[The Math series] Part 2: Teaching Math to children around the world, step by step

defeating the
Math   MONSTER 0x0BAD 0xAGED 0xFACE 0xCADE 0xACED       In Part 1 of this Math series, I related my story about discovering Math and overcoming Math phobia through the help of people around me. Decades later, many students still encounter the same difficulties. Surprisingly, in this age of Information Technology and all things mobile, many of the same problems still exist with learning. Many people still regard Math as a monster. Learning failures that arise from logistics, financial and psychological issues from students, teachers and parents, still exist today. Some new problems have also emerged. These days, in a world where the factual answers are just a button away, there is a greater need to develop analytical skills to process all the information that comes our way. Even solutions to common Math word problems can copied off from online forums, without really understanding.

    It's no longer what you know, but how you can easily adapt to the changes around you--the shifts in technology and the environment that can render your previous knowledge obsolete. The shortage of teachers is also a problem in many developing countries, denying students access to effective education. In this article, we look into how an organization is aiming to change all this, little by little, until they reach, then hopefully surpass, one billion children.

   OneBillion is a non-profit organization that aims to bring accessible education to marginalised children, starting with a place in Africa called Malawi. With an average pupil–teacher ratio of about 100:1, keeping the attention span of all students and making sure they understand the lesson can be a daunting task indeed. (A few years back, I was an instructor to 40 teenagers and adults, holding a 3-hour lecture every weekend. Keeping track of their progress was already a challenging task, while coming up with creative slideshows that hopefully give a clearer overview of abstract concepts, writing exam questions and perusing through essays and solutions to see whether they understood the lessons presented in class. Handling absenteeism can also a problem, if your aim is to make sure your students learn.)

    To help transform the learning of children in population-densed and marginalised areas, OneBillion created mobile Math applications that can be deployed in classrooms in locked down tablets. Children are given feedback in the form of stars for every module they complete, with a test module at the end of each group of modules. Getting all answers correct for that group of modules will give the child a certificate. Teachers can track the progress of each student via a server application, including quiz scores, each topic completed, when they complete a topic and how long it takes them, and certificates earned. What's good about this system is that children can learn at their own pace, in their own language, while teachers can now more easily identify topics where a child finds difficulty using the information reported for each student. Absenteeism can also be averted if children are more excited to come to class. In contrast to traditional classrooms where only a few students can recite in class, using personal tablets for each student will help students think for themselves, answer questions on their own rather than hearing it from the more active students, and get immediate feedback regarding their answers. With OneBillion's Math apps, studies by the University of Nottingham have shown children making 18 months' progress in only six weeks. More information may be found here. I think this initiative is a good step in transforming not just learning, but the entire world. Our problem is no longer just making sure that people have access to the same resources, but ensuring that knowledge is delivered and consumed in a way that can lead to comprehension, and hopefully, in the end, application of that knowledge to improve people's lives.