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May I share a related vignette? I have a kid in middle school, and he has a tablet. These things are often pushed as "educational". Pop quiz: you walk by, an
by geebee 9y ago
May I share a related vignette?
I have a kid in middle school, and he has a tablet. These things are often pushed as "educational". Pop quiz: you walk by, and you need to determine, within a couple of seconds, if what he's doing is actually educational. Here's what you see:
lots of graphics, whizzing around the screen
-or-
black alphanumeric characters against a white background
Now, you don't actually know, but generally speaking, the second is a better indicator than the first.
I realized this applies to my own work as well. There are parts of my job that I consider extremely useful to the world, and parts that I really gotta wonder about.
If I'm looking at green or white alphanumeric characters against a black background (easier on the eyes), I'm probably at a UNIX prompt, writing code that is doing something very analytical, or writing SQL. If I'm looking at graphics whizzing by, I'm either trying to figure out how to get a drop down to repopulate with the right thing pre-selected in the latest javascript framework, or, worse, I'm so irritated with javascript frameworks that I've decided to browse the web.
Again, it's not a guarantee, but I'm starting to consider a very general guideline: if you are looking at symbols and alphanumeric characters, the odds that you are building something of lasting value is much higher than if you are looking at things with elaborate UI elements.
It's not 100%. My kid could be watching Citizen Kane and developing an interesting critical point of view. He could be reading 101 fart jokes. It's not a perfect match. There are worthy and unworthy things on both sides.
But as a general rule, for culture and career - if you're looking at plain text, that's a good sign.
- heartbreak 9y agoOr the student could be a visual learner.
- nvader 9y agoThe learning styles theory was recently called a "neuromyth" by thirty researchers in a public letter. https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/mar/13/teachers-neuromyth-learning-styles-scientists-neuroscience-education https://www.theguardian.com/education/2017/mar/13/teachers-n...
- anthonybullard 9y agoLearning styles are a myth, don't you know? https://www.psychologicalscience.org/journals/pspi/PSPI_9_3.pdf https://www.psychologicalscience.org/journals/pspi/PSPI_9_3.... And there are many more such studies available with a simple search.
- dagenleg 9y agoBut there's a reason scientific books aren't very rich in illustrations.
- thisrod 9y agoWhat, because all the good ones were written before scientists could afford books with pictures? :-p Check this out: https://www.amazon.com/Visual-Complex-Functions-Introduction-Portraits/dp/3034801793/ https://www.amazon.com/Visual-Complex-Functions-Introduction...
- geebee 9y agoI'm coming in a little late here, but I really did mean it was just an indicator. Visualizations are still important. In fact, a moving graphic might mean that the kid on the kindle is, in fact, using a visual aid to conceptualize how back propagation works with neural networks. I also don't want to come off as knocking video games. I had an Atari in the 80s. Super fun. I would have played that thing 8 hours a day if my parents had let me. They put a cap on it, along with a rule that I also spend some time with this odd object involving black letters printed on a series of white pages if I wanted to play the video game. The Atari is long gone (though you could say it's as present as ever, in a greatly enhanced form). But those black letters on white pages are still pretty excellent, and are identical to how they were 30+ years ago.
- ferdterguson 9y agoPeople are dogging on you for suggesting learning styles. Learning style aside, seeing something with your eyes helps you see it with your mind. I think very few people would find it easier to understand a paragraph or a few than a good illustration or demonstration.
- Pulcinella 9y agoPerhaps educational materials should be designed to benefit the student rather than somebody looking over the student's shoulder...