Talk:Digital Filing Cabinet: Math Education





Information from Jerry Johnson 6/1/2010
Jerry Johnson is a math education faculty member at Western Washington University. He publishes a weekly (free) newsletter MathNEXUS available at http://mathnexus.wwu.edu/. The following is material he wrote for the 6/1/2010 newsletter. It is an excellent example of a (non-electronic) math education filing cabinet.

Martin Gardner, Mentor to Many


 * Mathematics education lost another good friend this past week, when Martin Gardner died at age 95. On the national level, he was an outstanding author of mathematics and science columns and books, being best known for making recreational mathematics a popular, acceptable activity. But, on the local level, Martin Gardner was my mentor and private tutor, even though we never met (though we did correspond by mail once).


 * I use the term "mentor" because as a beginning and continuing teacher, I read, re-read, adapted, and integrated his "Mathematical Games" columns into my classroom. At library book sales, I bought old copies of Scientific American so that I eventually built a file drawer containing all of his "Mathematical Games" columns, starting in January, 1957. And now, I also own almost all of his books, which include addenda to his reprinted columns.


 * I use the terms "private tutor" because Martin Gardner taught me so much about mathematics that is never mentioned in traditional textbooks, expecially that mathematics can be fun, interesting, unusual, and filled with challenges. From his columns, I first learned about geometric reptiles, mathematical magic, the fourth dimension, M.C. Escher, mathematical sculptures, Penrose tilings, polyominoes, Soma cube, etc.


 * After gaining a bachelor's degree in philosophy at the University of Chicago, Martin started out as an author of content for children's magazines.  Once his article on paper-folding flexagons led to an article in Scientific American in 1957, he wrote their column "Mathematical Games" for 25 years. Though other authors have tried to follow him and his style, none have succeeded.


 * In an interview, Allyn Jackson, AMS Notices editor, noted that Martin Gardner "opened the eyes of the general public to the beauty and fascination of mathematics and inspired many to go on to make the subject their life's work." Yes, I and many of my teaching colleagues are testament to this claim!


 * In addition to recreational mathematics, Martin Gardner was a well-known skeptic of the paranormal, often writing columns for the Skeptical Inquirer magazine. He also was a respected magician.


 * Martin Gardner, we will all miss you...but your fantastic legacy will live on!

Comment by Miki Wilson 7/6/08
I have not seen a website like this before. The idea of the digital filing cabinet really caught my eye because I think a compilation of resources regardless of content area is a wonderful tool for any teacher, student, or parent. It is amazing to consider the fact that all of us (teachers, parents, and students combined) know probably know at least one good site, and if all the sites could be accumulated in on area and accessible to all, it would be such an asset. I agree with Ms. Richardson's comment that lists and descriptions are needed - that would be extremely helpful. Another helpful aspect would be websites that are reviewed by people. In this way, a possible user could quickly discern the positive and negative points of the website. A cross-referencing tool would be great too, where a user could type in a search word such as "place value" and then access a list of reviewed sites with descriptions. I am not sure when users would be able to submit sites for the digital filing cabinet. I know on the page it suggested that each teacher could have one and then disseminate that information to students and parents. I suppose the sites could be gathered on a submission basis and then compiled into one school-wide digital filing cabinet and also each teacher could have one. It truly is a challenging task to think about corralling and organizing the massive amounts of information on the internet, but I believe the payoff would make it all worth it.

Comment by Sonya Richardson
There are many good math sites available on the Web. However, these sites tend to come and go. What is needed are lists and brief descriptions of long-lived math Websites that contain material that is well indexed and/or easily searchable. The Oregon Mathematics Teacher (TOMT) has wonderful teacher developed lessons in its pages, but there is no organized index to them. I wish we had an index to all the issues with this accomplished and the lessons made available on computer.

Comment by David Moursund, 1/26/08
I am surprised at the slow response rate to the request for teachers to share materials from their filing cabinets. My impression is that teachers are very willing to share such materials in the face-to-face environment within their schools and school districts. I wonder why most teachers seem unwilling to do similar sharing via the web.