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Hi everybody!

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My name is Jason Ermer and I am
experimenting with this new blog called

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Collaborative Mathematics.

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So, thanks for checking it out!

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Since we’re brand-new I thought I’d put
a little video up here explaining my

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idea about how this whole thing
is going to work.

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I’m hoping to use video, like this, as a
means of bringing together a community

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of mathematical problem solvers.

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Potentially a world wide community of
mathematical problem solvers.

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I think that would be pretty cool.

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Here’s the idea.
It’s got four phases.

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Phase 1: I post a challenge video to
YouTube and in that video I offer some

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sort of a mathematical challenge or
some sort of problem to explore.

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And it will be posted to our channel on
YouTube and linked through the

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Collaborative Mathematics website.

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Phase 2: you watch the video
and then you

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explore the mathematical challenge
that I present.

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Ideally, you would do this
with some friends.

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I’m a big believer in collaboration and
group work and listening to other people

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think about a problem so you could use
these challenges as an excuse to get a

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problem-solving team together and do
some interesting mathematics.

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Then, after you have some ideas about
the challenge --

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maybe you’ve solved it,
maybe you haven’t, it’s actually OK

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either way -- but once you have some
ideas about it, then...

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Phase 3: you and your problem-solving
team make a response video and you

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post a video response to the
challenge video in YouTube.

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So, in your video you’ll explain wherever
you are with the problem.

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Did you solve it? Great! 
Tell us what you did, and how

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you got there, and why your answer is
the right answer.

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Did you get stuck along the way?
Also great!

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We learn a lot from mistakes
that we make

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and places we get hung up, so if you
didn’t solve the problem, or you’re not

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totally confident about your answer,
that’s OK.

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You can tell is where you are.
Where you get stuck?

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Or, at what point in the process did you
lose your confidence?

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Anything like that. It’s all good!

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Because we can learn from each
other no matter what.

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Because that happens in phase 4.

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We have the opportunity to learn from
each other because we can all watch the

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response videos that other people have
submitted and maybe learn something

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new about the problem.
about the problem.

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Did everybody solve it in the same way?

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Did somebody solve it in a really
creative way that we hadn’t thought of?

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That would be a cool thing to see.

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Did everybody get the same answer?

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Does everybody have the same
explanation

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for why that answer is the right answer?
Maybe there’s variation in that.

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Maybe somebody says something in a
response video that helps you get

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unstuck. That would be cool.

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Maybe something you say helps
somebody else get unstuck.

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You wouldn’t maybe know that,
but maybe

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they’ll leave you a comment and they’ll
tell you all about how your video helped

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them get unstuck.

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In any case, I think that there’s an
opportunity for a really interesting

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conversation that we can all use to learn
about mathematics and about ourselves

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as problem solvers.
problem solvers.

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I think it’s pretty cool.

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Check out the blog. We’re at
CollaborativeMathematics.org

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You can find us on Facebook and
Google Plus.

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Follow us on Twitter.

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You can subscribe to YouTube channel.

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And if you are interested in taking up
the challenge the current

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video is posted...

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I’m pointing.
Where am I pointing?

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It’s posted over at
collaborative mathematics.org

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Just over there!
Or, yonder!

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I don’t know what I’m doing.

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Anyway, go to the website and check it
out, and I look forward to seeing what

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happens next!