IT Based Math Books
Ideal Education in Ancient Greece
The most ideal form of consumer-centered education was realized in ancient Greece. In the educational setting of this era, the teacher and student faced each other, continuously exchanging questions and answers. As education consumers, students could freely ask whatever they wanted to know, while the education supplier, the teacher, immediately addressed their questions.
The teachers of ancient Greece differed from modern teachers who specialize in specific fields. They were well-versed in various disciplines, including philosophy, science, mathematics, politics, and art, allowing them to provide immediate answers to any question posed by their students. This interdisciplinary approach to education, rooted in consumer-centered principles, allowed ancient Greek civilization to blossom into one of the most brilliant cultures in human history.
Except for ancient Greece, most countries were typically autocratic monarchies. These nations emphasized supplier-centered education over consumer-centered education. The ruling classes were primarily interested in maintaining national order to preserve their privileges. To achieve this, they imposed supplier-centered education on the education consumers, the subordinate classes. The ruling class selected the educational content they desired and imposed standards of ethics and norms on educational consumers, shaping members of society who aligned with their preferences and interests.
As supplier-centered education took place, the seeds of creativity—talents inherent in education consumers— were often overlooked. In supplier-centered education, the natural talents or happiness of children were not prioritized. Instead, it placed the collective benefits of the community above individual well-being, reflecting the values of those who implemented this form of education.
Who is Education For?
Historically, the form of education has changed depending on who owned the land and labor, which were crucial means of production in agricultural societies. When a small ruling class, such as kings or nobles, owned the means of production, a supplier-centered education was implemented, with the ruling class teaching only what they deemed necessary to the subordinate classes. The ruling class had no choice but to implement a supplier-centered education that favored them, because their primary goal was to maintain their privileges over the means of production they possessed. However, when ownership of these means was evenly distributed among members of society, consumer-centered education emerged.
The reason consumer-centered education was possible in ancient Greece was closely linked to political and economic factors. In ancient Greece, consumer-centered education was most actively practiced in the city-state of Athens. In Athens, direct democracy was practiced, where all decisions regarding legislation and administration were made by all citizens. Since power in Athens came from the citizens, they were the actual rulers. Means of production, such as land and labor, were not concentrated in the hands of a king or a small ruling class but were evenly distributed. Consequently, education was not supplier-centered aimed at a specific ruling class; instead, it was consumer-centered, providing anything that individual citizens of Athens desired.
The supplier-centered education currently in place within capitalist society has led to improvements in productivity. However, over time, it has faced limitations as creative and innovative new products have ceased to emerge. This supplier-centered education, designed to maintain the privileges of the new ruling class of capitalists, is incapable of generating ideas that align with both global platforms and local cultures. Furthermore, it falls short of meeting the expectations for innovative products that many people are seeking.
With the advent of the IT era, there is now potential to re-implement the consumer-centered education that thrived in ancient Greece. The IT era is characterized by platforms dominating content. Companies in this era utilize powerful platforms to absorb a multitude of content A prime example is Google, which leverages its search engine platform to gather all content connected to the internet, attracting many users to its search engine. . Google has achieved business success by generating revenue through tailored advertisements linked to search terms. Similarly, YouTube provided a platform where anyone could create and upload videos or music, while also enabling users to access this content for free, effectively absorbing all video content created by users.
IT-Based Math Books for Realizing
Consumer-Centered Education
In the IT era, where platforms dominate content, it is possible to provide educational content that meets the desires of educational consumers. However, a significant issue remains. Although educational suppliers have access to a wealth of content that can meet the demands of educational consumers, they lack information about what specific educational content individual consumers want. The same challenge applies for educational consumers. They must first understand what they are curious about and what they wish to learn in order to request it from educational suppliers. However, education consumers who have been immersed in supplier-centered education often do not even realize what they do not know. This is why there is an urgent need for a communication channel that can connect education consumers and education suppliers.
As previously mentioned, to realize consumer-centered education in the IT era, there must be a communication channel that connects platform companies that already possess an abundance of educational content that consumers seek with the educational consumers themselves. This communication channel is the IT-based digital smart textbook.
Our research institute has designed an IT-based digital smart textbook that operates as follows: When children read the digital material and come across a word or sentence that piques their curiosity or is unfamiliar to them, they can simply touch the word or phrase. Instantly, numerous documentary titles related to the word or sentence are searched and listed. By selecting a documentary title, children, as educational consumers, can watch and indirectly experience nature through vivid documentaries. They can also build their humanistic knowledge by watching videos about people and societies from different times and places.
Of course, to make this possible, there must first be a paradigm shift from supplier-centered to consumer-centered educational content. This means mathematical content must be constructed in natural language rather than merely consisting of formulas or problems. Our research institute has developed mathematical content that is composed in natural language, enabling the realization of consumer-centered education. Additionally, it is not sufficient for the content to simply reflect a paradigm shift. Mathematical content should align with the global standards of math education. To achieve this, mathematics must be the study of uncovering the secrets of nature, and an ideal mathematics education should consist of a series of exercises aimed at uncovering these secrets of nature. The curriculum should be organized to enable this ideal mathematics education. The mathematics textbooks that serve as the standard for mathematics education must primarily focus on understanding nature, humanity, and society.