Author: Art Bardige

I am a digital learning pioneer who believes that technology can play a great role in enabling every child to learn efficiently, effectively, and economically. What if Math is my latest work and the most exciting I have ever been involved with. I hope you will give it a try.

Over the Rainbow

Over the Rainbow by Harold Arlen and E. Y. Harburg is considered the greatest song of the century and the greatest song in a movie of all time, and it is my very favorite song. I never tire of listening to it. E. Y. ”Yip” Harburg wrote not only all of the lyrics for “The Wizard of Oz” but he wrote “Brother Can You Spare a Dime” and the musical “Finian’s Rainbow.” He left us with music that so beautifully expressed his deep belief in an equitable society.

Today, Yip Harburg would probably be writing lyrics about math. For unlikely as it may seem, mathematics has become the main driver of inequity in our nation. It is the main academic reason students do not complete a college education. And the data is crystal clear, a college education is the prime determinant of a better life.

We can no longer claim that math is not necessary for everyone. We can no longer claim that some people just don’t get math and that is ok because in the arts and trades they won’t need it. We can no longer claim that the math we expect our children to master should be determined by college math departments who all too often focus only on graduating qualified mathematicians. Math has become central to not just work and life but to our thought processes as well. It is not only key to good STEM jobs, it is required for the managerial tasks everyone will do in the 21st century. We can no longer dismiss math as a nice to have.
So we must ask, “What mathematics is essential for life and work in the 21st century?” And how can we enable every, yes every, student to have the numbersense, the understanding, and the fluency they will need. I believe this to be the most important question education faces, for solving it will truly enable every student to “fly over the rainbow.”

2016 MTA Summer Conference Aug 1 & 2

Learning Math as a Creative Experience with Spreadsheets

UMASS Amherst

 
MTA Summer Conference Guide
 
OUR WORKSHOP: What if your students had the opportunity to learn mathematics in new ways, observe patterns, experience connections between varieties of representations and generate their own solutions to interesting problems? In this 2-session workshop you will have the chance to be such a student and prepare to implement this learning methodology in your classroom. In the first session, you will be introduced to and work on some spreadsheet labs designed for learning mathematics, spreadsheet skills and creative problem solving. In the second session, you will continue your work on spreadsheet labs and develop a plan to implement spreadsheet labs for learning with your students.
PRESENTERS: Peter Mili, MTA Retired; Art Bardige, President, Sustainablearning.

The Summer Challenge Problem of the Week

“How do you keep students engaged in math while they are having fun?” We think we have come up with the perfect solution for teachers and parents, the What if Math Summer Challenge. Choose a Lab from the Explore menu and mail it to your students. They learn problem solving, spreadsheets, coding, a lot of interesting math, and have fun! They can be any age. They just have to have access to a computer or a tablet. They can work individually, they can work together, and they experiment to their heart’s content. Try it. You can even send them to Explore to find their own. There is no login, no advertising, no selling of lists, and no cost. We are a nonprofit seeking to reinvent math education one student and one teacher at a time.

Have a great learning summer

Art, Peter, and Ryan