On Fri, Oct 26, 2012 at 3:17 PM, Gerald Smith <mathb...@yahoo.com> wrote: > The silence on here thunders!
I did read the entire thing you posted. I just didn't have any comments, except for: > ... " linden Labs estimates it takes about 4 1/2 hours to learn the basics of > Second Life." ... That seems like a very significant investment in time to use an interface to "educational software". I was quite surprised to see that. That's all. -- William > ________________________________ > From: Gerald Smith <mathb...@yahoo.com> > To: "sage-edu@googlegroups.com" <sage-edu@googlegroups.com> > Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2012 5:56 AM > Subject: Re: [sage-edu] Bachelor's thesis: Sage to replace MATLAB > > Greetings! (Read Finnish? Surely you jest! Even Hungarians who speak a > distantly related language say Finnish is absolutely impenetrable even for > them. You might provide a summary in Esperanto, which I know a fair number > of Finns know. The readers can paste the summary into Google Translate to > get the result in their native language. There is a well developed > mathematician community in Esperanto that keeps the math vocabulary up to > date.) Anyway, I have definite plans for using Sage Math for high school > teachers. I am also using GeoGebra (another open source program, but easy > and beautiful) to handle simpler and more traditional math concepts. I also > have an ambitious plan for full featured classroom instruction on the > internet. I make use of the virtual world of Second Life (this is the only > one that could be described as serious, all the others I have seen are > basically silly in comparison.) Anyway, I have a school on Second Life on > 18,000 sqr meters of hilltop land I rent overlooking Linden Village where > many of the employees of linden Labs have their in-world offices. (Anybody > with the last name "Linden" in Second life is an employee of the company > that owns and runs Second Life. They are treated with a great deaal of > respect as they have god-like powers in-world.) Anyway, I have 3 classroom > towers with 27 classrooms total, a 120 seat amphitheater, and a media dome > floating above the trees just a little above the highest buildings. All > this for about 50 euros rental a month. Each of the above mentioned items > sits on its own media parcel and has an independent media system (5 in all) > with all kinds of capabilities, including DVD movies, cable TV, Second > life's native tv channels, You Tube videos, the internet, and other things. > I have a personal classroom (10th floor in the building on the right) and > model classrooms set up in each building. items of educational interest are > see up in the lobbies and the penthouses are conferences rooms of diverse > sorts. In the model classrooms, I use the Bright Web Browser (a now free > Second Life item) to show off Sage Math. It can be easily set up for > bookmarks which in this case could be Sage Math web pages or online math > material, some of it animated. I have a plain media browser screen that I > set to Twiddla by default. Twiddla is a audio/video internet conferencing > syatem that acts as a white board in Second life that acts exactly the way > a white board does in real life but has many more additional features. It is > easily accessible for reading and writing purposes by anyone in the virtual > classroom. You write on it using your mouse pointer. It is available free > to casual users and any educators and will allow text, video and audio > conferencing with individuals who are not in Second Life. It interacts well > with Geogebra and will show Geogebra screens in Second Life. i have the > media system screen set to videos from the marvelous and wonderful Khan > Academy which has a vast archive of mathematical lectures free for the use > of anyone. A great starting point for a math unit! The major issue with > regard to showing internet media in Second Life is it will not run Java > applets. this means that you cannot show JMOL graphics directly in Second > Life though all other SageMath stuff shows just fine. Likewise, you cannot > show the interactive screens of Geogebra Tube, a large internet of Geogebra > lessons and stuff available online (you can show still unanimated screen > shots of both of these in Second Life though.) This is far less of a > problem than it sounds. Above every screen in Second Life capable of showing > the internet is a gadget that when clicked on from within Second Life will > immediately call up that identical web page inside your favorite browser. > Then you can see JMOL graphics and GeoGebra lessons in full interactivity. > This can also work well with Twiddla, as the write feature is lots faster if > you click on the Twiddla screen and write it in your browser than if you do > it directly in Second Life. Anything you write on the browser twiddla page > immediately shows up on the Second Life Twiddla page and vice versa. yOu > can do all sorts of media stuff in fact if you wish. At the back of the > calssroom I have a special screen that is designed to show youTube > presentations. This is designed for stuff you want to have more or less > permanently. You upload it to Second Life then install it under the Media > tab of the blackboard when click on the EDIT feature. It is actually quite > easy to do. Within the classroom is some space for the teacher's personal > items and a number of cushions set up on the floor. It is possible to > install chairs or desks, but cushions work better as nobody blocks anybody > else's line of site. The teacher is expected to stand by whatever medua > feature is in use and has no need to sit down. The teacher may also choose > to walk around among the students and ask questions. It is possible to > communicate by both text chat and voice chat in the Second Life classroom, > either as the class as a whole, indidividually or in small groups. The > look and feel are remarkably like a real life classroom but you can do all > sorts of things you cannot in real life or at least not easily, one is three > dimesional modeling of geometric shapes using the Second Life build feature. > Everybody is present as an avatar, a 3D fully animated figure that can > approximate how you appear in real life or be a complete fantasy. My avatar > is MathBear who actually is a bear in academic robes and round rimmed brass > specs and is my branded image for my educational project in Second Life, the > Math Bear Education Initiative. The ability to interact in a natural ways > in a natural appearing 3D environment creates a very powerful sense of > psychology presence and appeals to the students social instincts. The > endless possibilities for creativity in Second Life are also a strong appeal > to the students. I habve examined other internet teaching projects and > schools and I have yet to find one that is particularly appealing. The worst > just have ASCII characters ttyped on a plain white screen. Both instructors > and students resist being forced into these drab, uncrreative and poorly > interactive educational environments. myGreetings! (Read Finnish? Surely > you jest! Even Hungarians who speak a distantly related language say > Finnish is absolutely impenetrable even for them. You might provide a > summary in Esperanto, which I know a fair number of Finns know. The > readers can paste the summary into Google Translate to get the result in > their native language. There is a well developed mathematician community in > Esperanto that keeps the math vocabulary up to date.) Anyway, I have > definite plans for using Sage Math for high school teachers. I am also > using GeoGebra (another open source program, but easy and beautiful) to > handle simpler and more traditional math concepts. I also have an ambitious > plan for full featured classroom instruction on the internet. I make use > of the virtual world of Second Life (this is the only one that could be > described as serious, all the others I have seen are basically silly in > comparison.) Anyway, I have a school on Second Life on 18,000 sqr meters of > hilltop land I rent overlooking Linden Village where many of the employees > of linden Labs have their in-world offices. (Anybody with the last name > "Linden" in Second life is an employee of the company that owns and runs > Second Life. They are treated with a great deaal of respect as they have > god-like powers in-world.) Anyway, I have 3 classroom towers with 27 > classrooms total, a 120 seat amphitheater, and a media dome floating above > the trees just a little above the highest buildings. All this for about 50 > euros rental a month. Each of the above mentioned items sits on its own > media parcel and has an independent media system (5 in all) with all kinds > of capabilities, including DVD movies, cable TV, Second life's native tv > channels, You Tube videos, the internet, and other things. I have a > personal classroom (10th floor in the building on the right) and model > classrooms set up in each building. items of educational interest are see up > in the lobbies and the penthouses are conferences rooms of diverse sorts. In > the model classrooms, I use the Bright Web Browser (a now free Second Life > item) to show off Sage Math. It can be easily set up for bookmarks which in > this case could be Sage Math web pages or online math material, some of it > animated. I have a plain media browser screen that I set to Twiddla by > default. Twiddla is a audio/video internet conferencing syatem that acts > as a white board in Second life that acts exactly the way a white board does > in real life but has many more additional features. It is easily accessible > for reading and writing purposes by anyone in the virtual classroom. You > write on it using your mouse pointer. It is available free to casual users > and any educators and will allow text, video and audio conferencing with > individuals who are not in Second Life. It interacts well with Geogebra and > will show Geogebra screens in Second Life. i have the media system screen > set to videos from the marvelous and wonderful Khan Academy which has a vast > archive of mathematical lectures free for the use of anyone. A great > starting point for a math unit! The major issue with regard to showing > internet media in Second Life is it will not run Java applets. this means > that you cannot show JMOL graphics directly in Second Life though all other > SageMath stuff shows just fine. Likewise, you cannot show the interactive > screens of Geogebra Tube, a large internet of Geogebra lessons and stuff > available online (you can show still unanimated screen shots of both of > these in Second Life though.) This is far less of a problem than it sounds. > Above every screen in Second Life capable of showing the internet is a > gadget that when clicked on from within Second Life will immediately call up > that identical web page inside your favorite browser. Then you can see > JMOL graphics and GeoGebra lessons in full interactivity. This can also work > well with Twiddla, as the write feature is lots faster if you click on the > Twiddla screen and write it in your browser than if you do it directly in > Second Life. Anything you write on the browser twiddla page immediately > shows up on the Second Life Twiddla page and vice versa. yOu can do all > sorts of media stuff in fact if you wish. At the back of the calssroom I > have a special screen that is designed to show youTube presentations. This > is designed for stuff you want to have more or less permanently. You upload > it to Second Life then install it under the Media tab of the blackboard when > click on the EDIT feature. It is actually quite easy to do. Within the > classroom is some space for the teacher's personal items and a number of > cushions set up on the floor. It is possible to install chairs or desks, > but cushions work better as nobody blocks anybody else's line of site. The > teacher is expected to stand by whatever medua feature is in use and has no > need to sit down. The teacher may also choose to walk around among the > students and ask questions. It is possible to communicate by both text chat > and voice chat in the Second Life classroom, either as the class as a whole, > indidividually or in small groups. The look and feel are remarkably like a > real life classroom but you can do all sorts of things you cannot in real > life or at least not easily, one is three dimesional modeling of geometric > shapes using the Second Life build feature. Everybody is present as an > avatar, a 3D fully animated figure that can approximate how you appear in > real life or be a complete fantasy. My avatar is MathBear who actually is a > bear in academic robes and round rimmed brass specs and is my branded image > for my educational project in Second Life, the Math Bear Education > Initiative. The ability to interact in a natural ways in a natural > appearing 3D environment creates a very powerful sense of psychological > presence and appeals to the students social instincts. The endless > possibilities for creativity in Second Life are also a strong appeal to the > students. Young people do not find it boring! I have examined other > internet teaching projects and schools and I have yet to find one that is > particularly appealing. The worst just have ASCII characters typed on a > plain white screen. Both instructors and students resist being forced into > these drab, uncreative and poorly interactive educational environments. My > huge problem is trying to get teachers, especially high school teachers to > come take a look at what I am doing in Second Life. They are technophobic > and fearful, like they might lose their souls or something. There is a lot > of educational activity in Second Life but hardly any teachers are taeching > math. I know of one professor who does so, but all he does is scan in his > handwritten notes and show them in-world, making no use of the rich internet > and virtual technology available. What I need are teachers willing to come > onto Seconond Life and if they are interested, I will train them in handling > the necessary virtual technologies and provide them with a classroom, all > for free. Second Life itself is free, I have a Sage Math server set up on > the RackSpace Cloud which has been running stably for months. You can access > it at http://198.101.203.91:8000 I would love to get exchange worksheets > with anyone, especially high school level stuff. I also have a MOODLE > server set up on FreeHostia that can handle attendance, grades, courses and > all the typical administrative stuff for a school. I also have set up the > SLOODLE implementation of MOODLE for Second Life which includes a lot of > educational goodies that you can register to your mOODLE account and can do > all sorts of useful educational things. You could for instance, set up a > booth for enrolling students in your class or create a barrier that will > only admit registered students into your class. In the lobby of the middle > building I have set up a bunch of SLOODLE goodies for your perusal. All I > need are teachers willing to try something really new, extraordinary, and > powerful.. You dont have to limit yourself to locals either, You could have > students from all over the world operating out of their homes in your class > and it will feel like you are all in the room together in the flesh. > Students whose English is weak can use translators to translate text chat > into their native languages to aid comprehension. These translators work > fairly well too. > Sigh! > Isn't there anyone out there who is not hopelessly neophobic and > technophobic? Who isnt completely welded to the past and fearful of > embracing the future? When I try to explain my ideas at educational > conferences, people stare at me like I have 3 heads. Ifeel sort of like a > john the Baptist, you know, a "vox clamantis in deserto"! > hopefully Yours, > Math Bear a.k.a. Jerry > > P.S. You can easily download the Second Life program and install and run it > free of charge. But it takes a while to learn to navigate in virtual > reality. After setting up a profile and giving you an avatar, they put you > on Orientation Island. Here are many exercises and tutorials to teach you > how to function and navigate in Second Life. Don't shortchange these! > linden Labs estimates it takes about 4 1/2 hours to learn the basics of > Second Life. If you do not go through this, you will find yourself pretty > helpless and probably give up in frustration. Anyway. when you are > confident you can get around, they send you to Help Island which offers > additional tutorials and an awful lott of useful freebie items. I have been > told it is a good idea to go to the library there and read through the big > book they have, After that, you go to the MainLand which is where I have my > school. if you use the Search feature (try the "Content" button on the top > of your screen) you can teleport directly to my school under "Math Bear > Education Initiative". Look for this in "Places". It will include the > teleport link. To notify me, use Search again; this time set to "People" > and search for MathBear Cyberschreiber. Click on the name then click on IM > and send me a text message and even better, click on "Add Friend" and I will > be aware of you within Second Life. Feel free to explore the school and > play with items. The elevators are especially fun but please return them to > the ground floor when you are done. Don't forget to fly up and check out > the media dome! ^,..,^ > > ________________________________ > From: Mikko Moilanen <moil...@gmail.com> > To: sage-edu@googlegroups.com > Sent: Monday, October 15, 2012 9:45 AM > Subject: [sage-edu] Bachelor's thesis: Sage to replace MATLAB > > Hey everyone > > I made a bachelor's thesis titled Sage to replace MATLAB. I am not touting > about the greatness of my thesis but just want to inform you about the > results: my job is now to install and configure Sage server for my school > and educate mathematics teachers to use it. With that surprising result I > must encourage teachers and students alike to promote Sage and better me, > which should not be too hard. > > Also, I would greatly appreciate any suggestions about how to educate the > mathematics teachers to the possibilities Sage can offer. They teach college > level mathematical analysis. I would jump up and down of joy if my school > would begin to use Sage. > > (In case anyone is interested and able to read Finnish, here is the link for > my Thesis: http://publications.theseus.fi/handle/10024/48512.) > > > Sincerely > Mikko Moilanen > > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "sage-edu" group. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msg/sage-edu/-/W5gHg4dBbnkJ. > To post to this group, send email to sage-edu@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > sage-edu+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/sage-edu?hl=en. > > > nghuge problem is trying to get teachers, especially high school teachers to > come take a look at what I am doi > > > ________________________________ > From: Mikko Moilanen <moil...@gmail.com> > To: sage-edu@googlegroups.com > Sent: Monday, October 15, 2012 9:45 AM > Subject: [sage-edu] Bachelor's thesis: Sage to replace MATLAB > > Hey everyone > > I made a bachelor's thesis titled Sage to replace MATLAB. I am not touting > about the greatness of my thesis but just want to inform you about the > results: my job is now to install and configure Sage server for my school > and educate mathematics teachers to use it. With that surprising result I > must encourage teachers and students alike to promote Sage and better me, > which should not be too hard. > > Also, I would greatly appreciate any suggestions about how to educate the > mathematics teachers to the possibilities Sage can offer. They teach college > level mathematical analysis. I would jump up and down of joy if my school > would begin to use Sage. > > (In case anyone is interested and able to read Finnish, here is the link for > my Thesis: http://publications.theseus.fi/handle/10024/48512.) > > > Sincerely > Mikko Moilanen > > > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "sage-edu" group. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msg/sage-edu/-/W5gHg4dBbnkJ. > To post to this group, send email to sage-edu@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > sage-edu+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/sage-edu?hl=en. > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "sage-edu" group. > To post to this group, send email to sage-edu@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > sage-edu+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/sage-edu?hl=en. > > > -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "sage-edu" group. > To post to this group, send email to sage-edu@googlegroups.com. > To unsubscribe from this group, send email to > sage-edu+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > For more options, visit this group at > http://groups.google.com/group/sage-edu?hl=en. -- William Stein Professor of Mathematics University of Washington http://wstein.org -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "sage-edu" group. To post to this group, send email to sage-edu@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to sage-edu+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/sage-edu?hl=en.
