Its Multiple Applications in Your Classroom

MAET RELATe Conference 2010 Rouen, France

What are the learning objectives today?

MAET RELATe Conference 2010 Rouen, France

•You will be introduced to a new knowledge database tool called WolframAlpha •You will have the opportunity to see how it compares

with more common search engines like Google •You will be able to see how it applies across various

curriculum content •Most importantly, we hope that you will reflect on

how it may apply in your classroom based on your content and pedagogy (TPACK)

What is WolframAlpha?

•It is a free online tool that answers your factual queries directly rather than referencing related answers on the web. So, it’s an “answer engine” rather than a “search engine.” Unlike Google, it doesn't involve the process of extracting data from a web page.

•It responds to you queries by computing the answer from structured data

MAET RELATe Conference 2010 Rouen, France

MAET RELATe Conference 2010 Rouen, France

So, what “structured data” is used in the computation process to come up with the response if it is not extracted from web pages?

•The data comes from various, reliable sources, such government agencies, for example.

•More importantly, Wolfram uses a staff of over 150 people to ensure the information is “clean and tagged in a way that WolframAlpha can present”

So, what do the responses look like and how are they different from ones you may get form Google for example?

MAET RELATe Conference 2010 Rouen, France

Let’s try this querie

•What are the most common languages spoken in the world

So, what kind of capabilities does it have?

MAET RELATe Conference 2010 Rouen, France

•WolframAlpha is an excellent tool in the area of mathematics and science, but it can also be used very creatively in social sciences

•It can answer queries as simple as “who was the first president of the US” to more sophisticated ones that involve solving solving complex algebraic equations

So, how would you apply it?

MAET RELATe Conference 2010 Rouen, France

•It depends on your content•It depends on you pedagogy•It depends on your comfort level

So, how would you apply it?

MAET RELATe Conference 2010 Rouen, France

•It depends on your content•It depends on you pedagogy•It depends on your comfort level