Tuesday’s Big Idea
Today’s Big Idea: Deep Learning
Although "deep learning" is a highly technical subfield of computer programming, its core concept is fairly simple: more complex representations are built up from simpler ones. The principle holds true in the realm of human cognition: we build a complex grasp of language upon a few simple rules. Sophisticated philosophy is the end result of an iterative process that begins with a rudimentary grasp of cause and effect.
The concept has powerful implications not only for programmers, but for educators seeking to structure curricula in ways that take into account the way our minds naturally think and learn. The most obvious lesson here is that analogy is a powerful teaching tool. We learn best when exposed to the same pattern across a range of contexts, rather than by memorizing lists of domain-specific minutiae. And the best way to teach pattern-recognition is through project-based learning, in which students apply general principles to a wide range of problems.
