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#1 2010-06-04 17:43:32

icuurd12b42
Member
Registered: 2008-12-11
Posts: 303

Learn Math the fun way!

And Help Khan Academy

Khan Academy is dedicated to help you learn math and other things in a revolutionary way.

As you know from my GML sig, I support this site even though I pretty much suck at math. I hope to change that. And I hope you you want that for yourself too.

Khan Academy is an endevour from the heart. And the guy is very good at teaching concept in a relaxed manner which I find appropriate for me.

Recently he put up, on his site, a learning tool, free to use by everyone. No charge. All you need is a google apps account and Firefox.

It is my hope that people here will try the application and help Khan to beta test the learning tool while getting stronger at math.

To start off, watch the youtube video which explains the concept and why it should work in theory

Khan's site
http://www.khanacademy.org/

The learning tool
http://khanexercises.appspot.com/
the learning engine, also located in the paragraph next to the Mental Boot Camp logo


Everyone should try this! Even you math experts. During the alpha phase to find any problem or error.


What do you guys think of the concept and the reasoning behind it?

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#2 2010-06-05 09:42:01

xot
Administrator
Registered: 2007-08-18
Posts: 1,239

Re: Learn Math the fun way!

I think the math lectures are great ... with some caveats. I watched a series of his videos on matrices and several times Sal Khan makes simple arithmetical mistakes. If you are grasping what he's telling you, they are easy to spot. I wonder how common that is. It doesn't instill one with a lot of confidence in the quality of the material, but I learned a lot anyway. At least briefly. I need to watch them again and do some homework exercises. A lack of exercises seems to be the flaw. I guess that's something the web app is supposed to address (NOTE: I'm still watching the MIT video).

My hat's off to the guy, he's doing something great and I love his passion. Isn't it wonderful there is a way that he can reach so many people? The internet RULES!


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#3 2010-06-05 12:23:31

icuurd12b42
Member
Registered: 2008-12-11
Posts: 303

Re: Learn Math the fun way!

I caught a few mistakes myself. You know what? it's a boost to me. Show I grasped enough to see.

One of the item covered in the conference mentions mistakes. He explains he is not perfect and that it bring him closer to the audience, stating he usually leaves videos with mistakes, knowing they are there. Apparently it's very common. ( re-reads: not done with the MIT conference, you'll see, near the end)

I remember the teachers here often making mistakes in front of the class and the students pointing it out in class

I did not notice a lack of exercise (Re-reads, oh, you practicing). I'm still in the early lessons, I was stuck on substraction 3... I had to do it 10 times for making a misatke in my streak, often the last one. Make sure you use FireFox. many tests dont work in IE.

I like the videos are listed right there if you need help... And the tip system is great.

The quality of the material is relative to your expectations and what you may consider being quality. I for one like the fact he does everything in front of you, no practice or canned slides/images, just hand drawing.

It works real well for me.

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#4 2010-06-05 13:33:56

xot
Administrator
Registered: 2007-08-18
Posts: 1,239

Re: Learn Math the fun way!

I caught a few mistakes myself. You know what? it's a boost to me. Show I grasped enough to see.

I have to agree with that. I'm watching it, and doing it, and every once in a while I'm thinking "Hey! That's not quite right! I think I must be getting this."

The MIT thing was long but really interesting. I especially liked seeing the data mining going on. It's clearly a powerful and informative instructional tool.


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#5 2010-06-05 23:54:33

icuurd12b42
Member
Registered: 2008-12-11
Posts: 303

Re: Learn Math the fun way!

I'm doing the exercises online. I was really having fun doing the "forward method" or watever it's called for addition and substraction. On the keyboard its easy and almost mechanical, you just hit backspace and move your index finger to the next digit on the top number keys

adding
4567
5678


9(11)(13)(15)
101(13)(15)
1023(15)
10345

10:3:4:5

9<back (since next result is > 10)>10:1<back>2:3<back>4:5
10345

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#6 2010-07-06 18:43:19

xot
Administrator
Registered: 2007-08-18
Posts: 1,239

Re: Learn Math the fun way!

A bit off-topic, but someone is starting a free online course in Quantum Physics.

This year we're doing a nine-part series (every Monday in July and August) taking readers from high school physics to graduate level physics, with no particular mathematical background required.

http://www.bureau42.com/view/6841/summe … um-physics

Without videos, it's not nearly as engaging as Khan Academy, but perhaps it marks the start of an important trend in using the internet to provide the masses free alternatives for a quality education. There is enough altruism in the world to make this a big thing.

This is off-topic as well, but in a similar vein and applicable to us would-be game devs, is Ian Schreiber's free online game design course.
http://gamebalanceconcepts.wordpress.com/

First class was posted today:
http://gamebalanceconcepts.wordpress.co … e-balance/

Last edited by xot (2010-07-07 11:36:33)


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#7 2010-07-11 21:32:48

xDanielx
Member
Registered: 2009-01-02
Posts: 38

Re: Learn Math the fun way!

QM with "grade school level math"? I'm really curious to see how they're going to approach that. I've seen QM explained with some very different tools, but I can't really imagine it being done without some basic trigonometry, at least.

Last edited by xDanielx (2010-07-11 21:33:50)

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#8 2011-02-11 17:13:59

xot
Administrator
Registered: 2007-08-18
Posts: 1,239

Re: Learn Math the fun way!

Khan Academy has partnered with BitTorrent to provide their videos and apps directly into the BitTorrent Client via their App Studio environment. Nice to see BitTorrent continuing and an expanding as a tool for "good". Presumably the videos are permanently cached and can be accessed without an internet connection once they've been downloaded.

BitTorrent Blog wrote:

Today we launched a brand-new app in collaboration with Khan Academy, a renowned not-for-profit organization fulfilling the mission of global education through video classes. We are extremely honored to support their vision.

The Khan Academy exemplifies the type of content creators for whom we built the App Studio – independent artists looking to build relationships with our global community of over 100 million users. With the Khan Academy, we have the added bonus of helping to promote a worthy cause through technology innovation.
...
The free app is now available in our BitTorrent App Studio, located in both the BitTorrent and µTorrent clients. Once installed, you may directly access and share free downloads of any of the Khan Academy video lessons.
...
For additional details about our partnership with Khan Academy, please see our press release. Enjoy the new app and stay tuned; many more exciting releases are on the way!

Khan Academy Education Videos Arrive in the App Studio


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