________________
>> squeakland mailing list
>> [hidden email]
>> http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/squeakland
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> squeakland mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/squeakland
>
>



--
Edward Mokurai (默雷/धर्ममेघशब्दगर्ज/دھرممیگھشبدگر ج) Cherlin
Silent Thunder is my name, and Children are my nation.
The Cosmos is my dwelling place, the Truth my destination.
http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Replacing_Textbooks
_______________________________________________
squeakland mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/squeakland
Reply | Threaded
Open this post in threaded view
|

Re: [IAEP] Etoys Video's for Khan Academy

Edward Cherlin
On Fri, Jun 3, 2011 at 19:26, Caryl Bigenho <[hidden email]> wrote:
> Hi...
> Been on the road for a few days and Mac was in the shop before that, so I am
> a little late with this.
> Why are you all trying to reinvent the wheel?

This is a pernicious myth, as you can find out by trying to put a mill
wheel on your car. We do not take "good enough" as a final answer when
we can see possibly better ways. In this we are just the same as Free
Software programmers who may wish to fork a package and work on it in
a different direction than the previous developers.

> The Khan Academy videos are
> all available in ogg form and play just fine offline on an XO in Jukebox
> from a usb stick.  I would suggest, instead, putting the followup activities
> from their website into Etoys.  It is these activities where students
> progress and get little virtual awards and the like.

Oh, we will, but we will also transform them, following Marvin Minsky:
You don't understand anything unless you understand it in more than
one way.

> Please read our blog about this. Raj Baberwal wrote a great piece about the
> Khan Academy and, in my reply, I told how to use the videos on the XO
> without the internet (which he plans to do in India). I tested it to be sure
> it works. It does. Here is a link to our
> blog: http://famliolpcsocalaudubonms.wordpress.com/
> Scroll down to the 4th post (April 15, 2011). Be sure to click on my comment
> to get the simple instructions and link you need to do it. There is some
> other nice stuff there too... not about the Khan Academy but about the great
> things the 3 volunteers from the olpc-SoCal list are doing with these young
> people.

I would like to get their work into the Sugar Labs Replacing Textbooks
project that I am manager of. Would you introduce us?

> Caryl (Proud "mama" of this CP project)
>
>> Date: Fri, 3 Jun 2011 18:37:17 -0400
>> From: [hidden email]
>> To: [hidden email]
>> CC: [hidden email]; [hidden email];
>> [hidden email]
>> Subject: Re: [IAEP] [squeakland] Etoys Video's for Khan Academy
>>
>> On Fri, Jun 3, 2011 at 16:04, karl ramberg <[hidden email]> wrote:
>> > The feeling of achievement is important and will help motivate students.
>> > In Etoys you have the full environment available at all time.
>> > It has a steep learning curve and quite error pron.
>>
>> I have a page at Sugar Labs called The Undiscoverable, which mentions
>> Etoys but does not give many details. I would like help filling it in.
>>
>> http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/The_Undiscoverable
>>
>> http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/The_Undiscoverable/Etoys
>>
>> > To not pace out the way to use the system can demotivate and give
>> > students a
>> > hard time.
>> > It's a big project to make it seem like a game to unlock the secrets
>> > without crippling the system at the same time.
>>
>> But totally worth the effort.
>>
>> > Also to measure or give a
>> > test automatically of how much a student know or can solve problems is
>> > hard
>> > when the possible ways to solve problems are almost infinite. One goal
>> > of
>> > the system is to make it possible for students to be creative and find
>> > their
>> > own ways to solve problems.
>>
>> You are asking for the solution to an undecidable problem.
>> Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations is devoted entirely to the
>> question, "How can we tell whether another person understands us?"
>> (Short answer: You can't, except to a very limited degree in very
>> limited areas, and you have to make do with that. Longer answer, even
>> though in fewer words: We will be able to do this to a fair degree
>> when we solve Strong AI.)
>>
>> Within the limits of what we can verify, we can do a much better job
>> than is conventionally attempted, but it will be quite difficult to
>> convince the political authorities and much of the populace of that
>> fact. Sometimes the problem is not with evidence, as in the case of
>> tests for creativity and for racism, which are well-established, but
>> not acceptable to the Religious Right, among others.
>>
>> > Video lectures can be a nice way to introduce both easy parts and
>> > hard-to-discover parts of Etoys
>>
>> +1
>>
>> > Karl
>> > On Fri, Jun 3, 2011 at 9:15 PM, Steve Thomas <[hidden email]>
>> > wrote:
>> >>
>> >> In the OLPC News article How Khan Academy Can Help OLPC it was stated:
>> >>
>> >> A. In terms of Theways of a Basics
>> >>
>> >> Khan Academy covers almost every basic academic subject in its videos.
>> >> In
>> >> addition, it has one hundred sets of math exercises. OLPC could either
>> >> use
>> >> the exercises from the website or rewrite the programs to make them
>> >> work
>> >> offline in Sugar. Problem Solved.
>> >>
>> >> Okay, well how much disk space would that take?
>> >>
>> >> I like the idea of re-writing them. The videos as introduction to
>> >> concept
>> >> via demonstrations, visual models, playthinks and excercise that can
>> >> (and
>> >> should) be done w/o a computer.  For exercises I am working on basic
>> >> configuration/generation engines for creating exercises so teachers can
>> >> easily generate their own exercises using a set of "playthinks" for
>> >> particular concepts.  For example: Cuisenaire Rods (some with vector
>> >> arrows)
>> >> is a great tool for learning.  I built a number line where you can set
>> >> the
>> >> unit to a particular rod and provide a playfield so things snap to
>> >> grid.
>> >> Another example is my OOO tools where you have "operation blocks" that
>> >> you
>> >> can drag numbers or other objects that represent numbers into the
>> >> operations
>> >> and play games/excercies like "How many ways can you name 15.
>> >>
>> >> I could use some help and collaborators as there is a lot to do to
>> >> create
>> >> an OER that is a textbook/workbook replacement.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> D. In terms of the Teacher/Developer Communication Dilemma
>> >>
>> >> I was talking to Bert Freudenberg the other day about developing video
>> >> tutorials for eToys, and he said there would need to be about 100 to
>> >> give a
>> >> complete tutorial of the program. Imagine if Khan Academy could help us
>> >> pull
>> >> those videos together. With video tutorials, developers and teachers
>> >> wouldn't have to communicate at all! I'm sure this a big relief for
>> >> both
>> >> parties. Problem Solved.
>> >>
>> >> Name the 100 topics and I will start making the videos (I already have
>> >> a
>> >> number of "Etoys Minutes")
>> >>
>> >> B. In terms of Motivation into Exploratory Learning
>> >>
>> >> In an ideal world, kids would pick up the laptops and go to town on all
>> >> the amazing programs available on the XO. But that just isn't how it
>> >> works,
>> >> because there is more immediate gratification to be found in simple
>> >> games
>> >> and Facebook. You and I know that exploring the world of science, art,
>> >> math,
>> >> and literature is much more satisfying than whatever instant
>> >> satisfaction
>> >> Facebook or (non-educational) online games can provide. But kids don't
>> >> yet,
>> >> so we need to get our hooks in first. Khan Academy does this through a
>> >> system based on gaming, with badges and rewards, just like Xbox Live or
>> >> the
>> >> PlayStation Network. Problem Solved.
>> >>
>> >> Yes providing game mechanics (like bages and awards) and tracking is a
>> >> nice touch and hooking into the Khan Academy system (or Sugar providing
>> >> its
>> >> own system) would be nice. Also I like the idea of "disconnected from
>> >> the
>> >> network" XO so there are less "distractions" (no I am not suggesting
>> >> that
>> >> kids can't access the internet, but as a parent and working with kids,
>> >> having no TV/Computers/Electronics time has its advantages.  Perhaps a
>> >> "Internet is turned off until you do the following tasks option. For
>> >> those
>> >> who don't like this and think kids should have full access to
>> >> everything all
>> >> the time, think of it as a motivation for hacking and getting
>> >> peer-to-peer
>> >> networking working so they can find other distractions ;)
>> >>
>> >> C. In terms of the Impending Evaluation and Testing
>> >>
>> >> The people want proof. If governments or private schools are going to
>> >> employ this system, they’re going to want evidence that the program
>> >> works in
>> >> some measurable way. We can talk all day about the evils of evaluation
>> >> but
>> >> the fact is that it exists and we need to deal with if we want this to
>> >> work.
>> >>
>> >> Testing is already built into the Khan System, so teachers and students
>> >> can track their own progress. The system is measured whenever it is
>> >> employed
>> >> in a new school, and the statistics show that it WORKS. Problem Solved.
>> >>
>> >>
>> >>
>> >> I agree wholeheartedly with the first comment "people want proof" and
>> >> yes
>> >> I know and agree with the "evils of testing," but we need to deal with
>> >> the
>> >> political realities if we want to have a larger impact.
>> >> My question is how exactly do we use/hook into the "Testing" in Khan
>> >> Academy?  Should Sugar provide some method of tracking (as anathema as
>> >> I
>> >> imagine this may be to some)?
>> >>
>> >> How do you folks envision working together with Khan Academy? Would
>> >> they
>> >> be open to it?
>> >>
>> >> Stephen
>> >> _______________________________________________
>> >> squeakland mailing list
>> >> [hidden email]
>> >> http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/squeakland
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>> > _______________________________________________
>> > squeakland mailing list
>> > [hidden email]
>> > http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/squeakland
>> >
>> >
>>
>>
>>
>> --
>> Edward Mokurai (默雷/धर्ममेघशब्दगर्ज/دھرممیگھشبدگر ج) Cherlin
>> Silent Thunder is my name, and Children are my nation.
>> The Cosmos is my dwelling place, the Truth my destination.
>> http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Replacing_Textbooks
>> _______________________________________________
>> IAEP -- It's An Education Project (not a laptop project!)
>> [hidden email]
>> http://lists.sugarlabs.org/listinfo/iaep
>



--
Edward Mokurai (默雷/धर्ममेघशब्दगर्ज/دھرممیگھشبدگر ج) Cherlin
Silent Thunder is my name, and Children are my nation.
The Cosmos is my dwelling place, the Truth my destination.
http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Replacing_Textbooks
_______________________________________________
squeakland mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/squeakland
Reply | Threaded
Open this post in threaded view
|

Re: Etoys Video's for Khan Academy

Karl Ramberg
In reply to this post by Edward Cherlin


On Sat, Jun 4, 2011 at 12:37 AM, Edward Cherlin <[hidden email]> wrote:
On Fri, Jun 3, 2011 at 16:04, karl ramberg <[hidden email]> wrote:
> The feeling of achievement is important and will help motivate students.
> In Etoys you have the full environment available at all time.
> It has a steep learning curve and quite error pron.

I have a page at Sugar Labs called The Undiscoverable, which mentions
Etoys but does not give many details. I would like help filling it in.

http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/The_Undiscoverable

http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/The_Undiscoverable/Etoys
A couple 

Holders act as collections
Variable types
 


> To not pace out the way to use the system can demotivate and give students a
> hard time.
> It's a big project to make it seem like a game to unlock the secrets
> without crippling the system at the same time.

But totally worth the effort.

> Also to measure or give a
> test automatically of how much a student know or can solve problems is hard
> when the possible ways to solve problems are almost infinite. One goal of
> the system is to make it possible for students to be creative and find their
> own ways to solve problems.

You are asking for the solution to an undecidable problem.
Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations is devoted entirely to the
question, "How can we tell whether another person understands us?"
(Short answer: You can't, except to a very limited degree in very
limited  areas, and you have to make do with that. Longer answer, even
though in fewer words: We will be able to do this to a fair degree
when we solve Strong AI.)

Within the limits of what we can verify, we can do a much better job
than is conventionally attempted, but it will be quite difficult to
convince the political authorities and much of the populace of that
fact. Sometimes the problem is not with evidence, as in the case of
tests for creativity and for racism, which are well-established, but
not acceptable to the Religious Right, among others.

> Video lectures can be a nice way to introduce both easy parts and
> hard-to-discover parts of Etoys

+1

I looked at http://projecteuler.net/ and thought it is a step in the right direction,
One can use Etoys to achieve solve these problem,
Without a goal it's easy to loose focus and see tutorials as they come without context.
With a goal in mind a tutorial can help you achieve that  goal

Karll
 

> Karl
> On Fri, Jun 3, 2011 at 9:15 PM, Steve Thomas <[hidden email]> wrote:
>>
>> In the OLPC News article How Khan Academy Can Help OLPC it was stated:
>>
>> A. In terms of Theways of a Basics
>>
>> Khan Academy covers almost every basic academic subject in its videos. In
>> addition, it has one hundred sets of math exercises. OLPC could either use
>> the exercises from the website or rewrite the programs to make them work
>> offline in Sugar. Problem Solved.
>>
>> Okay, well how much disk space would that take?
>>
>> I like the idea of re-writing them. The videos as introduction to concept
>> via demonstrations, visual models, playthinks and excercise that can (and
>> should) be done w/o a computer.  For exercises I am working on basic
>> configuration/generation engines for creating exercises so teachers can
>> easily generate their own exercises using a set of "playthinks" for
>> particular concepts.  For example: Cuisenaire Rods (some with vector arrows)
>> is a great tool for learning.  I built a number line where you can set the
>> unit to a particular rod and provide a playfield so things snap to grid.
>> Another example is my OOO tools where you have "operation blocks" that you
>> can drag numbers or other objects that represent numbers into the operations
>> and play games/excercies like "How many ways can you name 15.
>>
>> I could use some help and collaborators as there is a lot to do to create
>> an OER that is a textbook/workbook replacement.
>>
>>
>> D. In terms of the Teacher/Developer Communication Dilemma
>>
>> I was talking to Bert Freudenberg the other day about developing video
>> tutorials for eToys, and he said there would need to be about 100 to give a
>> complete tutorial of the program. Imagine if Khan Academy could help us pull
>> those videos together. With video tutorials, developers and teachers
>> wouldn't have to communicate at all! I'm sure this a big relief for both
>> parties. Problem Solved.
>>
>> Name the 100 topics and I will start making the videos (I already have a
>> number of "Etoys Minutes")
>>
>> B. In terms of Motivation into Exploratory Learning
>>
>> In an ideal world, kids would pick up the laptops and go to town on all
>> the amazing programs available on the XO. But that just isn't how it works,
>> because there is more immediate gratification to be found in simple games
>> and Facebook. You and I know that exploring the world of science, art, math,
>> and literature is much more satisfying than whatever instant satisfaction
>> Facebook or (non-educational) online games can provide. But kids don't yet,
>> so we need to get our hooks in first. Khan Academy does this through a
>> system based on gaming, with badges and rewards, just like Xbox Live or the
>> PlayStation Network. Problem Solved.
>>
>> Yes providing game mechanics (like bages and awards) and tracking is a
>> nice touch and hooking into the Khan Academy system (or Sugar providing its
>> own system) would be nice. Also I like the idea of "disconnected from the
>> network" XO so there are less "distractions" (no I am not suggesting that
>> kids can't access the internet, but as a parent and working with kids,
>> having no TV/Computers/Electronics time has its advantages.  Perhaps a
>> "Internet is turned off until you do the following tasks option. For those
>> who don't like this and think kids should have full access to everything all
>> the time, think of it as a motivation for hacking and getting peer-to-peer
>> networking working so they can find other distractions ;)
>>
>> C. In terms of the Impending Evaluation and Testing
>>
>> The people want proof. If governments or private schools are going to
>> employ this system, they’re going to want evidence that the program works in
>> some measurable way. We can talk all day about the evils of evaluation but
>> the fact is that it exists and we need to deal with if we want this to
>> work.
>>
>> Testing is already built into the Khan System, so teachers and students
>> can track their own progress. The system is measured whenever it is employed
>> in a new school, and the statistics show that it WORKS. Problem Solved.
>>
>>
>>
>> I agree wholeheartedly with the first comment "people want proof" and yes
>> I know and agree with the "evils of testing," but we need to deal with the
>> political realities if we want to have a larger impact.
>> My question is how exactly do we use/hook into the "Testing" in Khan
>> Academy?  Should Sugar provide some method of tracking (as anathema as I
>> imagine this may be to some)?
>>
>> How do you folks envision working together with Khan Academy? Would they
>> be open to it?
>>
>> Stephen
>> _______________________________________________
>> squeakland mailing list
>> [hidden email]
>> http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/squeakland
>>
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> squeakland mailing list
> [hidden email]
> http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/squeakland
>
>



--
Edward Mokurai (默雷/धर्ममेघशब्दगर्ज/دھرممیگھشبدگر ج) Cherlin
Silent Thunder is my name, and Children are my nation.
The Cosmos is my dwelling place, the Truth my destination.
http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Replacing_Textbooks


_______________________________________________
squeakland mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/squeakland
Reply | Threaded
Open this post in threaded view
|

Re: Etoys Video's for Khan Academy

Edward Cherlin
On Sun, Jun 5, 2011 at 14:47, karl ramberg <[hidden email]> wrote:

>
>
> On Sat, Jun 4, 2011 at 12:37 AM, Edward Cherlin <[hidden email]> wrote:
>> I have a page at Sugar Labs called The Undiscoverable, which mentions
>> Etoys but does not give many details. I would like help filling it in.
>>
>> http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/The_Undiscoverable
>>
>> http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/The_Undiscoverable/Etoys
>
> A couple
> Holders act as collections
> Variable types

Would you add those to the page with your comments on why they are
Undiscoverable and what hints would help?

> I looked at http://projecteuler.net/ and thought it is a step in the right
> direction,
> One can use Etoys to achieve solve these problem,
> Without a goal it's easy to loose focus and see tutorials as they come
> without context.
> With a goal in mind a tutorial can help you achieve that  goal
> Karll

--
Edward Mokurai (默雷/धर्ममेघशब्दगर्ज/دھرممیگھشبدگر ج) Cherlin
Silent Thunder is my name, and Children are my nation.
The Cosmos is my dwelling place, the Truth my destination.
http://wiki.sugarlabs.org/go/Replacing_Textbooks
_______________________________________________
squeakland mailing list
[hidden email]
http://lists.squeakland.org/mailman/listinfo/squeakland