Knowledge is essentially at our fingertips. We have access to perhaps the largest library of information in history, accessible to at the effortless touch of a screen. It then comes as no surprise that the demand for people who simply know a lot of information may decrease in perceived value, and instead, those most valuable in our society will be those who can implement knowledge to effectively solve problems.
In many schools around the world, this shift in values has been made subtly apparent. The emphasis on traditional in-class lectures and textbook reading has diminished in the past few years…
Nearly 2.5 million more people are expected to populate urban cities by 2050, so it comes as no surprise that the demand for efficient cities is on the rise. These more efficient cities, dubbed smart cities (like the smartphone, they’re smarter than their counterpart, the city), look to improve daily living through the use of technology.
What are Smart Cities?
Smart cities optimize a handful of selected operations utilizing real-time databases and innovative technology- some of these operations include energy management, safety, transportation, and citizen connectivity.
Smart cities utilize a network called the Internet of Things, which is a network of physical objects containing…
Several months ago, I completed the popular Learning to Learn course by Dr. Barbara Oakley and Dr. Terrence Sejnowski on the platform Coursera. I hadn’t planned on taking the course- however, after seeing the course listed as one of the most popular courses on Coursera every single time I went to the explore page, I gave in. It was a good decision, as the course was incredibly helpful. Here are a few tips I’ve learnt from the course.
1. Utilize the “Diffuse” Mode
There are 2 modes of learning- the focus and diffuse modes. The focus mode is what typically comes to mind when you…
One thing is certain- everyone loves music. Of course, some are more adamant in their liking than others, however, I’ve never met anyone who has said that they despise all forms of music. But why have we evolved to like music? From an evolutionary perspective, music seems rather useless. After all, what is the point of humans sitting around and listening to the shrieks of other humans, or the vibrations of instruments?
Emotional Connection
It is evident that we utilize music for emotional connection. After all, most of the songs we listen to have some sort of human story behind them- like…
In our daily lives, the term “bias” is often thrown around rather carelessly and contemptuously. Currently, many are labeling artificial intelligence systems as biased, causing many eyes to light up with alarm. However, as we will later see, artificial intelligence systems would be absolutely useless without bias— as would humans.
What is Bias?
We hear the term “bias” often and in many different contexts— including artificial intelligence, probability and statistics, and most commonly as a negative personality trait. Unsurprisingly, the true definition of the term has been muddled over recent years, as the word has adopted a negative connotation.
The way we perceive the world is shaped by our experiences, interests, and thought patterns- our mindset. In fact, our world is how we perceive it, as we can’t see the world without our brain synthesizing the information. This means that if we change our minds, we change our world.
Your mindset determines how you live your life. A powerful example of this comes from Viktor E. Frankl, a Holocaust survivor who documented his experiences in the book “Man’s Search for Meaning.” In his book, he says
“Between stimulus and response there is a space. …
Trigonometry. We were all taught trigonometry at some point during our extensive schooling years. I’m sure the first thing which comes to mind when you hear “trigonometry” is something along the lines of “SOHCAHTOA”- the phrase drilled into our brains by our math teachers. I have shamefully realized that despite having taken a trigonometry class in the last semester, I’ve never even bothered to ask myself the question- what is trigonometry anyways?
What Even is Sine?
What is sine anyways? A class of obedient ninth graders will recite, “Sine is opposite over hypotenuse!” And that would be correct. Sine is the ratio of the…
AI is on its path to transforming the way we live our lives- from the way we communicate with one another to the way we commute. It is being utilized to speed up many processes, including but not limited to hiring, exploiting fraud accounts, and diagnosing patients. With the vast potential of AI, it comes as no surprise that AI has already penetrated the field of education as well.
Optimizing Class Time
Artificial intelligence can reduce the number of administrative tasks the teacher performs, freeing up time that teachers can utilize to work on optimizing the learning experiences of students in the class.
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