Talkin' Bout My Education

There are often topics in a subject that form a "bridge of fools" that only some folks seem to get over. Fractions in mathematics is certainly one of them. Though from your post I gather that you would lay the blame at the lack of context in the teaching, rather than at any inherent difficulty with the topic. I would love to see a commoncraft video on common denominators! I have been involved in creating Fractions resources using Flash (at http://www.oame.on.ca/clips/index1.html ). The ones we have done so far don't quite address common denominators yet. Sometimes the problem in teaching math concepts is that there is a lack of a really good contexts to apply and then a good model has to suffice. I can really identify with your accounting example. That is exactly how my prof started. If I hadn't had a high school course, I would have been floundering. I think it is hard for some practitioners to get right down to the basics of something without assuming prior knowledge.

Math was my best subject growing up, but its disconnect from the real world was always something that puzzled me. Ultimately (through ending up a math major in college), I felt that math is more about learning how to learn in a particular way, than about numbers. Math is really about learning one way to think that can be totally disconnected from the real world. It's an important skill that can be useful to your imagination and all kinds of other ways of "modeling" ideas, that doesn't even need to use actual numbers to be a kind of math. That in itself (e.g., developing your imagination) could be a context for learning math, that's not dependent on real-world examples. In some sense, I think the dependence on real-world examples can get in the way of creating good contexts for learning math. But, I never had any math teachers who looked at it this way. And, all that said, people are very different in terms of how naturally they can see the world of math that's not the same as the "real world." And, generally: it seems that not all people relate to the same contexts in which a lesson might be learned.

Thanks for this post. I was in Jr. High. Studied, maybe not hard, but studied none the less for a spelling test. After taking the test, I received it back a day or two later. Every word marked with an red X and a 0/20 on the top, even the bonus word was wrong. Did the teacher stop to ask me what was up? No. Just handed it to me and moved on. I wonder how many problems I have today with reading and writing that could have been solved if she would have helped me discover my problem. Instead, I quit spelling. But I loved math. That teacher cared.

Plain English videos can be adapted to any and all subject matters. You have a teaching tool that should be rolled out as it's own industry. Keep up the great work the world needs this on a much larger scale.

I love the fact that your videos outline 'WHY' certain technologies are useful, rather than 'HOW' to use them. To date, you've done and excellent job of putting various Web 2.0 technologies into context. It's no surprise to me that your work is shared so widely among educators. Hopefully, teachers are taking note of the way you teach about the tools, as much as they are learning about evolving online practices.

Hey Lee, Here's something you may already know about but just in case... In the world of Neuro-Linguistic Programming (NLP), there is a concept known as Big Chunk, versus Small chunk. The bigger then idea, the more information fits in it... or the bigger the 'chunk'. For example: (BIG CHUNK): Transportation (Mid-Size chunk): German Automobiles (small chunk): 2004 Black 5-series BMW I learned a few years ago when my company hired a consultant who was also an NLP trainer that the best way to create training is to start with the BIG CHUNK and whittle your way down to the detail. Best, David PS- thanks for yet another KILLER post.

I've just recently (after being an all-star highschool student, then a terrible college student at a top-tier university) realized that I need two things to be open to learning something: 1) It has to be visually and/or audibly stimulating--spreadsheets and textbook-style content are the two best ways to be sure I don't grasp what you're trying to tell me. If you can make a movie or presentation about it, I soak it up like a sponge. (I've recently become addicting to watching presentations on TED.com--very highbrow intellectual stuff, but I can't get enough of it BECAUSE the talks are presented in an engaging way . . . here's an especially good one about teaching ideas: http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/228 ). 2) I have to grasp the big picture before I can organize the details in my mind. Memorization doesn't do me any good if I don't yet understand the meaning/purpose. I found this EXTREMELY important with the workflows at my first "real" job after school . . . I kept screwing up as I followed these gigantic step-by-step workflows that I didn't understand. But the day I finally asked my boss just what the point of all this was, I was able to whiz through the work without the "guide", much more accurately than I had been before. It's important to note, though, that not all people learn the same way--I know accountants that swear by spreadsheets (ugh!), and even some of my first co-workers would rather follow the steps than worry about the big picture. I think it's personality-dependent--some people just like going through life by-the-book, even if it's someone else's book.

Back in grad school when I was studying all about instructional design, we were encouraged to develop training which employed "advance organizers." The idea was that as a training designer you examine the new stuff you are creating and then try to figure out where it fits in the context of what the learner already knows. The way I came to understand it is that the learner's mind is like a mobile (moving sculpture) -- Hunks of info are arranged hierarchically and suspended in a balanced way (idiosyncratically connected to their world view, experiences, etc.). So you don't want to just throw your new concepts at this mobile all at once... it will jerk it all around and create confusion. Instead, examine the learner's conceptual structure (mobile) carefully and figure out where the new info will likely fit -- supporting without disturbing -- adding sensibly without just dumping it in. This is exactly what your common sense, plain English videos do. You seek out common (generally available) contextual cues and gently, inexorably, connect these to new information. It is a wonderful mixture of creative insight about what people are likely to know already and new message design. I told you they were genius!

Thank God for Mrs. Paine! She created a genius. Thank you for your big picture clarity that helps us all to understand the things we really need to understand the "why," and not just the rules to accomplish the "how."

I am very sorry that you had that experience in math class at such a you age. I am a 6th grade mathematics teacher and i work very hard to help all student understand a topic that might not come easily to them. Have you ever though of working with an educator and creating videos to help students understand concepts more easily. Just a though. I think that this would be perfect to help students learn.