Новая Газета | № 142 от 17 декабря 2010 г. | Московским школам — крутые, дорогие компьютеры!

Новая Газета | № 142 от 17 декабря 2010 г. | Московским школам — крутые, дорогие компьютеры!
http://www.novayagazeta.ru/data/2010/142/17.html

Московским школам — крутые, дорогие компьютеры!

Поступок столичного департамента образования шокировал и компьютерщиков и финансистов

Конкурс на поставку компьютеров в московские школы выиграла компания «Ланит» с устройствами компании Apple. В 180 школ Москвы за 397 млн руб. будут закуплены 6764 ноутбуков MacBook в качестве рабочих компьютеров для учителей и учащихся начальных классов, а 200 настольных компьютеров Mac Mini будут применяться в качестве серверов внутришкольных сетей. Этим поступком московский департамент образования сумел повергнуть в изумление и финансовые, и околокомпьютерные круги. Финансисты из московского департамента экономической политики изначально были против, и говорят, что приобретение обычных персоналок обошлось бы вдвое дешевле. А компьютерщики на страницах специализированных изданий задаются вопросом, какие, собственно, цели преследовала такая акция? Если рассуждать абстрактно, то компьютеры Apple очень даже подходят для целей образования. Согласно данным самой компании Apple, при использовании ее компьютеров учителям удается самостоятельно решить 69% всех проблем, тогда как при использовании других компьютерных платформ этот показатель падает до 16%. Были годы, когда до двух третей компьютеров в американских учебных заведениях составляли компьютеры Apple. Но затем процент начал снижаться, и в середине 2000-х iMac и Macbook — это уже лишь 20% персоналок в американских школах. Хотя и это очень много по сравнению с распространенностью «Маков» в России — согласно статистике компании Spylog, лишь 1,15% российских интернетчиков использует операционную систему MacOS. Вот тут-то и зарыта собака: что имели в виду чиновники, ориентируясь на Apple? Если они хотели воспользоваться простотой и дружелюбностью операционной системы MacOS, то это идет несколько вразрез с утвержденной Миннауки программой образования по информатике, в которой записано следующее: «Выработка навыков применения средств ИКТ (информационно-коммуникационных технологий. — Ю. Р.) в повседневной жизни, при выполнении индивидуальных и коллективных проектов, в учебной деятельности, дальнейшем освоении профессий, востребованных на рынке труда». Если принять во внимание тот самый один процент пользователей, реально использующих MacOS, то этот пункт программы едва ли будет выполнен: MacOS создает куда более «тепличную» среду для пользователя, чем Windows и особенно Linux. Там требуются существенно иные навыки — вспомните главный рекламный лозунг Apple: «Думай иначе!» Компьютеры Apple идеально «заточены» под пользователей с гуманитарным мышлением — фотографов и художников, но едва ли система общего образования может ориентироваться именно на эту категорию. Но не будем решать проблемы педагогов за них: главное, что этот конкурс вновь с отчетливостью показал все несовершенство самой сложной в мире системы госзакупок. Конкурсные требования были прописаны так, что никто другой, кроме «Ланита» с его «Маками», просто не смог бы его выиграть. Тут уже не нужно быть специалистом: скажите, зачем для школьного компьютера, к примеру, требование 9-часовой автономной работы? Зачем там вообще автономная работа — на случай, если выключится свет? По расчетам департамента экономической политики, только отказ от условий, обеспечивающих привязку к конкретным особенностям конструкции, мог бы снизить стоимость контракта на 15—25%. Одновременно с московским, пишет интернет-издание Cnews, схожий тендер проходил в Татарстане, где стартовая цена конкурса на поставку в два раза большего числа компьютеров (12 820 штук) была ровно в два раза меньше — 200 млн руб. В московском конкурсе планировала принять участие еще одна компания, которая подготовила и протестировала свои компьютеры на совместимость с базовыми пакетами школьных программ, включая свободное программное обеспечение, но к конкурсу ее не допустили. Новый мэр Москвы Сергей Собянин 8 ноября уволил со своего поста главу департамента столичного образования Ольгу Ларионову, в том числе и за этот тендер. Нет, если честно, мне очень импонирует Apple, и я совершенно не готов подозревать уважаемую компанию «Ланит» в коррупции. Но еще больше мне жалко школьных учителей информатики, которым приходится метаться от одной крайности к другой: а именно от приспособленной под «умелые руки» Linux к MacOS (по максимуму исключающей какие-то самостоятельные действия). И все это только потому, что кто-то из чиновников внезапно возлюбил одну конкретную компанию? Юрий Ревич обозреватель «Новой»   17.12.2010

Другой Норильск -- [Заполярная правда. №179 от 01.12.2010]

Другой Норильск -- [Заполярная правда. №179 от 01.12.2010]

TutorState.com: Physics Tutor in Brooklyn

TutorState.com: Physics Tutor in Brooklyn

Physics Tutor in Brooklyn

Location: Bay Ridge (52 92nd St, Brooklyn, NY 11209)

Phone: 718-223-0228

Email:admin@TutorState.com

Teaching by Asking Instead of by Telling

Teaching by Asking Instead of by Telling

The Socratic Method:
Teaching by Asking Instead of by Telling
by Rick Garlikov

       The following is a transcript of a teaching experiment, using the Socratic method, with a regular third grade class in a suburban elementary school. I present my perspective and views on the session, and on the Socratic method as a teaching tool, following the transcript. The class was conducted on a Friday afternoon beginning at 1:30, late in May, with about two weeks left in the school year. This time was purposely chosen as one of the most difficult times to entice and hold these children's concentration about a somewhat complex intellectual matter. The point was to demonstrate the power of the Socratic method for both teaching and also for getting students involved and excited about the material being taught. There were 22 students in the class. I was told ahead of time by two different teachers (not the classroom teacher) that only a couple of students would be able to understand and follow what I would be presenting. When the class period ended, I and the classroom teacher believed that at least 19 of the 22 students had fully and excitedly participated and absorbed the entire material. The three other students' eyes were glazed over from the very beginning, and they did not seem to be involved in the class at all. The students' answers below are in capital letters.

         The experiment was to see whether I could teach these students binary arithmetic (arithmetic using only two numbers, 0 and 1) only by asking them questions. None of them had been introduced to binary arithmetic before. Though the ostensible subject matter was binary arithmetic, my primary interest was to give a demonstration to the teacher of the power and benefit of the Socratic method where it is applicable. That is my interest here as well. I chose binary arithmetic as the vehicle for that because it is something very difficult for children, or anyone, to understand when it is taught normally; and I believe that a demonstration of a method that can teach such a difficult subject easily to children and also capture their enthusiasm about that subject is a very convincing demonstration of the value of the method. (As you will see below, understanding binary arithmetic is also about understanding "place-value" in general. For those who seek a much more detailed explanation about place-value, visit the long paper on The Concept and Teaching of Place-Value.) This was to be the Socratic method in what I consider its purest form, where questions (and only questions) are used to arouse curiosity and at the same time serve as a logical, incremental, step-wise guide that enables students to figure out about a complex topic or issue with their own thinking and insights. In a less pure form, which is normally the way it occurs, students tend to get stuck at some point and need a teacher's explanation of some aspect, or the teacher gets stuck and cannot figure out a question that will get the kind of answer or point desired, or it just becomes more efficient to "tell" what you want to get across. If "telling" does occur, hopefully by that time, the students have been aroused by the questions to a state of curious receptivity to absorb an explanation that might otherwise have been meaningless to them. Many of the questions are decided before the class; but depending on what answers are given, some questions have to be thought up extemporaneously. Sometimes this is very difficult to do, depending on how far from what is anticipated or expected some of the students' answers are. This particular attempt went better than my best possible expectation, and I had much higher expectations than any of the teachers I discussed it with prior to doing it.

        I had one prior relationship with this class. About two weeks earlier I had shown three of the third grade classes together how to throw a boomerang and had let each student try it once. They had really enjoyed that. One girl and one boy from the 65 to 70 students had each actually caught their returning boomerang on their throws. That seemed to add to everyone's enjoyment. I had therefore already established a certain rapport with the students, rapport being something that I feel is important for getting them to comfortably and enthusiastically participate in an intellectually uninhibited manner in class and without being psychologically paralyzed by fear of "messing up".

        When I got to the classroom for the binary math experiment, students were giving reports on famous people and were dressed up like the people they were describing. The student I came in on was reporting on John Glenn, but he had not mentioned the dramatic and scary problem of that first American trip in orbit. I asked whether anyone knew what really scary thing had happened on John Glenn's flight, and whether they knew what the flight was. Many said a trip to the moon, one thought Mars. I told them it was the first full earth orbit in space for an American. Then someone remembered hearing about something wrong with the heat shield, but didn't remember what. By now they were listening intently. I explained about how a light had come on that indicated the heat shield was loose or defective and that if so, Glenn would be incinerated coming back to earth. But he could not stay up there alive forever and they had nothing to send up to get him with. The engineers finally determined, or hoped, the problem was not with the heat shield, but with the warning light. They thought it was what was defective. Glenn came down. The shield was ok; it had been just the light. They thought that was neat.

        "But what I am really here for today is to try an experiment with you. I am the subject of the experiment, not you. I want to see whether I can teach you a whole new kind of arithmetic only by asking you questions. I won't be allowed to tell you anything about it, just ask you things. When you think you know an answer, just call it out. You won't need to raise your hands and wait for me to call on you; that takes too long." [This took them a while to adapt to. They kept raising their hands; though after a while they simply called out the answers while raising their hands.] Here we go.
 

1) "How many is this?" [I held up ten fingers.]

                                      TEN

2) "Who can write that on the board?" [virtually all hands up; I toss the chalk to one kid and indicate for her to come up and do it]. She writes

                                    10

3) Who can write ten another way? [They hesitate than some hands go up. I toss the chalk to another kid.]

4) Another way?

5) Another way?

                        2 x 5 [inspired by the last idea]

6) That's very good, but there are lots of things that equal ten, right? [student nods agreement], so I'd rather not get into combinations that equal ten, but just things that represent or sort of mean ten. That will keep us from having a whole bunch of the same kind of thing. Anybody else?

                        TEN

7) One more?

                        X       [Roman numeral]

8) [I point to the word "ten"]. What is this?

                     THE WORD TEN

9) What are written words made up of?

                       LETTERS

10) How many letters are there in the English alphabet?

                          26

11) How many words can you make out of them?

                          ZILLIONS

12) [Pointing to the number "10"] What is this way of writing numbers made up of?

                           NUMERALS

13) How many numerals are there?

                             NINE / TEN

14) Which, nine or ten?

                           TEN

15) Starting with zero, what are they? [They call out, I write them in the following way.]

0
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9

TutorState.com - Electricity Quiz

TutorState.com - Electricity Quiz

1

What is the equivalent capacitance (in µF) between points A and B as shown if x is 2.91 µF, y is 2.02 µF, and z is 3.96 µF?

 

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2

How much charge (in µC) can be stored by a parallel-plate capacitor with a plate area of 0.00131 square meters having air (8.85 X 10^-12 C^2/(Nm^2) between the plates where the magnitude of the electric field is 3.18 MN/C? 

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3

A wire with a resistance of 3.19 ohm connected across a 111 V source carries current for 23.7 minutes. How much charge (in C) passes through the wire?

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4

An appliance draws 7.1 amps of current when connected to 120 V. What is the cost (in $) of operating it for 15.8 hours at $ 0.137 per kWh?

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5

An appliance delivers 496 J of energy when its capacitors discharge. If the device has a capacitance of 4.18 mF, how much charge (in C) is delivered?

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6

A resistance thermometer has a resistaqnce of 40 ohm at a temperature of 16.2 ºC. At what temperature (in ºC) will it have a resistance of 46.4 ohm (linear coefficient of expansion = .00392 /ºC). 

Educational Tutoring: K-12 Math, Science, SAT

Educational Tutoring: K-12 Math, Science, SAT

Phone: 718-223-0228

Email: admin@TutorState.com

Location: Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, New York