wolframalpha ictcm 2011

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

Thank You

ffeldon@coastline.edu

This presentation is available to download at

http://www.slideshare.net