Thanks for answering the roll call. And now, a question.

[Eric Brown]

On 4/17/07, Greg Dekoenigsberg <gdk at redhat.com> wrote:
>
> Let me ask this question:
>
> Why textbooks?  Textbooks are expensive, relative to bits.  If the goal is
> to teach computer skills, why not make a computer-based curriculum the
> primary method of teaching?

I can do with or without textbooks.  I just know some teachers feel
like they couldn't exist without one.  Even though I would rather work
from a computer, there are people who could read books all day, but
not a computer screen.  I currently teach all my computer classes
without a physical text book.  This includes Computer basics, computer
repair, Web design (html), advanced web design (PHP/MySQL),
networking, and video production.  Often, I point them to web
resources, or free and open textbooks on the server.

I would personally embrace a computer based curriculum.  The only
downside would be when the server or network is down.  Last week my
server died, but I had a new one within 3 days.   Luckly I had a
computer related video to show that took three days.

>
> If you had your druthers, what software would exist to teach math?
>

Personally, I would love to see an open source version of Scientific
Notebook from MacKichan software (http://www.mackichan.com/).  Its
pages can be exported as HTML with images.  My favorite feature is
that it includes the MAPLE engine, so you can put in an equation,
click a button, and it solves the equation.  It does simple arithmatic
to advanced calculus, 3d graphing, differential equations, the works.
A teacher can also build quizes or test questions where instead of
having one exact answer, a teacher can describe a range of random
numbers to be used, and a formula to find the answer.  For example,
say a student is supposed to be able to find the slope given two
points.  the teacher may define the values for the points to be random
whole numbers between -10 and 10, and define the answer using the
slope formula, but the kid sees plain numbers. I've hunted and hunted
for an open source alternative, but the closest thing I can find
requires learning a new programming language, which I don't have the
time for.


Eric