the concept of "algorithm", in education

yesterday I was a substitute tutor for an hour, for a 5th grade student generally at a 3rd grade level. 💡 ( I hate phrases like "third grade level", but they are convenient. at least until I make new phrases.)

we did "fractions". i started with adding fractions (with the blocks); once that went nowhere we switched to "writing fractions" and "comparing fractions", which was more level-appropriate. 💡 ( I'm not sure the form-factor of an iPad has the necessary tools for her to learn this.) 💡 ( separately, there are "motivation" and "screen-time" issues.)

as far as reading: she isn't a great reader; but my view is that she is very close to meeting minimal standards. ⚙️ ( minimal standards are lower than 50th percentile for grade level. expecting all students to reach minimal standards is an achievable goal. expecting all students to reach the moving target of 50th percentile ... is not.)

it is one thing to be able to read ⚔️ ( and, perhaps more difficultly, write; her spelling is ... not great) . but it is another thing (also important) to understand texts. 💡 ( she spelled "threw" as thought and then throwed. a sign of too much whole word learning.) 💡 ( also some letter reversals. letetr and bannna.)

but she does know how to use "speech-to-text" on the iPhone. so, perhaps her English is like my Chinese.

One project idea is the "proctor" system of iPhone education 💡 ( the phone is on a stand; it is watching the student use pencil-and-paper to do work) . This does not have the same drawbacks as a purely app-based system.

the main drawback here is the predictably vicious opposition such a system will create. 🔥 ( because of privacy concerns, and/or job-loss, and/or "the lack of the human touch")

Another project idea is: a specific focus on teaching math as algorithm. it is something of a pons asinorum of mathematics; the student clearly doesn't have the concept yet. that, there are a few rules you need to memorize, to accomplish a complex task.

Examples:

• add fractions: make the same denominator, add numerator, reduce fraction
• long division (with multiplications available): find largest term, subtract, repeat

these are 3-5 steps. can you learn a 3-5 step process? can you follow it? and, can you understand why it is accomplishing the desired task?

A simpler idea is write software to have the machine generate print-ready worksheets. 💡 ( and, then, have it make a few thousand of them.)