Education, Teaching, Learning, Curiosity and Media During the Big Change
The big change has been going on now for a few months, in fact it has now been over two months for my household since we've been able to interact in person with family, friends, or community;other than brief and socially-distanced interactions with our neighbors.
Our household consumes a lot of media, but most of it is educational in nature. I love learning, as I believe all do, and use the Internet extensively, along with writing, making diagrams, and talking with others (especially family) to learn. The rest of my household uses the internet in a similar way, my sons are learning, bit by bit, how to use it most effectively for self-directed learning, but a little at a time.
My sons are both actively working on learning about monetary systems, and are making money systems (complementary currencies) that they can use inside, and eventually outside, the household.
We already are using a local currency within the household called "screen pennies", which the sons earn by doing things that we want them to do; or that we don't want to do ourselves (mostly learning activities and chores). They accumulate these during the week, and then can spend starting after dinner time on Friday.
After school is done, on many days, we'll sit down and watch a documentary or two, and commonly talk about how they relate to other historical events, the past, and the future.
Genius by Stephen Hawking (2016) -- great insights in to the meaning of life and the cosmos; for the common, everyday person, this is the most significant direct contribution that Hawking has made; all six episodes are accessible, clever, engaging, thought provoking, and educational
Nova: Decoding the Great Pyramid (2019) -- along with other Nova episodes
Cosmos: Possible Worlds - s01e01 - Ladder to the Stars
Cosmos: Possible Worlds - s01e02 - The Fleeting Grace of the Habitable Zone -- very interesting ideas about human life in the distant future
BBC 4 - Planet Ant - Life Inside the Colony (2013) -- super-organisms
BBC 2 - Our Secret Universe - The Hidden Life of the Cell (2012) -- cellular machinery vs virus
We watched these two shows back-to-back. It was interesting to see the similarities between how the ant colony is a super-organism and each ant is like a cell; and how each cell is extremely complex inside, and is very similar to an organism (like an ant) in it's complexity.
BBC 2 - Horizon - Coronavirus Special (2020) - Part 1 -- the spread of SARS-COV-2 - Hannah (host)
BBC 4 - Pandemic - Contagion! (2018) -- modeling the spread of a virus - Hannah (host)
We watched the Coronavirus special first, which talked about the spread of the novel coronavirus; and then watched the Contagion! episode, which was all about modeling the spread of a virus. They were both hosted by Hannah Fry.
It is interesting to think about all of the people that participated in the 2018 studies, and how they must have reacted to news of the spreading coronavirus. Interesting how they touched on the idea of public transportation and large gatherings, closing schools, staying home, etc.
Very good point that the super-spreaders are the ones that should be protected the most via a vaccine or other personal protective equipment, social distancing, etc.; which is to say that the essential workers should be protected first and foremost, and especially those that come in close contact with many others.
As a family, in the evenings, we've been watching two or three movies per week, in particular, ones with realistic characters in semi-documentary forms, which highlight human nature:
Millions (2004) -- altruism vs selfishness, Christianity, need vs want
October Sky (1999) -- vision, inspiration, perseverance, sacrifice
Sully (2016) -- patience, truth, expertise, friendship, memory
The Whale Rider (2002) -- tradition, perseverance, love, community, legacy
That Thing You Do (1996) -- change, music, one-hit wonder, patience, love
The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind (2019) -- the power of knowledge, patience, determination
Hidden Figures (2016) -- mathematics, education, perseverance
Overall, despite the big change going on right now, the learning continues, as we attempt to take advantage of the time we have together, to learn as much as we can from one another, to make this time something better than before, and most importantly, to allow learning to bloom by allowing our curiosity to run wild.
"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery each day." -- Albert Einstein (1955)
20200414223000 UTC Aaron Wayne Wissner
Our household consumes a lot of media, but most of it is educational in nature. I love learning, as I believe all do, and use the Internet extensively, along with writing, making diagrams, and talking with others (especially family) to learn. The rest of my household uses the internet in a similar way, my sons are learning, bit by bit, how to use it most effectively for self-directed learning, but a little at a time.
My sons are both actively working on learning about monetary systems, and are making money systems (complementary currencies) that they can use inside, and eventually outside, the household.
We already are using a local currency within the household called "screen pennies", which the sons earn by doing things that we want them to do; or that we don't want to do ourselves (mostly learning activities and chores). They accumulate these during the week, and then can spend starting after dinner time on Friday.
After school is done, on many days, we'll sit down and watch a documentary or two, and commonly talk about how they relate to other historical events, the past, and the future.
Genius by Stephen Hawking (2016) -- great insights in to the meaning of life and the cosmos; for the common, everyday person, this is the most significant direct contribution that Hawking has made; all six episodes are accessible, clever, engaging, thought provoking, and educational
Nova: Decoding the Great Pyramid (2019) -- along with other Nova episodes
Cosmos: Possible Worlds - s01e01 - Ladder to the Stars
Cosmos: Possible Worlds - s01e02 - The Fleeting Grace of the Habitable Zone -- very interesting ideas about human life in the distant future
BBC 4 - Planet Ant - Life Inside the Colony (2013) -- super-organisms
BBC 2 - Our Secret Universe - The Hidden Life of the Cell (2012) -- cellular machinery vs virus
We watched these two shows back-to-back. It was interesting to see the similarities between how the ant colony is a super-organism and each ant is like a cell; and how each cell is extremely complex inside, and is very similar to an organism (like an ant) in it's complexity.
BBC 2 - Horizon - Coronavirus Special (2020) - Part 1 -- the spread of SARS-COV-2 - Hannah (host)
BBC 4 - Pandemic - Contagion! (2018) -- modeling the spread of a virus - Hannah (host)
We watched the Coronavirus special first, which talked about the spread of the novel coronavirus; and then watched the Contagion! episode, which was all about modeling the spread of a virus. They were both hosted by Hannah Fry.
It is interesting to think about all of the people that participated in the 2018 studies, and how they must have reacted to news of the spreading coronavirus. Interesting how they touched on the idea of public transportation and large gatherings, closing schools, staying home, etc.
Very good point that the super-spreaders are the ones that should be protected the most via a vaccine or other personal protective equipment, social distancing, etc.; which is to say that the essential workers should be protected first and foremost, and especially those that come in close contact with many others.
As a family, in the evenings, we've been watching two or three movies per week, in particular, ones with realistic characters in semi-documentary forms, which highlight human nature:
Millions (2004) -- altruism vs selfishness, Christianity, need vs want
October Sky (1999) -- vision, inspiration, perseverance, sacrifice
Sully (2016) -- patience, truth, expertise, friendship, memory
The Whale Rider (2002) -- tradition, perseverance, love, community, legacy
That Thing You Do (1996) -- change, music, one-hit wonder, patience, love
The Boy Who Harnessed The Wind (2019) -- the power of knowledge, patience, determination
Hidden Figures (2016) -- mathematics, education, perseverance
Overall, despite the big change going on right now, the learning continues, as we attempt to take advantage of the time we have together, to learn as much as we can from one another, to make this time something better than before, and most importantly, to allow learning to bloom by allowing our curiosity to run wild.
"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existence. One cannot help but be in awe when he contemplates the mysteries of eternity, of life, of the marvelous structure of reality. It is enough if one tries merely to comprehend a little of this mystery each day." -- Albert Einstein (1955)
20200414223000 UTC Aaron Wayne Wissner
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