Experimental Math Teaching Method Begin Trials in 30 Schools
A computer-based method of teaching math will be tested in 30 schools in Estonia until the end of the current school year.
The curriculum will shift the focus from hard calculating to translating everyday problems into math, allowing computers to do the hard work, ERR radio reported on Saturday.
Kristjan Korjus of the University of Tartu said children will, for example, have to calculate how many words in the Estonian-language they know using statistics or probability theories.
He said such a method could be used to teach math from the third grade, but the current experiment is conducted on pupils between the sixth and ninth grades.
“We now have to start conceiving what education has to be like in a world where the main question is not about finding information - information in abundance can be accessed with a few clicks - but about giving information meaning,” said Minister of Education Jaak Aaviksoo said a year ago, when the project was first announced.
The method has been worked out by British education visionary Conrad Wolfram while the University of Tartu is also involved with the experiment.
Wolfram chose Estonia for the tests for its size and strong math and IT skills.