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Mathematica and the O'Reilly School of Technology: An Interview with Scott Gray
Related Press Release: O'Reilly School of Technology and Wolfram Research Announce Special Licensing Agreement
Mathematica has been long recognized as the world's best computer algebra system. Stephen Wolfram originally conceived it of more than two decades ago and since then the program has grown to become an unparalleled platform for all forms of computing.
Now the O'Reilly School of Technology (OST) is poised to offer Mathematica in its newest form: called "Hilbert" for the influential mathematician, the newly licensed software will be browser accessible and, utilizing AJAX technologies, will emulate the desktop version of the software with remarkable fidelity.
In the following interview, Scott Gray, the director of the O'Reilly School of Technology, tells us how the pairing of Mathematica and OST came about and what this new development means for OST students.
Q. Mathematica sounds like something that's going to appeal only to serious math students. Can you explain to us what it is and how the typical OST student will benefit from this development?
Scott: Mathematica is software capable of doing all kinds of math, from the simple arithmetic to the most advanced mathematics being done today. It's a perfect medium to teach and learn the basics of mathematics like algebra and calculus. In fact, we think that our courses are the best way to learn the basics since students can treat mathematics both empirically and logically. Students can experiment with their own ideas and questions using Mathematica as they follow along with the material.
Q. Will the Web 2.0 version of Mathematica be very different from the desktop software?
Scott: It will have extremely high fidelity with the Mathematica software. The only difference will be that users will be reading, typing and executing commands on a web page version that connects to a server via AJAX. Mathematica output is rendered real-time via AJAX and CSS.
Q. Why did you choose the name Hilbert?
Scott: David Hilbert is one of the most influential mathematicians of the 20th century. His work contributed to Mathematical Logic, number theory, Quantum theory, functional analysis, geometry and more. But the main reason I chose to grace our project with Hilbert's name was that Hilbert posed a set of 23 then unsolved problems, which through attempts at their solution, generated entire disciplines of mathematics. In this way, Hilbert was the ultimate instructor, not by simply explaining problems but through posing them.
Q. How is OST going to use Mathematica/Hilbert?
Scott: We will be teaching the course materials created by Jerry Uhl of the University of Illinois and Bill Davis of The Ohio State University. They've written a set of groundbreaking course materials that are contained entirely within Mathematica notebooks (files). Hilbert gives us the ability not only to easily distribute these materials online but allows us to mix this content with web-based learning tools to improve the student and teaching experiences while also minimizing the complication and costs of delivering these courses.
Q. Do you see offering math courses as a natural progression for OST? Are there other types of courses in the works as well?
Scott: It's not just a progression, we've actually come full circle. The whole reason we got involved in online education in the first place was because of our experience with the Calculus&Mathematica; project started by Davis and Uhl. We've had a system like Hilbert to deliver these course materials on the wish list for 15 years. Technology has finally caught up with Davis and Uhl and now we're able to create the ultimate in online mathematics courses.
Q. When will students be able to take math courses from OST?
Scott: We'll start taking enrollments sometime in the fourth quarter of '08.
Q. Is there anything in particular you'd like people to know about OST and this news?
Scott: I want people to keep an eye on what we're doing. We're are building the first online school based completely on the notion that people learn more from experience than they do information. We are creating an online school that isn't constrained by old and antiquated notions of teaching and learning. We are using the computer to help students learn how to learn and to enable them to build the kind of confidence in themselves that they can carry for the rest of their lives.
Q. You've mentioned before that your teaching method is part of the secret of OST's success, that is, helping students learn how to learn. Can you tell us more?
Scott: Education is undergoing a paradigm shift, we are no longer constrained by classrooms and as such we have an opportunity to redefine what education means. Today more so than ever information and knowledge are at our fingertips and so cramming information into our students' heads is no longer as important as it once was. We should now focus more on teaching reasoning skills and problem solving. It is our goal at OST to be a leader in education and to be a shining example of how to use the computer and Internet to teach students these skills.
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