Posts
“The math that people are being taught isn’t matching up to what they need,” Wolfram stated in his opening remarks.
#EBIF Conrad Wolfram CEO of Wolfram group of Companies: Teaching students math on computers
Wolfram says fixing the problem is simple and it starts with teaching students math that they will use in the real world. Wolfram explained that current math problems in schools involve students solving problems by hand, but in the real world people spend time problem solving on computers.
“Unless we fix that underlying problem, maths education everywhere including in Sweden will fail us,” Wolfram stated. He believes that instead of writing out math problems, students should be required to solve problems on computers using steps.
“You got to ask why we’re spending 12 years of their life doing that when I can do it by talking to my phone,” he said.
Wolfram believes teaching every student classic mathematical equations is a waste of time and outdated, but says that students who are interested in solving math problems by hand should have the option. He also states that most people don’t realize that removing the computer from math results in removing most of the context including mobile telephones, data science and statistics. Wolfram points out that these subjects never existed before computers.
Wolfram believes students would be best equipped if they were required to learn how to code in schools. “It’s simply the way you communicate in the modern world, you write code,” he states.
Wolfram started computerbasedmath.org in an effort to create a new curriculum for students.
Additional resources
Source: RCR Wireless News and RCR Wireless News Channel (YouTube)
