A fantastic Q&A with Principal Gail Doney of Wallarano Primary School, Victoria, Australia who sheds light on equality issues in access to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) education and how help from the private sector can help.
All Victorian secondary schools are now able to access the Wolfram software suite, thanks to a three-year agreement made with the Department.
The Wolfram suite of products includes powerful learning tools across science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and is internationally recognised as the global industry standard for engineers, economists, scientists and mathematicians. The suite has four unique applications in the areas of computation, problem modelling, coding and more:
Mathematica: Computation software with a broad range of functionality including graphical, geometric, numerical, symbolic, financial and statistical computations.
SystemModeler: A complete physical modelling and simulation tool to explore system behaviour across multiple domains.
Alpha Pro: A powerful tool for finding answers through dynamic computations on built-in data, algorithms and methods.
Programming Lab: An environment to learn programming language and modern computational thinking.
The licence arrangement covers all school and personal devices for all secondary school teachers and students. Each product can be downloaded individually on student and teacher devices using a vic.edu.au or education.vic.gov.au email. Find out more and get your licence here or go to the eduSTAR software catalogue and search for Wolfram.
Limited professional learning places are available for Secondary Science and Mathematics teachers on Friday 14 October in Carlton.
Mathematica is a powerful global computation system that can handle all the various aspects of technical computing–and beyond–in a coherent and unified way. It is industry standard software used in the sciences, engineering, commerce, computer science and software development.
Conrad Wolfram, physicist, mathematician, businessman and technologist is Director of Strategic Development and European Co-Founder/CEO of the Wolfram group of companies. Conrad is also the world’s leading advocate for a fundamental shift of maths education to become computer-based, arguing that this is the key way to address issues in global maths education and move forward.
His widely acknowledged 2010 TED talk laid out the rationale and roadmap for this rethink and the same year he founded computerbasedmath.org (CBM) to drive implementation of the change. The movement is now a worldwide force in re-developing STEM curriculum and in February 2013 it was announced that Estonia would be the first partner country.
Wolfram Research and Mathematica Software
The Wolfram Group specializes in pushing boundaries at the intersection of computation, maths and knowledge, including making Mathematica software, the Wolfram Alpha knowledge engine (powering knowledge answers for Apple’s Siri), the Computable Document Format (CDF) standard, the newly announced Wolfram Language and forthcoming Wolfram Cloud.
Since 2011, Mathematica has been available to all Victorian DEECD secondary students and teachers via the eduSTAR image.
The importance of math to jobs, society and thinking has increased exponentially over the last few decades. Meanwhile, maths education globally has slipped backwards. Why has this chasm opened up? Computers are the key to addressing this challenge effectively – when computers do the calculating, people can work on harder questions, try more concepts, and play with a multitude of new ideas.
Conrad Wolfram will discuss his major project to build a completely new curriculum in mathematics with computer-based computation at its heart – covering the rationale for the change, how it’s being manifested and how Victoria is well placed to be at the forefront.
Who should attend Conrad Wolfram’s Session?
Anyone with an interest in mathematics education, in particular, school leaders, teachers and teacher educators, system representatives, policy makers and education researchers should attend. This is a unique opportunity to hear from one of the leading global thinkers in mathematics education and technology here in Melbourne.
Session Details and Registration:
May 27, 2.30pm – 3.30pm
BASTOW 603-615 Queensberry Street North Melbourne
Register here PLEASE NOTE: This is a free event. When you register and get to the payment section just choose credit card or invoice payment and it will progress through to a zero invoice and not require any payment.
A number of regional venues will also be linking to the presentation via Polycom video-conferencing.
Check out this collection of videos – 8 Math talks to blow your mind. Mathematics gets down to work in these talks, breathing life and logic into everyday problems. Prepare for math puzzlers both solved and unsolvable, and even some still waiting for solutions.