Project Brief

To help children explore basic mathematics and play with numbers

using interactive storytelling. Using new media technologies to
enhance communication, to reach good cognitive goals, to increase the
students’ attention, and to make the learning process more interactive.

The final product would be a cross between tactile and digital, with a
problem-solving/game approach, which enables the child engage with
mathematics at an interactive and dynamic level.

Target Audience: 9-12 year olds

Education Boards
I started off my research by conducting interviews in schools in
Bangalore. I went to schools which belonged to different education
boards, to analyze the difference in curriculum, teaching approaches,
and exposure.

Schools:
Delhi Public School (Bangalore North)
Poorna Prajna Education Centre
Mallya Aditi International School
Education Boards | Interviews
Teachers:
1. What are the teaching methodologies that differentiate your board
(CBSE etc.) from the others?
2. How do your children enjoy the Math class?
3. How do they fare on Math tests (on an average)?
4. How much of workshop/practical learning sessions are incorporated
within the curriculum? How do the students enjoy those sessions?
5. Do you think mathematics is better taught the traditional way, or do
you encourage a more ‘learning through doing’ approach?
6. What are your views on ‘integrated curriculum’ and integrative
learning?
7. Does your school spend money on new technologies for learning?
8. What are your views on technology, and how do you think it can be
used to enhance learning? What in your opinion are the pros and cons
of using technology and new media in education?
Education Boards | Interviews
Students:
1. Do you like Math? If not, what do you not like?
2. How well do you score on Math tests?
3. Can you see Math in the world around you? Where?
4. Do you see purpose in the math skills you learn in school?
5. Do you play educational games? If so, which ones?
6. Would you be comfortable learning by yourself, through a game, or a
book? Or would you need a teacher to instruct you?
7. Are you familiar with using the computer? Do you prefer playing
games on the computer as opposed to reading a book?
8. If you were in charge of your class, how would you like to teach your
‘students’ math? What do you think is the best way for them to learn?
Imagine your ‘Dream Math Class’!
Education Boards | C.B.S.E
DELHI PUBLIC SCHOOL (Bangalore North)
Std. 4 and Std. 5

∧Most children from this school were quite fond of the subject, though
some of them found it hard to grasp.
∧In terms of application, apart from ‘money’ and ‘school’, they weren’t
able to relate mathematics to the world around them.
∧The school organizes math labs once a week, where students work on
group projects, class activities and games.
∧Many students said they would be comfortable learning on their own,
but would like some guidance from their teacher as well.
∧They played educational games like “Math quiz”, “Scrabble”, “Think
Fun”, and memory games.
∧Also, the school has an Educomp SmartClass in each class, and the
all the students love learning from it.
Education Boards | I.C.S.E
MALLYA ADITI INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL
Std. 4

∧Most children seemed to enjoy their math classes. They play class
games like “Around the world”, “Multiplication facts”.
∧They were quite aware of the applications of math in the real world-
∧They came up with answers like “Money”, “Time”, “Computers”,
“Business” and “Stock Market”!
∧They liked playing games on the computer more than reading books,
and solved online puzzles and educational quizzes. They also solved
Sudoku and crosswords.
∧They wanted to play games like monopoly in class, and learn geometry
by building 3D models, cutting shapes etc. “I want to learn Math only
through quizzes. No tests and textbooks!”
Education Boards | Karnataka State Board
POORNA PRAJNA EDUCATION CENTRE
Std. 4, Std. 5 and Std. 6

∧Most students preferred reading books to playing games on the

computer.
∧The students preferred to have a teacher to guide them, rather than
learning on their own through games and/or books. They also said that
their ideal math class should be “stress free”, and the focus should be
on fun and play, not on homework and tests.
∧They play educational games like “Word Building” and crosswords.
Some children said they see math in the world around them in
“Money”, “Measurement” and “Counting”- “From the number of pens
in my pencil box, to the population of my country”. Rest of them said
they see math only on the blackboard and in school.
Education Boards | Karnataka State Board
POORNA PRAJNA EDUCATION CENTRE
Std. 4, Std. 5 and Std. 6

∧Teachers regularly attend workshops such as “Creative teaching”,

“Classroom management”, “Evaluation techniques” held at the Poorna
Prajna Institute of Faculty Improvement. The school is on its way to set
up a Math Lab.
∧Math teachers think that a “learning through doing” approach is
appreciated by students, but some topics need to be taught the
traditional way. They also think “integrative learning” depends highly
on the motivation of the child and his/her aptitude to grasp concepts
and draw connections.
∧The teachers also think that technology should come with limitations-
“Teachers and students are more important than technology. Especially
when it comes to exams, I am sorry to say but drilling is a must, both at
home and school.”
Curriculum
The range of concepts/topics students learn from Std 4-6:
∧Numbers
∧Types of numbers
∧Basic geometrical ideas
∧Integers
∧Fractions
∧Decimals
∧Percentages
∧Ratio and Proportion
∧HCF and LCM
∧Data Handling
∧Mensuration
∧Symmetry
∧Basic Algebra
Curriculum based needs
Drawing connections: Between different topics studied, as well as
tools and their application in the real world.

Freedom: Children think there is only ONE way to solve every

mathematical problem. The trick to make math interesting and
engaging is when you give them the freedom to discover patterns in
mathematics, and find their own approach to it.

Simulation exercises: To specify context, and make them aware of real

world applications of what they learn.

Children of the age 10-12 learn about HCF and LCM but don’t really
know how and where it may be applicable.

The inter-relation between fractions-decimals-percentages-ratios:

Very few children know that these are related and a problem presented
through one concept can be solved through any or all the others.
Mathematics | History
ABACUS:
Used for counting, simple as well as complex calculations.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wIiDomlEjJw&feature=player_
embedded

VEDIC MATHEMATICS
Patterns and techniques- The 16 sutras
The 16 sutras make it easy to perform complicated calculations in just
a few seconds.
http://www.memorymentor.com/Memorymentor%20Maths_tips.pdf
http://www.hinduism.co.za/vedic.htm
http://arxiv.org/ftp/math/papers/0611/0611347.pdf
Mathematics | Memory and Patterns
Mathematics encompasses a wide variety of skills and concepts.
Although these skills and concepts are related and often build on one
another, it is possible to master some and still struggle with others.
For instance, a child who has difficulty with basic multiplication facts
may be successful in another area, such as geometry.
For children to succeed in mathematics, a number of brain functions
need to work together. Because math is so cumulative in nature, it is
important to identify breakdowns as early as possible.

∧Math and Memory

∧Active Working Memory
∧Pattern Recognition
∧Memory for rules
∧Math and language
∧Math and attention
∧Temporal-Sequential Ordering, Spatial Ordering
∧Recognizing symbols
Tactile | Maths Mela
Prithvi Theatre (Mumbai), along with the British Council Library
organized a month long Maths festival which is being hosted across
different schools in Mumbai. The Maths Mela was an unconventional
engagement with the subject, where the focus is on the concepts
and applications of mathematics. The activities in the Mela included-
Workshops, Maths lab, Games, Film screenings and live performances.

Some mathematical concepts demonstrated at the Mela:

∧The Seven Bridges of Konigsberg
∧Ames Room
∧Mathmagic
∧Elliptical carrom board
∧The 5 platonic solids
∧Playing with geometry, Constructions
∧3D Animation: The origin of numbers, the 0, 1, the concept of binary
numbers, the Fibonacci numbers, and the abacus.
Tactile | Children’s Math Story books & Games
Simple narrative style
Questioning and Problem solving through storytelling
Colourful and friendly illustrations
Basic interactivity (Counting beads)
Bold use of type

Popular games:
∧Snakes and ladders
∧Monopoly
∧Scrabble
∧Quiz games
Storytelling | Flatland
Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions is written by English
schoolmaster Edwin Abbott Abbott. Writing as “a square”, Abbott
uses the fictional two-dimensional world of Flatland to offer pointed
observations on the social hierarchy of Victorian culture.

However, the novella’s more enduring contribution is its examination

of dimensions. Noted science writer Isaac Asimov described Flatland
as “The best introduction one can find into the manner of perceiving
dimensions.”

The story is about a two-dimensional world referred to as Flatland

which is occupied by geometric figures, line-segments (females) and
regular polygons with various numbers of sides.The narrator “Square”
guides us through some of the implications of life in two dimensions.
The narrator is then visited by a three-dimensional sphere, which he
cannot comprehend until he sees Spaceland for himself.
Storytelling | Ko’s Journey
Ko’s Journey is a first of its kind web-based application designed to
teach the core concepts of middle school math through storytelling.
Paced for learning and comprehension, it provides more depth and
context than most math games.

This is an adventure game where each hurdle can be crossed by solving

a mathematical problem. There are a range of mathematical concepts/
topics that are included in the game, which helps students see the
connection between different topics, as well as the application of math
in the real world.
Abstract | Crayon Physics Game
This is a concept game on the Nokia N810 tablet, which involves using
physics concepts in an environment to make objects interact.
At every point in the game, the ‘ball’ has to move towards the ‘star’.

The only way the ball can be moved is by drawing lines or box, which on
interacting with the ball, would cause it to move. On touching the star,
the ball eats it.
Science in Art | Perpetual Motion Machine
A moving sculpture by norwegian artist Mr. Reidar Finsrud. It appears
to use a combination of gravity, magnets, and pendulum effects,
which modern physics would say is impossible, to generate nearly
continuous motion since 1996, when it was assembled.

A steel ball is rolling on an aluminum track placed horizontally. Three

pendulums with tunable weights at the lower end, controls three
horse-shoe magnets that the steel ball has to pass by on the track.

Embedded in the track is a (mechanical) controlling/timing

mechanism. It looks like a steel wire bent into a triangular track. The
ball rolls over it and pushes the wire down through a slot in the track.
This affects one of the pendulums and regulates its swinging motion.
Science in Art | Exploratorium
The Exploratorium is a museum in San Francisco full of hundreds of
hands-on exhibits, most of them made onsite, that mix science and
art. It also aims to promote museums as informal education centers.
Founded in 1969 by the noted physicist and educator Dr. Frank
Oppenheimer, the Exploratorium offers visitors a variety of ways—
including exhibits, webcasts, websites and events—to explore and
understand the world around them.

The Exploratorium’s museum floor is the public face of the

Exploratorium, a laboratory for the research and development
of innovations in exhibits for exploring science, art, and human
perception.
New Media | M.I.T OpenCourseWare
MEDIA, EDUCATION AND TECHNOLOGY -BONNIE BRACEY

∧Children nowadays have grown up digitally. To them , technology is a

part of their natural world
∧Teachers think technology can be used everywhere, except the
classroom. They have no understanding of the way technology can be
used in the classroom, and transforming education from last century
into 21st century education. It is still “chalk and talk”, and children are
bored.
∧Not because teachers aren’t doing anything differently, it is because
the world has changed
∧Media allows children to be creators and producers. Allows them to
think and analyze. Allow them to talk to people everywhere.
∧How do we engage teachers? Allow them to play with technology, to
create a learning landscape- The way in which they use technology to
help children learn, understand, explore.
∧Converging many ideas to allow children to learn- Create pedagogy
New Media | M.I.T OpenCourseWare
∧Access, support, learning the technology- Taking the educator to the
point where they understand what engaged learning is. How does it
work? Seamless interface, structure?
∧Product, Project, Objectives, Assessment
∧Learn to be a learner
∧Create paths to lifelong learning
∧Change learning into seeing information, and changing it into
knowledge that becomes personalized
∧Children can begin to make decisions, ask questions and begin to
explore
∧Stakeholders-Community needs to understand the technology
∧Think forwards
∧Technology brings a face to communication
∧It is about learning to push the technology to a point where it is
invisible, and but a tool
New Media | M.I.T OpenCourseWare
EDUCATIONAL USES OF TECHNOLOGY -STEVEN LERMAN

∧Steven Lerman talks about education systems today, the learning

process, and using technology to facilitate learning. Some interesting
points:
∧‘Learning’ over ‘Teaching’-Teaching is a synchronous process, learning
isn’t.
∧The student becoming an active participant in his/her own learning
∧Enabling technologies that help students
∧Applications: Building real world educational software and learning
technologies and applying them to real learners. Looking at
opportunities, building things that will help students, and then putting
them in classroom settings
∧Evaluation and assessment- Does a technology help people learn
differently, better, faster?
∧How does that compare with traditional settings? Learning outcomes.
New Media | The Re.Math Project
Anyone who struggled with maths in school will appreciate how difficult
learning complex mathematical formulas can be. Traditional teaching
methods instruct students on how different maths equations work, but
often fail to explain why they work or, even more importantly, what use
they have in the real world.

Working in the EU-funded ReMath project, the team developed new

teaching aids, in the form of software tools known as Dynamic Digital
Artefacts (DDAs), and a comprehensive set of Pedagogical Plans for
teachers to use within the guidelines of national education curricula.

“The state-of-the-art tools and Pedagogical Plans cover a wide variety

of mathematical fields,” Kynigos, who coordinated the ReMath project,
says. “Some use traditional mathematical representations while others
are more like interactive games that show the role maths plays in the
real world.”
New Media | Ars Electronica
FEATURED EXHIBITIONS IN 2008
OF lab
The idea was to build a space where a dozen or so people will hang
out and experiment, make art, create guerilla exhibitions around the
festival and document their progress and discoveries.
CyberArts
The OK center presented a selection of the best projects in the Prix
Ars Electronica’s Interactive Art, Hybrid Art and Digital Communities
category.
Featured Art Scene Exhibition
Ecology of the Techno Mind presents a selection of works by artists
who are deploying technology and science as a means of delving into
social realty today.
Hybrid Ego-Towards A New Horizon of Hybrid Art
Staged jointly with University of Tokyo, it is meant to illustrate how the
creative economy that is so often evoked in this part of the world is
already functioning quite successfully in Japan.
Applications | Educational
EDUCOMP SMARTCLASS
Smartclass is a digital initiative of Educomp, which is rapidly
transforming the way teachers teach and students learn in schools
with innovative and meaningful use of technology. Smartclass brings
in technology right next to the blackboard for teachers in the
classrooms. Students learn difficult and abstract curriculum concepts
watching highly engaging visuals and animations. This makes learning
an enjoyable experience for students while improving their overall
academic performance in school.

Smartclass has a unique delivery model for schools. A knowledge

center is created inside the school equipped with the entire library
of smartclass digital content. The knowledge center is connected to
the classrooms through Intranet. Teachers get the relevant digital
resources such as animations and videos, interactive virtual labs
tools etc. and use them as a part of their lesson plans in every
classroom period.
Applications | D.I.Y
SCRATCH
Scratch is a new programming language that makes it easy to create
your own interactive stories, games, and animations – and share your
creations with others on the web. Scratch has a very simple interface
and instructions.

PICOCRICKETS
An interactive platform where you can create playful inventions. A
PicoCricket is a tiny computer that can make things spin, light up, and
play music. You can plug lights, motors, sensors, and other devices into
a PicoCricket, then program them to react, interact, and communicate.

GEOMETER’S SKETCHPAD
A dynamic construction, demonstration, and exploration tool that adds
a powerful dimension to the study of mathematics. Students can use
this software program to build and investigate mathematical models,
objects, figures, diagrams, and graphs.
Tangible User Interface | Electronic Popables
Electronic Popables is an interactive pop-up book that sparkles,
sings, and moves. The book integrates traditional pop-up mechanisms
with thin, flexible, paper-based electronics and the result is a book
that looks and functions much like an ordinary pop-up with the added
element of dynamic interactivity.
Tangible User Interface | Siftables
David Merrill replaces traditional building blocks with electronic
tiles that can add, subtract, compose and create. Siftables aims to
enable people to interact with information and media in physical,
natural ways that approach interactions with physical objects in our
everyday lives. As an interaction platform, Siftables applies technology
and methodology from wireless sensor networks to tangible user
interfaces.

Siftables are independent, compact devices with sensing, graphical

display, and wireless communication capabilities. They can be
physically manipulated as a group to interact with digital information
and media. Siftables can be used to implement any number of gestural
interaction languages and HCI applications.
Form | Directions
Key words:
Tactile
Multimedia
Learning
Dynamic
Interactive
Storytelling
Play
Web application?
Augmented Reality?
Tangible User Interface?
Akshataa Vishwanath | Visual Communication Design
Srishti School of Art, Design and Technology