Friday, October 12, 2018

#Admin - Refocusing my efforts

Hi all,

Projects, like life, evolve and change. Goals are evaluated, re-evaluated. Reasons are examined, values tested. And then, after much thought and deliberation, actions are taken to bring that new evolution to fruition.

When I first started Math Fact-orials, I was seeking to re-create the experience I was having at Socratic.org - an experience of engaging with students, answering their questions, and finding within myself a feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment.

Then came the realization that where my heart really lay was in creating an online, inter-linked, education resource that would help show not just how things work, but why they work and where they came from. From this came the birth of Fact-orials. While that project envisions being able to explain everything at a level where a pre-teen can understand any given subject, it's also designed for curious adults who wonder "How is it that the Pythagorean Theorem, a^2 + b^2 = c^2, works?". (The answer is - I don't know. But I intend to write about it when I do find out...).

My heart also lies in creating content that helps adults live their lives. Helping people understand just what it means where a $100 shirt is 10% off (you pay $90 before any sales taxes), how to work that out on a calculator (1 - 0.1 x 100 = 90) and then to understand if it's actually a good deal (the same shirt in a different store for full retail of $85 is still a better deal than the one on sale) - these are topics that are of interest to me.

Also important is having a way to talk about things that aren't strictly financial, but more of opinion pieces where I can try to break down complicated (and often deliberately obfuscated) issues into what I hope are thought-provoking simple ideas that everyone can relate to.

As a result, while my goals for Fact-orials have't changed and that project will continue to steam along, Math Fact-orials will change signifcantly:

  • Math Fact-orials will now be focused on what I like to call Household Math and also on opinion pieces,
  • Math Fact-orials will no longer accept nor answer questions from students,
  • The academic content currently on Math Fact-orials, as Fact-orials expands, may become part of that project, but will no longer be hosted on Math Fact-orials,
  • Entries on Math Fact-orials will no longer be daily (not that they've been for the last little while, but now I'm officially comfortable with that state of affairs).
I want to thank you, one and all, for reading this and continuing to support me as I continue to explore my interests, my passions, and my heart's desire.

1 comment:

Hey there - thanks for your comment! It's always a pleasure to converse with someone who's interested in math.

As part of the security for this page, I've turned moderation on - so I have to look at your comment before it goes on the page (which will prevent horrible people trying to say and do horrible things here). I'll have your comment posted shortly and far more importantly a response in short order after that.

Feel free to share this page if you find it at all helpful!
Parz

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