Conrad Wolfram: Teaching kids real math with computers | Video on TED.com

As someone who suffered through math as a kid, this talk gave some interesting food for thought. I have always felt that we tend to disassociate meaning and authenticity in the way we teach math in education. I think some educators who are trying to move in this direction through robotics, programming, etc - which by the way tend to be extracurricular activities - would concur with Wolfram's thesis. Here's the TED Talk link:
Conrad Wolfram: Teaching kids real math with computers | Video on TED.com
 or view here:


From rockets to stock markets, many of humanity's most thrilling creations are powered by math. So why do kids lose interest in it? Conrad Wolfram says the part of math we teach -- calculation by hand -- isn't just tedious, it's mostly irrelevant to real mathematics and the real world. He presents his radical idea: teaching kids math through computer programming. Take advantage of computers to allow us to be more practical and conceptual - e.g. creating programs to demonstrate understanding of math concepts. Help our kids to 'feel' math. Need to bridge the chasm between school math and real world math.

Some highlights...

• MATH does not equal CALCULATING
• We need to take advantage of computers to allow us to be more practical and conceptual - e.g. creating programs to demonstrate understanding of math concepts. 
• Help our kids to 'feel' math. 
• Bridge the chasm between school math and real world math

http://computerbasedmath.org/