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My motivation behind interning at Numeric.org
Jul 10, 2012
When I first came across one of Sals videos in 2009, I felt a sense of liberation and independance I'd so often sought out at school. In school, I had the ability to do well, but couldn't stand the unforgiving structure of the school framework and as such often came out of a school day feeling as though I could finally go home and learn. Mostly I would hack away at the computer, making games , or finding things out on Wikipedia searches. I felt as though leaving school would be the 'real' beginning for me. It was, but not in the way I had invisaged...
I spent the year after school on a compulsory gap year of sorts. I learned from audiobooks on the world wars, spinoza, social deviance, and a fair deal of mathematics. I remember leaving school with the feeling that my arguments against the claim that 0.999=1 summed up my attitude towards school. Deciding to turn toward the system once again, I enrolled in a long distance science degree programme at Unisa - who allow you to do such things without having taken science at school. The year was tough, mostly because of administration - not the distance. This is where Khan comes in. I learned matrix multiplication very quickly after just a search or 2 on google. I eventually started using youtube - watching these videos felt like cheating. I can only imagine what this would have been like at school, all that work, any time, on my own terms. The fact that I only got 1sts that year appeals to my case here, and the people around me started treating me differently. The real pro for me was that, finally, what I'd learned at home from my computer actually counted for something!
With the terrible administration at Unisa, I decided to take on UCT. Some kicking got me in the door, and I haven't looked back. During the 1st week at UCT I heard a talk from a member of Shawco, who mentioned some of the work they do, tutoring in disadvantaged areas and so on. I had this image of myself, being offered an education, pushing against it. Teen angst aside, I knew the power of media, and wanted to help. I felt like there had to be a place for video tutoring here.. I hadn't the first idea about how this would work though, that's where I felt like the whole idea was stupid and ended up keeping hush about the whole thing.
In 2012, this year, I attended an algorithm circle meeting at UCT, my first in fact, and it was mentioned that a guy was going to say something about Khan Academy. I went cold. I knew what this was about, and I was in!
After some months of collaboration, Andrew registered Numeric.org, and I did my (first) internship over the school break. We'd developed the first version of a video browser which relates the SA curriculumn into KA content. We intend piloting this in schools to see what impact it can have in education. Many questions have popped up, and I would really appreciate any feedback as to what other people are thinking.
I really feel the tools we have in the works can change things in SA - and the world. I don't think they provide any final solution, but each is another step in the right direction.