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Mathigon – an interactive, personalized mathematics textbook

mathigon.org

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Re: Mathigon – an interactive, personalized mathematics textbook

#61

Post by CoolGuySteve »

chongli wrote: post #53
CoolGuySteve wrote: post #6

It really feels like we're on the cusp of a textbook similar to the Primer in Neal Stephenson's 'The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer'. As in, something that learns your interests and customizes to your tastes while still teaching. A textbook that is able to diagnose common misunderstandings from a set of wrong answers to a problem set and evolve its teaching methods. If advertising networks have ef…

something that learns your interests and customizes to your tastes I have grave misgivings about that sort of thing. This approach is what leads to the Google and Facebook "filter bubbles" [1]. What I need is something that exposes me to different viewpoints, opposing viewpoints, presented in convincing ways to challenge me and help me to grow as a person. What I want is to learn about new ideas that would never have…

My point is that society strictly benefits if we made a ‘filter bubble’ that teaches calculus instead of antivaxx theories or Shakespeare instead of polical radicalization.

We’ve seen many, many examples of people picking up new concepts from their filter bubble, stuff like pizza-gate, that they wouldn’t have thought up on their own.

The same click-reward feedback algorithm can be applied when teaching more virtuous knowledge. The algorithms that create filter bubbles are disturbingly good at teaching, as in really disturbing and really proficient.

(And besides, let’s not pretend western and Confucian education aren’t indoctrination processes to some extent in their own right. Western education is predicated on building ‘virtuous’ citizens according to what I remember from the Socratic/Platonic dialogs. Also I feel like a dickhead for saying “according to the classics”.)

Re: Mathigon – an interactive, personalized mathematics textbook

#62

Post by selestify »

GuiA wrote: post #15
CoolGuySteve wrote: post #6

It really feels like we're on the cusp of a textbook similar to the Primer in Neal Stephenson's 'The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer'. As in, something that learns your interests and customizes to your tastes while still teaching. A textbook that is able to diagnose common misunderstandings from a set of wrong answers to a problem set and evolve its teaching methods. If advertising networks have ef…

As a nerdy programmer and human computer interaction researcher, the fact that we are getting incredibly close to having all of the bits required (multitouch, extremely high pixel density screens, batteries/processors that merely add millimeters of thickness to it, recent advances in neural networks, fast enough wireless connectivity to stream high resolution interactive content, etc.) to build this technology is ext…

> As someone who has been doing their best over the past ~10 years to understand how technology has interfaced with societies, cultures, political & business interests, etc. over human history - and all the ways that it has gone wrong

What a fascinating subject to look into! Any books you would recommend?

Re: Mathigon – an interactive, personalized mathematics textbook

#63

Post by m4x »

chongli wrote: post #53
CoolGuySteve wrote: post #6

It really feels like we're on the cusp of a textbook similar to the Primer in Neal Stephenson's 'The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer'. As in, something that learns your interests and customizes to your tastes while still teaching. A textbook that is able to diagnose common misunderstandings from a set of wrong answers to a problem set and evolve its teaching methods. If advertising networks have ef…

something that learns your interests and customizes to your tastes I have grave misgivings about that sort of thing. This approach is what leads to the Google and Facebook "filter bubbles" [1]. What I need is something that exposes me to different viewpoints, opposing viewpoints, presented in convincing ways to challenge me and help me to grow as a person. What I want is to learn about new ideas that would never have…

The same technology that creates filter bubbles can also be used to counteract them, if desired

Re: Mathigon – an interactive, personalized mathematics textbook

#64

Post by Secretmapper »

itissid wrote: post #27

This looks awesome. But: 1. Grain of salt: contemporary research shows how learning has other facets that are also important like grit[1] (i.e. repetitive application of hard work that has the right direction). 2. Contemporary research suggests that when learning a new concept is made "easier" using such methods its more efficient. On the contrary this is only the first step. Learning is better when its harder, but h…

Can you expound on your third point? I'm having a hard time parsing it.

Re: Mathigon – an interactive, personalized mathematics textbook

#65

Post by jacobolus »

CoolGuySteve wrote: post #61
chongli wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

something that learns your interests and customizes to your tastes I have grave misgivings about that sort of thing. This approach is what leads to the Google and Facebook "filter bubbles" [1]. What I need is something that exposes me to different viewpoints, opposing viewpoints, presented in convincing ways to challenge me and help me to grow as a person. What I want is to learn about new ideas that would never have…

My point is that society strictly benefits if we made a ‘filter bubble’ that teaches calculus instead of antivaxx theories or Shakespeare instead of polical radicalization. We’ve seen many, many examples of people picking up new concepts from their filter bubble, stuff like pizza-gate, that they wouldn’t have thought up on their own. The same click-reward feedback algorithm can be applied when teaching more virtuous…

> The algorithms that create filter bubbles are disturbingly good at teaching

Are they really though? I have found that when I start probing people’s weird conspiracy theories picked up from blogs/facebook (or even more mainstream partisan disinformation picked up from newspaper op-eds or think tank whitepapers), they are quite shallow and unsophisticated, typically papering over gaping holes in basic knowledge.

“Teaching” a bunch of made up bullshit has much lower standards and requires a lot less effort (for both teacher and pupil) than teaching about complex real-world structures even to a level of basic competence, let alone serious expertise.

Re: Mathigon – an interactive, personalized mathematics textbook

#66

Post by surajs »

ai_ia wrote: post #24
CoolGuySteve wrote: post #6

It really feels like we're on the cusp of a textbook similar to the Primer in Neal Stephenson's 'The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady's Illustrated Primer'. As in, something that learns your interests and customizes to your tastes while still teaching. A textbook that is able to diagnose common misunderstandings from a set of wrong answers to a problem set and evolve its teaching methods. If advertising networks have ef…

I am building Primer. :) https://www.primerlabs.io You can checkout the documentation part for images/gifs to learn how it works. Bit late on schedule, but working hard to release soon. Made a video about the same explaining the interface. https://youtu.be/acTdwGV0s9I P.S. The landing page is a horrible experience on mobile. My bad.

Hey! this looks like something within my wheelhouse. Let me know if you need help with content/design/development. I'd love to be a part of this story.

Re: Mathigon – an interactive, personalized mathematics textbook

#67

Post by neatcoder »

octahedron42 wrote: post #17

I love the chapter on fibonacci numbers. So colourful! https://mathigon.org/course/sequences/fibonacci

When we go from 2 pairs of rabbits to 3 pairs of rabbits, we see a brother and sister rabbit mating to produce a pair of offsprings. This does not sound realistic and could also be disturbing to kids.

But for some reason, I have seen this example cited in many places. Why is this example so popular despite the implication of siblings mating while going from 2 to 3? Surely, we can come up with better illustrations if we try!

Re: Mathigon – an interactive, personalized mathematics textbook

#69

Post by CoolGuySteve »

jacobolus wrote: post #65
CoolGuySteve wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My point is that society strictly benefits if we made a ‘filter bubble’ that teaches calculus instead of antivaxx theories or Shakespeare instead of polical radicalization. We’ve seen many, many examples of people picking up new concepts from their filter bubble, stuff like pizza-gate, that they wouldn’t have thought up on their own. The same click-reward feedback algorithm can be applied when teaching more virtuous…

> The algorithms that create filter bubbles are disturbingly good at teaching Are they really though? I have found that when I start probing people’s weird conspiracy theories picked up from blogs/facebook (or even more mainstream partisan disinformation picked up from newspaper op-eds or think tank whitepapers), they are quite shallow and unsophisticated, typically papering over gaping holes in basic knowledge. “Tea…

I’m pretty sure you can make the same case about things taught in the US about vast swathes of American history like Christopher Columbus, the Louisiana purchase, the pilgrims, etc.

I’m not even American but I’ve noticed the bar’s pretty low after living here for years.

On one hand, we probably shouldn’t be making pedagogical policy based on the most gullible in our society, but on the other, everyone is gullible when they’re young and many continue to be so afterwards.

Re: Mathigon – an interactive, personalized mathematics textbook

#70

Post by DEADBEEFC0FFEE »

jacobolus wrote: post #65
CoolGuySteve wrote: post #61

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My point is that society strictly benefits if we made a ‘filter bubble’ that teaches calculus instead of antivaxx theories or Shakespeare instead of polical radicalization. We’ve seen many, many examples of people picking up new concepts from their filter bubble, stuff like pizza-gate, that they wouldn’t have thought up on their own. The same click-reward feedback algorithm can be applied when teaching more virtuous…

> The algorithms that create filter bubbles are disturbingly good at teaching Are they really though? I have found that when I start probing people’s weird conspiracy theories picked up from blogs/facebook (or even more mainstream partisan disinformation picked up from newspaper op-eds or think tank whitepapers), they are quite shallow and unsophisticated, typically papering over gaping holes in basic knowledge. “Tea…

Recommendation engines don't teach, they provide opportunities. That could be useful as a learning approach, if layer on to a tech-tree /leveling learning path.

The analogy with conspiracies is flawed, pretty sure Google and Facebook don't first link to the basics of conspiracies, and then move on from there.

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