Shimon Schocken: The self-organizing computer course

Translator: Joseph Geni Reviewer: Morton Bast

譯者: Justin Lin 審譯者: Geoff Chen

So, this is my grandfather,

這位是我爺爺

Salman Schocken,

薩爾曼‧蕭肯

who was born into a poor and uneducated family

他出生時家裡很窮 父母都沒上過學

with six children to feed,

還要養六個小孩

and when he was 14 years old, he was forced to

14歲的時候

drop out of school in order to help put bread on the table.

他被迫輟學,幫忙賺錢養家

He never went back to school.

後來都沒有回過學校

Instead, he went on to build a glittering empire

但他的事業成就輝煌

of department stores.

建立了百貨帝國

Salman was the consummate perfectionist,

我爺爺凡事要求盡善盡美

and every one of his stores was a jewel

他開的每家百貨公司

of Bauhaus architecture.

都堪稱包浩斯風格建築的極品

He was also the ultimate self-learner,

他熱中自學到了極點

and like everything else, he did it in grand style.

和其他事情一樣 他自學得有聲有色

He surrounded himself with an entourage

他的身邊總圍繞著一群

of young, unknown scholars like Martin Buber

當時年輕,默默無聞的學者

and Shai Agnon and Franz Kafka,

像布伯,阿格農,卡夫卡等

and he paid each one of them a monthly salary

爺爺每個月付他們薪水

so that they could write in peace.

讓他們能安心寫作

And yet, in the late '30s, Salman saw what's coming.

但30年代末,納粹迫害猶太人 爺爺知道大禍要臨頭了

He fled Germany, together with his family,

他帶著家人逃出德國

leaving everything else behind.

沒有帶走任何財產

His department stores confiscated,

他的百貨公司被沒收

he spent the rest of his life in a relentless pursuit

從此以後,他窮畢生之力

of art and culture.

追求文化與藝術

This high school dropout

中學沒念完的爺爺

died at the age of 82,

享壽82歲

a formidable intellectual, cofounder and first CEO

他是傑出的知識份子 創辦耶路撒冷希伯來大學

of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem,

並擔任第一屆董事長

and founder of Schocken Books,

他還創立蕭肯出版社 (Schocken Books)

an acclaimed imprint that was later acquired

當時廣受好評

by Random House.

後來被藍燈書屋 (Random House) 買下

Such is the power of self-study.

這就是自學的力量

And these are my parents.

這是我的父母

They too did not enjoy the privilege of college education.

他們沒有接受大學教育

They were too busy building a family and a country.

因為他們忙著成家 忙著建立以色列

And yet, just like Salman, they were lifelong,

但就像我爺爺,他們終其一生

tenacious self-learners, and our home was stacked

都自學不輟,我的家裡

with thousands of books, records and artwork.

堆了上千本書,唱片,藝術品

I remember quite vividly my father telling me

我清楚記得父親說過

that when everyone in the neighborhood will have a TV set,

等左鄰右舍都買電視機了

then we'll buy a normal F.M. radio. (Laughter)

我們再去買收音機吧

And that's me,

這是我

I was going to say holding my first abacus,

我拿的是我的第一個算盤

but actually holding what my father would consider

但我父親會說

an ample substitute to an iPad. (Laughter)

我拿著山寨版的 iPad

So one thing that I took from home is this notion

我在家裡學到了一件事

that educators don't necessarily have to teach.

就是教育家不見得要教書

Instead, they can provide an environment and resources

而是給你環境和資源

that tease out your natural ability to learn on your own.

激發你自學的本能

Self-study, self-exploration, self-empowerment:

自主學習,自我探索 做自己的主人

these are the virtues of a great education.

都是良好教育下養成的美德

So I'd like to share with you a story about a self-study,

我現在要和大家分享一個故事

self-empowering computer science course

關於一門注重自主學習 的電腦課程

that I built, together with my brilliant colleague Noam Nisan.

是我和我的好同事 諾姆‧尼森共同創立的

As you can see from the pictures, both Noam and I

照片裡是我和諾姆

had an early fascination with first principles,

我們小時候都很迷 基本的科學原理

and over the years, as our knowledge of

多年以後,我們的知識更豐富了

science and technology became more sophisticated,

科學和科技的素養愈來愈高

this early awe with the basics

從小對基本原理的崇敬之情

has only intensified.

只有愈變愈強烈

So it's not surprising that, about 12 years ago, when

所以毫無意外,12 年前

Noam and I were already computer science professors,

我和諾姆都當上教授 在教計算機科學了

we were equally frustrated by the same phenomenon.

我們卻覺得沮喪

As computers became increasingly more complex,

因為電腦愈做愈精密

our students were losing the forest for the trees,

我們的學生卻見樹不見林

and indeed, it is impossible to connect

事實上,如果想了解

with the soul of the machine if you interact

計算機科學的精髓

with a black box P.C. or a Mac which is shrouded

你不能只會操作電腦裡

by numerous layers of closed, proprietary software.

各式各樣的專利授權軟體

So Noam and I had this insight that if we want our students

我和諾姆體認到 如果我們希望學生

to understand how computers work,

了解電腦如何運作

and understand it in the marrow of their bones,

而且是徹底了解

then perhaps the best way to go about it

也許最好的辦法

is to have them build a complete, working,

就是讓學生完成一臺

general-purpose, useful computer, hardware and software,

功能齊全,堪用且好用的電腦

from the ground up, from first principles.

而且要從最基本的 原理開始學習

Now, we had to start somewhere, and so Noam and I

於是我們開始著手進行 我和諾姆認為

decided to base our cathedral, so to speak,

要蓋萬丈高樓

on the simplest possible building block,

就要從平地開始

which is something called NAND.

我們從基本的 NAND 邏輯運算開始

It is nothing more than a trivial logic gate

NAND 是最普通的一種邏輯閘

with four input-output states.

有四組輸入輸出的數據

So we now start this journey by telling our students

我們一開始這麼告訴學生

that God gave us NAND — (Laughter) —

上帝給我們 NAND

and told us to build a computer, and when we asked how,

要我們組一台電腦

God said, "One step at a time."

怎麼做呢? 上帝說,"一次一個步驟就好"

And then, following this advice, we start

於是乎,我們就開始了

with this lowly, humble NAND gate,

從低階,普通的NAND邏輯閘起手

and we walk our students through an elaborate sequence

我們以精心設計的 學習進度帶領學生

of projects in which they gradually build a chip set,

他們先做出了晶片組

a hardware platform, an assembler, a virtual machine,

到硬體平台,組合語言,虛擬機器

a basic operating system and a compiler

再到基本款的作業系統 和編譯程序

for a simple, Java-like language that we call "JACK."

最後完成了一種類似 JAVA 的程式語言,我們稱之為 "JACK"

The students celebrate the end of this tour de force

我們學生慶祝這項成果的方式

by using JACK to write all sorts of cool games

是利用 JACK 寫了很多有趣的遊戲

like Pong, Snake and Tetris.

如彈珠台,貪食蛇,俄羅斯方塊等

You can imagine the tremendous joy of playing

各位應該能想像他們有多高興

with a Tetris game that you wrote in JACK

因為他們玩的俄羅斯方塊 是用 JACK 語言編寫

and then compiled into machine language in a compiler

再使用自己寫的編譯程序 轉為機器語言

that you wrote also, and then seeing the result

接著看轉譯出來的結果

running on a machine that you built starting

用來跑程式的機器還是 自己做出來的

with nothing more than a few thousand NAND gates.

是由幾千組 NAND 邏輯閘 累積起來的

It's a tremendous personal triumph of going

這種成就感非同小可

from first principles all the way to a fantastically complex

因為他們從基本原理開始 最後做出了非常精密

and useful system.

而且可以用的機器

Noam and I worked five years to facilitate

我和諾姆用了五年時間

this ascent and to create the tools and infrastructure

簡化課程,製作教材和設備

that will enable students to build it in one semester.

讓學生用一學期 就可以組一台電腦

And this is the great team that helped us make it happen.

這是我們偉大的團隊 幫助我們做到了

The trick was to decompose the computer's construction

作法是解構電腦

into numerous stand-alone modules,

分出許多獨立單元

each of which could be individually specified,

各單元都可以分別開課

built and unit-tested in isolation from the rest of the project.

分別完成組裝與測試

And from day one, Noam and I decided to put

一開始我和諾姆就決定

all these building blocks freely available in open source

基本課程都免費

on the Web.

上網就看得到

So chip specifications, APIs, project descriptions,

所以晶片規格 應用程式介面 (API), 專案說明

software tools, hardware simulators, CPU emulators,

軟體工具,硬體模擬器 模擬 CPU

stacks of hundreds of slides, lectures --

很多的幻燈片,演講等等

we laid out everything on the Web

我們都放上網路

and invited the world to come over,

歡迎大家來瀏覽

take whatever they need,

找他們需要的資源

and do whatever they want with it.

並自行運用

And then something fascinating happened.

後來神奇的事情發生了

The world came.

大家都來了

And in short order, thousands of people

沒過多久,許多人

were building our machine.

都照我們的課程組電腦

And NAND2Tetris became one of the first

"從 NAND 到俄羅斯方塊"

massive, open, online courses,

更是史上第一門 線上開放式課程

although seven years ago we had no idea that what

儘管 7 年前我們還不知道

we were doing is called MOOCs.

線上開放式課程的概念

We just observed how self-organized courses

我們發現自修課程

were kind of spontaneously spawning

好像愈來愈多了

out of our materials.

很多都用我們的教材

For example, Pramode C.E.,

例如這位普勒蒙德先生

an engineer from Kerala, India,

是印度喀拉拉邦的工程師

has organized groups of self-learners

他帶領一群人自學

who build our computer under his good guidance.

用我們的教材組裝電腦 他教得很好

And Parag Shah, another engineer, from Mumbai,

這位帕爾克 · 沙阿先生 是孟買的工程師

has unbundled our projects into smaller,

他把我們的課程分得更細

more manageable bites that he now serves

也更好教,並把課程

in his pioneering do-it-yourself computer science program.

用於他首創的 "電腦DIY" 課程

The people who are attracted to these courses

這些被我們課程吸引的人

typically have a hacker mentality.

通常有一顆愛電腦的心

They want to figure out how things work,

他們想知道電腦如何運作

and they want to do it in groups,

他們想一起研究

like this hackers club in Washington, D.C.,

這個電腦迷俱樂部 在華盛頓特區

that uses our materials to offer community courses.

就使用我們的教材開課

And because these materials are widely available

我們的教材容易取得

and open-source, different people take them

大家都可以用 所以不同的人運用

to very different and unpredictable directions.

就會有非常不同 出乎意料的結果

For example, Yu Fangmin, from Guangzhou,

例如這位中國廣州的 余芳明 (音譯) 先生

has used FPGA technology

使用現場可程式邏輯閘陣列 ( FPGA) 技術

to build our computer and show others how to do the same

組裝我們教材中的電腦

using a video clip, and Ben Craddock developed

並透過視訊短片教給其他人

a very nice computer game that unfolds

這位班‧克萊杜克先生 設計了一個很棒的遊戲

inside our CPU architecture, which is quite a complex

可以在我們的電腦裡玩

3D maze that Ben developed

班設計的是一個 很複雜的 3D 迷宮

using the Minecraft 3D simulator engine.

他使用"當個創世神" (Minecraft) 搭載的 3D 模擬引擎

The Minecraft community went bananas over this project,

Minecraft 玩家為之瘋狂

and Ben became an instant media celebrity.

班也一夕之間爆紅

And indeed, for quite a few people,

事實上,對不少人來說

taking this NAND2Tetris pilgrimage, if you will,

這趟 "從 NAND 到俄羅斯方塊" 之旅

has turned into a life-changing experience.

改變了他們的一生

For example, take Dan Rounds, who is a music

例如這位丹‧朗茲先生

and math major from East Lansing, Michigan.

他在密西根東蘭辛大學 主修音樂和數學

A few weeks ago, Dan posted a victorious post

幾個星期前,丹發表一篇文章

on our website, and I'd like to read it to you.

在我們的網站上 我想念給你們聽聽

So here's what Dan said.

丹是這麼說的

"I did the coursework because understanding computers

"我來這裡學電腦, 因為懂電腦很重要"

is important to me, just like literacy and numeracy,

"跟識字和算術一樣"

and I made it through. I never worked harder on anything,

"而我完成了課程, 我從來沒這麼認真過"

never been challenged to this degree.

"從來沒碰過這麼大的挑戰"

But given what I now feel capable of doing,

"但看看我學到了什麼東西"

I would certainly do it again.

"這個課程上再多次都值得"

To anyone considering NAND2Tetris,

"各位還在考慮的朋友"

it's a tough journey, but you'll be profoundly changed."

"這趟路很難走, 但走完你會脫胎換骨"

So Dan demonstrates the many self-learners

丹代表了許多自學的人

who take this course off the Web, on their own traction,

他們被我們的課程吸引

on their own initiative, and it's quite amazing because

他們主動學習 而且有件事相當驚人

these people cannot care less about

這些人根本不計較

grades.

成績的事

They are doing it because of one motivation only.

他們這樣做只有一個動機

They have a tremendous passion to learn.

他們有極大的學習熱情

And with that in mind,

講到這點

I'd like to say a few words about traditional college grading.

我想提一下傳統的大學評分制度

I'm sick of it.

我很討厭

We are obsessed with grades

我們都太迷信分數

because we are obsessed with data,

對數據資料深信不疑

and yet grading takes away all the fun from failing,

但光靠分數就 決定了是否及格

and a huge part of education

受教育最重要的事

is about failing.

就是不要被當掉

Courage, according to Churchill,

邱吉爾說,所謂勇氣

is the ability to go from one defeat to another

是能夠一而再,再而三失敗

without losing enthusiasm. (Laughter)

還不喪失熱情

And [Joyce] said that mistakes

(喬艾斯說) 錯誤就是

are the portals of discovery.

通往發現之門

And yet we don't tolerate mistakes,

但我們不能容忍錯誤

and we worship grades.

我們只著重分數

So we collect your B pluses and your A minuses

所以我們把學生的成績加總

and we aggregate them into a number like 3.4,

算出總分,再劃分等第

which is stamped on your forehead

好像在額頭上蓋章一樣

and sums up who you are.

這就是你的程度

Well, in my opinion, we went too far with this nonsense,

在我看來,這種亂象非常嚴重

and grading became degrading.

打分數讓教育制度更退步

So with that, I'd like to say a few words about upgrading,

既然說到退步 我就講講如何進步

and share with you a glimpse from my current project,

我要和各位分享 我最近的一項計畫

which is different from the previous one,

不是剛剛講的電腦課

but it shares exactly the same characteristics

但有完全一樣的特色

of self-learning, learning by doing,

就是自學,做中學

self-exploration and community-building,

自我探索和團體學習

and this project deals with K-12 math education,

這個計畫涵蓋 幼稚園到中學的數學教育

beginning with early age math,

從幼稚園數學開始

and we do it on tablets because we believe that

而且用平板電腦來教 因為我們認為

math, like anything else, should be taught hands on.

學數學也應該動手做

So here's what we do. Basically, we developed

我們是這麼做的 基本上,我們開發了

numerous mobile apps, every one of them explaining

很多應用程式 每個都解釋

a particular concept in math.

一個特定的數學概念

So for example, let's take area.

以面積的概念為例

When you deal with a concept like area --

處理面積問題的時候

well, we also provide a set of tools that the child

程式裡提供一套工具

is invited to experiment with in order to learn.

讓孩子操作,並從中學習

So if area is what interests us, then one thing

如果要計算面積

which is natural to do is to tile the area

最直接的方法是填滿法

of this particular shape and simply count

用這種特定形狀的磁磚來填

how many tiles it takes to cover it completely.

再數數要用多少磁磚 才能填滿

And this little exercise here gives you a first

這樣的小活動可以幫孩子

good insight of the notion of area.

建立初步的面積概念

Moving along, what about the area of this figure?

那平行四邊形的面積呢?

Well, if you try to tile it, it doesn't work too well, does it.

用填滿法的話算不出來,對吧?

So instead, you can experiment

所以可以試試看

with these different tools here by some process

這裡其他的工具

of guided trial and error,

經過幾次嘗試和錯誤

and at some point you will discover that one thing

也許某一次就會發現

that you can do among several legitimate transformations

好幾種方法當中

is the following one. You can cut the figure,

這一種可以用 用美工刀切

you can rearrange the parts, you can glue them

重新排列圖形,再黏起來

and then proceed to tile just like we did before.

然後就是剛才的填滿法了

(Applause)

(掌聲)

Now this particular transformation

這個變換形狀的方法

did not change the area of the original figure,

沒有改變原圖的面積

so a six-year-old who plays with this

所以 6 歲的孩子來玩

has just discovered a clever algorithm

就會發現一種好用的算法

to compute the area of any given parallelogram.

來計算平行四邊形的面積

We don't replace teachers, by the way.

我們不是要用 應用程式代替老師

We believe that teachers should be empowered, not replaced.

應該更重視老師的功能 而不是換掉他們

Moving along, what about the area of a triangle?

那三角形的面積呢?

So after some guided trial and error,

經過幾次嘗試和錯誤

the child will discover, with or without help,

不管有沒有人幫忙 孩子可能會發現

that he or she can duplicate the original figure

可以複製原圖

and then take the result, transpose it,

把複製出的圖形移動,旋轉

glue it to the original and then proceed [with] what we did before:

再和原圖黏在一起 然後重複剛才做的

cut, rearrange, paste — oops— paste and glue,

裁切,重新排列,黏貼

and tile.

和填滿

Now this transformation has doubled the area

現在這個新圖形的面積

of the original figure, and therefore we have just learned

是原圖的兩倍 因此孩子會學到

that the area of the triangle equals the area of this rectangle

三角形的面積 等於這個矩形的面積

divided by two.

除以二

But we discovered it by self-exploration.

孩子透過探索 找到這個算法

So, in addition to learning some useful geometry,

所以除了學習幾何學知識

the child has been exposed to some pretty sophisticated

孩子也會接觸一些較複雜的

science strategies, like reduction,

科學方法,例如簡化法

which is the art of

利用簡化法

transforming a complex problem into a simple one,

能把複雜的問題變簡單

or generalization, which is at the heart

或者相當重要的歸納法

of any scientific discipline,

幾乎所有科學領域都用得到

or the fact that some properties are invariant

或是不變量的概念

under some transformations.

意思是經過數學轉換 量仍然保持不變

And all this is something that a very young child

這些原理,年紀還很小的孩子

can pick up using such mobile apps.

玩應用程式就學得到

So presently, we are doing the following:

目前我們的工作如下

First of all, we are decomposing the K-12 math curriculum

首先將幼稚園 到中學的數學課程

into numerous such apps.

分成許多應用程式

And because we cannot do it on our own,

我們沒辦法分得更細

we've developed a very fancy authoring tool

所以我們開發了一個 很別緻的教材製作工具

that any author, any parent or actually anyone

讓父母或其他人自己做

who has an interest in math education,

誰對數學教育感興趣

can use this authoring tool to develop similar apps

就可以用這種工具 開發類似的程式

on tablets without programming.

不用再從頭開始做

And finally, we are putting together an adaptive ecosystem

最後把這些程式 結合成一個系統

that will match different learners

讓不同的學生

with different apps according to their evolving learning style.

可以依照他們的學習方式 使用裡面的的應用程式

The driving force behind this project

這個計劃的幕後推手

is my colleague Shmulik London,

是我的同事史穆里克‧朗登

and, you see, just like

我做的事

Salman did about 90 years ago,

和我爺爺 90 年前做的一樣

the trick is to surround yourself with brilliant people,

我找了一些很厲害的人

because at the end,

因為到頭來

it's all about people.

人才是最重要的

And a few years ago, I was walking in Tel Aviv

幾年前,我在特拉維夫散步

and I saw this graffiti on a wall,

我看到一面牆上的塗鴉

and I found it so compelling

我當時深深被吸引

that by now I preach it to my students,

到現在我還是會 跟學生講這幅塗鴉

and I'd like to try to preach it to you.

我也想跟各位講

Now, I don't know how many people here are familiar

不曉得各位知不知道

with the term "mensch."

mensch 這個字

It basically means to be human

這個字的意思是要當好人

and to do the right thing.

要做對的事

And with that, what this graffiti says is,

這幾個字的意思是

"High-tech schmigh-tech.

"科技無限好"

The most important thing is to be a mensch." (Laughter)

"當好人最重要"

Thank you. (Applause)

謝謝各位

(Applause)

(掌聲)