Virtual San Diego Math Circle (vSDMC)
The digital solution to math education
What is vSDMC?
vSDMC, or Virtual SDMC, is an online learning platform for SDMC students. Our goal is to provide a fun and nurturing environment for learning math despite the disruption in traditional learning caused by the CoVID-19 pandemic. Though “virtual” in the tech sense, this is very much a “real” activity being improvised in real time by a small collective of SDMC alumni and experienced students in collaboration with the traditional SDMC program.
This effort is supported by SDMC; however, all the creative and technical levers will be in the hands of the vSDMC “staff”. Expect this to be an evolving project with adjustments on the fly, but also expect this to be a fun way to get creative with math.
Parents: This is what it sounds like - an improvisational, live, internet connected math activity. vSDMC endeavors in several ways to restrict access to a roster of known and approved students, but it must be recognized that these activities have some technical vulnerabilities. Our instructors are valued individuals known to us, but are not vetted in a legal sense. In permitting your students to access these activities, you need to exercise your own discretion as to whether you believe this is suitable for your student.
What will be the content?
The content will not be "school math" nor "competition math" per se. There is no particular curriculum or specific goals toward which activity is directed. The goal will be to provide opportunity to explore interesting math ideas for their own beauty and fun. For both principled and pragmatic reasons, we hope to sustain a peer-to-peer feel through which experienced SDMC students and alumni can share interesting things with current SDMC students.
Getting Set up
The best experience will be had with an internet-connected computer or smart device equipped with both a webcam and microphone; for students, laptops, notebooks, or tablets are good choices. Lesser setups can work - for example a desktop with "dumb" monitor, but no webcam or microphone. In the latter case, the student can still view the instructor and interact either via an integrated chat window or by voice through telephone dial in.
How to participate ...
Please visit the site of the platform host (usually Zoom), install whatever base application may be appropriate to your situation, test it yourself, etc. Appreciate the time and effort of our instructors and invest as much of your own effort as you can before asking them for help, but do ask those questions you can't work out independently.
LINKS
Class Feedback (a live survey form for your input)