[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
DAVID MALAN: You can still get it,
apparently, on Amazon, as we did here.
But the motivation here was
to introduce cryptology--
[END PLAYBACK]
DOUG LLOYD: So this is
really the first time
we introduce a domain-specific
problem in the course as opposed
to the sort of back of
the textbook problems.
DAVID MALAN: Yeah, and that's
exactly the motivation.
I feel like too many
textbooks and curricula
use fairly uninspiring
problems to reinforce material
that may very well be good mechanical
practice, but don't really excite
and don't really help you see the
application of these fundamentals
to a problem.
DOUG LLOYD: You think that's one
of the biggest pieces of advice
you'd give to a teacher is to try and
make these problems more relatable
or connect them to things that
students have seen in the past?
DAVID MALAN: I think so.
And it isn't even necessarily relatable,
because many students might not
have dabbled in any form
of cryptography before,
but most everyone can understand the
idea of or the need for encryption
in some cases, even if it's like little
secret messages being passed in class.
But I think creating an
exciting and in a learning
domain in which to explore ideas and
packaging problems in a way that really
does resonate with students, especially
when they're so increasingly surrounded
with technology themselves.
And they have passwords and
encryption on their phones,
and helping them appreciate the fact
that those are not inaccessible ideas.
They themselves can implement them.
DOUG LLOYD: Right.
