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TheDigitalSquirrel

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Hi!

I have recently started to make Calculus videos (using the book: Thomas' calculus, in order to provide surely qualitative content to everyone), and i upload it to YouTube, firstly because i want to help my classmates with their calculus studies, but than i thought, why not making much more of them and start an e-learning website of (firstly) math, and than physics, biology etc... because one of my friend has really good webdesigning skills, so he could make one for me. I'm writing here, just to ask you, whether a video like this (it's me, explaining the really basics of calculus) is helpful and understandable, or not. So do you think i should invest all my summertime on making videos like this, maybe from the really basics, like 5+7=... Do you see some future in this? Do you consider it helpful for beginners? Link: http://www.youtube.com/user/TheDigitalS ... kVk4B1sRvs
Thanks for the answers!

Yours faithfully,
The Digital Squirrel

P.S.: Sorry for my English, I'm not a native speaker, and I'm just 17.
 
I have found that explaining something to others may help them or it may hinder them. Sometimes a good explanation provides the needed clarification that helps them see the basic principle. Sometimes it only allows them to avoid thinking it through for themselves. A poor explanation may mislead them. Therefore you need to think it through as to whether you have the capability to provide an explanation that isn't too thorough and is not misleading. If you do a good job in your preparation, you will probably find that you will learn more thoroughly that which you are explaining. In other words, teaching others is a valuable learning tool for you.
 
I can explain math fine, using hungarian, my native language, the only problem that can occur, that my english is not fluent, and i don't have got a really wide range of vocabulary. So i hope that while making these videos, my english gets better and better, with my explaining ability.
 
TheDigitalSquirrel said:
I can explain math fine, using hungarian, my native language, the only problem that can occur, that my english is not fluent, and i don't have got a really wide range of vocabulary. So i hope that while making these videos, my english gets better and better, with my explaining ability.
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Well, I watched one of your videos and I found it to be somewhat rushed and unclear. Like you said, your English is not your strongest point and you seem a little nervous because of it. I don't know how helpful your videos will be to other English speaking students because of it.

I do watch a lot of math YouTube videos because I always seem to acquire a deeper understanding when someone in addition to my professor explains it to me.

My all time favorite YouTube math instructor goes by the username khanacademy. Here is him giving an introductory lecture on derivatives: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAof9Ld5sOg

As you can see, he has lots of views and the comments from others are all positive- people worship this guy because of his explanations skills.

I suggest watching some of his videos and modeling your videos off his presentation style. He is clear, doesn't overload, and as Loren said provides the perfect amount of explanation.

The pro side of your videos is you cover the fundamental material which students often struggle with. In summation: the topics are good, the presentation needs to be a little more clear and relaxed.

JUST MY OPINION......
 
I watched part of your video.

Your English is quite good. (Let's say infinitely better than my Magyar.)

You know how to use the blackboard (better than khan).

The presentation is technically correct, but I am not sure that it leads the beginner in a simple way into concepts that seem strange and forbidding to many. For example, drawing the (0, 0) at a point other than the intersection of the x and y axes is mathematically acceptable, but it is a whole lot easier for the beginner to grasp the concepts if (0, 0) is the intersection of the axes. There is a fair amount of vocabulary being taught that is not necessary to grasp the basic concepts. Yes, it is good for a student to know that what is being taught is the rectangular or Cartesian coordinate system, but it is not an essential distinction until the student is introduced to polar coordiantes, or the complex plane. Most importantly, in an introductory presentation, use concrete examples before generalizing. I'd go directly from the axes and origin to discussing a numeric point, say (3, 7). Use different numeric points like (- 4, 7) and (3, - 7) to explain the conventions about positive and negative directions. Explain that a simple way to remember that the x value precedes the y value is that x precedes y in the alphabet. You are trying to dispel confusion and fear. Build slowly, keep each topic fairly limited, and exclude any material that is not essential to the immediate topic at hand (or give at the end under some extra information that is good to know.) That is, maybe you explain that people call what you have just explained a rectangular or Cartesian co-ordinate system and the terms abcissa and ordinate are often used to identify the two numbers that identify a point, but do that after you have thoroughly explained how the system works.

Just my opinion. I never taught.

PS There are numerous math sites in English. How many are there in Magyar? You may get a bigger audience using English, but you may help more people by using Magyar. And your concerns about fluency would disappear.
 
Thanks for the comments! :)

Yes, I know khanacademy, I learned how to deal with matrices from khan, and I'm thankful for him because of that. I wanted to use multicolored blackbord too, but than most people would say, that I'm copying Khan. I'm using Thomas' Calculus as a sample of my videos, I read out from it very often, in order to make the videos more fluent. I'm making videos in calculus just beacuase at class we learn calculus, and I want to help them with their calculus studies this way, and when i started the videos i thought that i can generate a bigger audience with english. But than it seems that you consider it too difficult for a beginner. To tell you the truth I think that you cannot learn math JUST from khanacademy videos, and I wanted to create something that would replace school, not forever, but for example a short period of time. (For instance you're sick for 2 weeks.)
And no, there isn't any math tutoring (or e-learning) site in "Magyar". (I have the opportunity to create the first, but the biggest audience that i can reach is hardly even 1 million people. [Hungary has less then 10 million citizens.]) But I wanted to create the basics of an e-study site, where you can learn anything, you want (Biology, Physics, Literature, History, Math ...) with a quality that can replace schools in english. Khanacademy is good, but I think it's far from perfect. You cannot really find what you want, or not easily. Creating a site like this needs of a lot of energy, and money. (I guess I will not get 3.5 million $ for my operation from the Gates Foundation and from Google) And there is just one year till the university, doing this as a full-time job would be grateful, but beside university it's nearly impossible.
 
Well, you could also shop around for a fluent English speaking boyfriend :wink:
 
Well not all speakers of Magyar live in Hungary proper, and those living outside Hungary may have real trouble getting good instruction in their native language. So if you want to do this, think about doing it in Magyar (where there is a lack) and license it to people who will translate it into other languages with small populations like Finnish or Esthonian (where presumably there is also a lack). That way you will be helping a greater number of people.

By the way, you put Magyar in quotes. Did I use it incorrectly?
 
No! You used (and wrote) the word Magyar properly, as it means the same as hungarian, just in Magyar. :)
To tell you the truth, there was a wolrd-wide survey, and it seems that there are 15 million hungarian people around the world. I actually started making videos in hungarian today. It's a lot more easier! :) I made 6, 10-15 minute videos under 2,5-3 hours. I'll make a site for this with my friend, who'll put up tutorials on PHP,Java,MySQL and HTML in the near future hopefully, and we will provide the site for all of our school students. Maybe we can expand to other schools in Hungary, and after we have enough audience in Hungary, we will switch into english, and start to make the site bilingual, in order to provide qualitative education for more people!
 
TheDigitalSquirrel said:
No! You used (and wrote) the word Magyar properly, as it means the same as hungarian, just in Magyar. :)
To tell you the truth, there was a wolrd-wide survey, and it seems that there are 15 million hungarian people around the world. I actually started making videos in hungarian today. It's a lot more easier! :) I made 6, 10-15 minute videos under 2,5-3 hours. I'll make a site for this with my friend, who'll put up tutorials on PHP,Java,MySQL and HTML in the near future hopefully, and we will provide the site for all of our school students. Maybe we can expand to other schools in Hungary, and after we have enough audience in Hungary, we will switch into english, and start to make the site bilingual, in order to provide qualitative education for more people!
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CONGRATULATIONS.

As for Magyar, I can't read a word, but long ago I was thinking of becoming an historian specializing in the so-called Northern Courts, which were Prussia, Russia, and Austria. Up until well into the 18th century, almost all official papers in Hungary were in Latin so my lack of Magyar was not a drawback. Of course, my linguistic capacity came to an abrupt end in 1867.

if your site has a great success (and I sincerely hope it does), please do not forget my suggestion about getting it made multi-lingual. Not everyone speaks English.

Two comments about fine points in American usage. Please do not take offense.

"Easier" is a comparative form with the same meaning as "more easy." So "more easier" is not standard English in either the US or Britain; it is redundant. "More" tends to be used to form the comparative of long adjectives, and the "er" suffix tends to be used to form the comparative of short adjectives. English is not an easy language.

In the US, a decimal is shown with a period as in 2.5, which means 2 + (1/2). 1,000 means 10[sup:2xz3om56]3[/sup:2xz3om56]. It is just the opposite of European practice.
 
Thanks!

Yes, you're totally right, I made several mistakes.

I'll try to make it multi-lingual, as anybody will be able to put on videos, in their own section. :)
 
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