School kids may be divided into two broad categories: those who love maths and those who hate the maths subject.

Students who love maths need little or no guidance. Clear explanation and a few maths practice sums are enough to help them get better at the subject. However, things are not so easy with the other students. Student who dislike maths do so because they don’t understand it. This makes them fear the subject and that fear ultimately leads to dislike. As the parent it is important that you help your kid get over that fear so that child changes perspective and starts taking interest in maths.

Listed below are a few simple tips that you could adopt at home:

Remove the Negativity

Often times the parent’s perception of the subject reflects on the child. If you don’t like the subject and have showcased it quite a few times, your child will automatically dislike it as well. This is why it is highly advisable that you create a positive environment at home, which welcomes maths and problem solving. Talk about the advantages of learning maths and how maths will be useful in the future. Be enthusiastic about the subject so that it encourages your child to make an effort and voluntarily engage in maths practice.

Use Real Life Examples

Kids learn better with real life examples because they instantly connect with them. You should take advantage of this and present such instances. For example, you may ask your little child to cross the groceries and then verify the grand total. If your child is a little older you may also ask him to calculate how to split the restaurant bill among 4 people. You could also take chocolates and purchase into consideration and ask questions such as, “If one chocolate costs Rs.10, how much will 20 chocolates cost?”

Such connecting questions will spur interest and inspire them to practice maths regularly.

Play Games That Relate To Maths

Kids usually don’t like being directly taught. This holds true especially when you are trying to teach a subject they don’t like. This is where games come in. Today, the market has many interactive and educational games that will not just provide entertainment but will also help your child learn. Kids learn best when they are interested and games cater to that.

Use Technology

We live in a world of advanced technology and thanks to the advent of Internet maths practice has become fun and feasible. You have plenty of choices to practice maths online and to improve your child’s maths skills. Kids love moving out of books and pencils, and using the mouse or track pad. A change in the environment and medium of instruction will definitely have a positive impact.

         Image credit:  Chetan Bhagat Facebook fan page.

IBM predicts classroom learning will be tailored for each individual child in next 5 years.

                           Picture credits: IBM

The IBM 5 in 5 is the eighth year in a row that IBM has made predictions about technology, and this year’s predictions are sure to get people talking.

The classroom will learn you.

Since the days of the one room schools, both K-12 and higher education classrooms have been focused on a one-to-many communication between a teacher and a group of students. All students receive the same material from a teacher in a lecture setting because individual attention for 30 or more is nearly impossible. The classrooms of the future will give educators the tools to learn about every student, providing them with a tailored curriculum from kindergarten to high school. So classroom of the future will shift from a one-size-fits-all model to a truly personalized environment.

The classroom of the future will learn about each specific student over the course of their education, helping them master the skills that match their goals. The rapid digitization of educational institutions will allow unprecedented instrumentation of the learning process. Cognitive computing, or learning technologies, will help us calculate everything we can about how each student learns and thrives, then create flexibility in the system to continually adapt and fine-tune what we deliver to that student and how this supports teachers and employers.

Two out of three people globally, haven’t got the high school education. So there is highly possible in a decade, globally, the school pass out will be increase exponentially.

Bernie Meyerson, vice president of innovation at IBM in his interview to venturebeat says “Now teachers learn about a child every year, but moving forward teachers already know everything about a child how he/she learn.”

IBM also mentions clearly that this doesn't replace teacher. It allows them to be far more effective. 

 Author: Shatru Naik