Does Computer kill creativity in Children

Hi All,

Hope all are waiting eagerly for the week end😛

Ok.. Can you quickly tell me what is

17 Multiplication table
• can you say what is 16 X 7 = ? very quickly without actually multiplying.....

I bet most of the esteemed debators forgot the multiplication tables they learnt in their primary classes...We need not break the heads ..we have some good calculator or Computer ...or atleast we know basic multiplication to manage..😉

Driving the point home and coming to the actual topic of the debate..almost all the children of these days use computer right from their 2nd or 3rd year........then they tend to be more dependent on the Computer ......

 

 Does Computer kill creativity in Children?

Or

Does it enhance the creativity in Children?

Please share your views....

***********************

Btw read this ...

Source:www.india-forums.com

Solve complex math in a minute, the Vedic way

1 Comments

New Delhi, May 8 (IANS) It was invented in India, but Vedic mathematics is more popular abroad, says expert Pradeep Kumar who has authored more than 75 books on the subject. He believes it could banish the fear that creeps into the minds of millions of children at the mention of math.

New Delhi, May 8 (IANS) It was invented in India, but Vedic mathematics is more popular abroad, says expert Pradeep Kumar who has authored more than 75 books on the subject. He believes it could banish the fear that creeps into the minds of millions of children at the mention of math.

The world of Vedic maths, says Kumar, is mental - doing away with finger counting, carrying over digits, manual calculations and electronic computations.

Kumar, a mechanical engineer and an alumnus from the Indian Institute of Management (IIM)-Bangalore, heads the institute, Magical Methods in Delhi, which works with several schools in the Gulf and Southeast Asian countries to promote Vedic math.

'On an average, I conduct 30 workshops in schools across Asia, Europe and Canada every year. At this moment, I have three projects with schools in Honk Kong, Singapore and Bangkok,' Kumar told IANS in an interview. He has 57 centres and more than 100 trained Vedic math teachers on his rolls.

Vedic math, as contained in the Atharva Veda, the last of the four Vedas, is on a revival path after several thousand years. Schools in various Asian nations, Europe and America are falling back on ancient Indian scriptures to crack complex number games that make up present-day mathematics.

But Kumar says it is more popular abroad than in India. 'It is recognised by the National Council of Education Research and Training but is yet to become part of the scholastic curriculum in the country,' he said.

This when mathematics is a weak link for millions of schoolchildren across India. The subject seems either too dry or as being loaded with numbers.

'The premise is simple. Break down complex numbers into their components of 10s or 100s and calculate mentally. For example, when 38 is added to 46 in conventional math, we carry over one and add it to the top-most digit in the column representing 10 (in the Indian decimal system). The result is 84.

'But in Vedic math, we break down the number into its decimal components. First, we add 30 and 40, the sum of which is 70. And then add 8 and 6, which is 14. The zero stays and one adds strength to the cardinal number in the bigger decimal column. Hence, 7 becomes 8. The end result is 84,' Kumar explained, citing an example.

The mathematician has designed several puzzles and intelligent mind games for first-timers in Vedic classrooms.

The games like the Tower of Hanoi, Magic Square, Frogs and Toad and Double Game are based on reasoning and logic. 'They improve concentration and reasoning abilities as they initiate rookies into the subject. It does not burden the mind and benefits children psychologically,' says Kumar.

Vedic math, interpreted in the modern context in 1965 by seer Bharati Krisna Thirthaji Maharaja in his book 'Vedic Mathematics', has 16 'sutras' (formulas) and 13 sub-sutras (smaller theorems) to solve the entire gamut of mathematical problems mentally in less than one-tenth of the time taken to solve them through conventional methods.

In a live demonstration, Kumar added two sets of 24-digit numbers down to its last decimal point in less than five seconds, without a word. 'It comes with practice,' he said.

The Vedic math expert, who used the technique to solve his mathematical problems in his IIM entrance test (CAT), has designed modules for students trying to crack the IIT and IIM as well as bank jobs and IAS examinations.

Edited by mythili_Kiran - 15 years ago

No, I do not believe that computers kill creativity in children.... As for math, in the real world, do we really have time to sit and break up numbers into components of 10s and 100s and then add or multiply? I don't think so. Everyone uses calculators, and children should be taught to use them from a young age (not too young, about 12 or so...).

Of course, children should be taught the basics of math, such as addition, subtraction, multiplication (up to, like, the 12 times table), division, percentages, ratios, LCM/HCF etc.

Also, basic components of language seem to be butchered by the growth of this nonsensical "internet language" where words seem to be an odd mishmash of letters and numbers and symbols. I've actually seen people write like this for serious research papers in my university! Atrocious!

Yes, if the computers are being used for nonsense like video games, especially those disturbing fighting and killing ones (the sport ones and racing ones seem to be ok), I'd have to say they have to be more damaging than constructive.

We are moving in to a world where almost everything is automated and powered by computers, and I think children should be given appropriate training from a young age.

16*7 right of the top of you head is not creativity but memory. Of course there might be a creative way of enhancing memory.

People can be left brained or right brained. Left brained people are the more analytical logical people, while right brained people are more spatial conceptual people.

Just because we use computers does not mean that we do not learn math. To build that computer or calculator some genius had to figure out how to right algorithms that can perform complex mathematical functions based on a few keystroke inputs. You have to know math to know what functions to input in your calculator.

I am all for teaching basic, intermediate as well as some advanced level mathematics to all till they are done with high school. More advanced and expert level stuff should be left for students with aptitude.

However, just because math was taught in school does not mean kids are more creative or smarter. I went to school in India. Math was drilled into us. Teachers sent us home with ton of homework. We had to know and recite times table till twenty. I solved 100 mark papers for 3.5 hours without calculators. My sister went to school in USA where they were allowed calculators for a lot of things. Yet she is sharper at math than I am. She can solve problems and sums way faster than I can, because she can think logically in numbers. She can do a lot of mental math very quickly, while I need pencil and scratch paper. I was never a numbers person, I was always slower in solving math.

Does that mean I am less creative or smart. I resent the fact that people would consider me to be less smart or creative because numbers are not my thing. I have other skills. I have a good command with language and can write essays, reports, short stories, poems etc quite easily. I have a knack for technology and people often come to me for help with computers or setting up a home theater system, hooking up their media center PC's.

At the same time I do see people pull out calculators to add 22+34 when they could easily get 56 with mental math in less time. So over reliance can kill skills.

Not all computer geeks lack creativity or knowledge

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Originally posted by: return_to_hades

16*7 right of the top of you head is not creativity but memory.

Wrong. It is creativity not memory. You need to identify quicker ways to muliply two numbers and thats creativity...you dont have to remember 16 times tables......i dont remember whats 12*13... but if I know 12*12 I know I just need to add 12 more....etc..... Rest later.. 😊

Originally posted by: qwertyesque

Wrong. It is creativity not memory. You need to identify quicker ways to muliply two numbers and thats creativity...you dont have to remember 16 times tables......i dont remember whats 12*13... but if I know 12*12 I know I just need to add 12 more....etc..... Rest later.. 😊

but hey 12*12 is multiplication as far as I know. Myth said without actually multiplying. Even with a short cut method you are doing multiplication. The only way to know the answer right away without any multiplication process whatsoever is pure memory.

Although I have to say the way I do it (12x10)+(12x3) = 120+36 = 156 involves memory + addition, which does not involve multiplying.

Math teaches us logic. You need logic to operate and use computers. Either way we are learning to think logically.

 Computers are to math what books became to literature centuries ago. 😊   Earlier people used to rely on memory to pass on the literature.  

Originally posted by: return_to_hades

but hey 12*12 is multiplication as far as I know. Myth said without actually multiplying. Even with a short cut method you are doing multiplication. The only way to know the answer right away without any multiplication process whatsoever is pure memory.

Although I have to say the way I do it (12x10)+(12x3) = 120+36 = 156 involves memory + addition, which does not involve multiplying.

 Huh? I see you used multiplication twice up there, even if it from memory, you are using multiplication process in mind.😊

Edited by lighthouse - 15 years ago

Originally posted by: lighthouse

 Huh? I see you used multiplication twice up there, even if it from memory, you are using multiplication process in mind.😊

Then that means myth asked a trick question. Because 12x13 is a multiplication process itself and even if you do it mentally you still did multiplication.

I am assuming myth means knowing 12x13 as a given fact rather than solving mentally.

No, it enhances the horizons of kids creativity!! 😃 it's hard to believe unless experienced 😉😆

Personally, I still use my head to multiply and divide, because I find opening the calculator program and typing in the numbers more time consuming thn just doing it all in my head.

But no, for a person who's explored the various oppurtunities and the advntages tht the compute and the internet offers, I can blindly say it doesn't kill the creativity.........it widens the imagination. It gives huge platforms fro kids to express their talents, to aquire fame, to create an identity of ur own.

But yes, drawing a painting ina piece of paper with a pencil is MUCH easier tht making ur mouse move the way u want in the paint program.........sometimes, you don't get the correct control of the mouse. 😆

Its a competitive world.........technology is developing day by day.......in abt 15 yrs, no man will probably be using  a pen and a paper(I know its a vague statement, but still it's not impossible);make the kids move with the time, thts the best thign to do😃

Edited by ditty - 15 years ago