Digital Tools for Writing Math

Here are a few ideas on how to write math equations on your computer and how to distribute them to your students.

If you prefer writing equations by hand, you will appreciate a graphics pen tablet.

1. I like the Wacom Bamboo Tablet, it costs about $70, does not require software installation and plugs into a USB port.

Write out an equation by hand using the pen tablet and Microsoft Paint (no Macs at SMU). Save as a .gif image file. Microsoft Paint is located in Start> All Program > Accessories.

Once you create the image of the equation, you can add it into your webiste, text editor or Course Management System. We use Moodle at SMU, so I will refer to Moodle from now on.

2. Sketchcast is a free web based application that allows you to create an animated movie of your sketch, record audio and publish online. Write out a solution and record a movie of it using Sketchcast. Distribute the movie through Moodle either by providing a link to the movie or embed it directly into Moodle by copying the embed code and pasting it into the text editor.

Here is an example of a sketchcast embedded directly into the Moodle course content area.

Be sure to click on HTML mode in the Moodle text editor when you paste the embed code (click figure below to enlarge).

Sketchcast allows you to record audio as well, so you can do a voice-over explaining the solution.

If you prefer your equations in type, try the tools below.

3. At SMU, DragMath is integrated with Moodle. You can use it by clicking on this icon in any Moodle text editor. DragMath allows you to drag and drop equations into the text editor. This way you can add equations to quizzes and assignments directly in Moodle.


4. MathType, available in Microsoft Word as a tab at the top of the page, lets you type out and insert math equations into a Word document. You can also save a MathType equation as a .gif image file.


5. If you have Windows 7, Math Input Panel lets you write out equations by hand, turns them into typed text and inserts them into documents (such as Word or PPT). Math Input Panel is located in Start>All Programs>Accessories.

Write an equation by hand with Math Input Panel and insert typed text into Word or Power Point. You can then upload the documents into Moodle for easy distribution. You can also copy and paste your equation directly into Moodle, just make sure that the text editor is set to HTML mode (as above in #2).

DIY Cartography

View SMU in a larger map

A while ago, I posted a local map that SMU students and I have been building up with images and stories about the Olympia/Lacey area.

DIY Maps are becoming increasingly popular. This article in the NYT describes some interesting mapping projects.

Here is how we created our map using Google MyMaps and Flickr.

1. Create a map in Google MyMaps.
2. Upload some photos to Flickr.
3. Go to your myMaps in google and click on the map that you created
4. Click on the Edit button
5. Click on one of the pins that you've added to your map
6. Click on Edit HTML in the window that pops up



7. Now open a new browser window or tab and go to Flickr
8. Find an image in Flickr that you want to embed into your Map
9. Click on Share This and then copy the code in Grab the HTML
10. Go back to your map and paste the code into the pin pop-up window that you had opened. Make sure you are still in Edit HTML mode, otherwise it won't work.



11.If you want that image to also act as a link, switch to Rich Text mode, select the image and then click on the chain link icon at the top of the window. Paste a URL into the prompt that pops up.



12. Be sure to hit Done and Save in Google myMaps.


Now the pin in your Google Map will have the image from Flickr. To embed the map into your webiste or blog:

13. Click on Link on top right of your map, then copy code from Paste HTML to embed in website and paste it into your blog or website HTML. Notice the customize and preview option. You can select the size and exact view of the map to be embedded.

Berlin Twitter Wall

I promise that this won't turn out to be a blog all about Twitter, but I must share this interesting project that involves Twitter - The Berlin Twitter Wall.

On this interactive site, anyone can share their thoughts on the historic Fall of the Wall and post a wish for the future. If you Tweet, use the hashtag #fotw on twitter and after a while your message will appear on the twitterwall.

By clicking "stop" and "play", you can see older messages (tweets). A click on the cameras up on the wall show a selection of the domino-artwork that will fall in a symbolic act on November 9th 2009 (TODAY!) at the "Fest der Freiheit" (festival of freedom) at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin.

Real Time in Action

CNN points out how the entire world was watching a runaway balloon float through the sky today as the 6yr old boy named Falcon was believed to be on it somehow. He turned out to be hiding in the attic, but the social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook, allowed people from all over the world not only to watch this story but also to talk about it as it was happening.

Real Time Web

This morning, I was waiting for an oil change on my car and instead of looking at those mind numbing magazines and drinking mechanic shop coffee, I went to the nearby B&B cafe. It has wireless, so I answered work email, chatted with a colleague and played a word game with about 50 strangers (all 50 at once) all on a device that fits in my pocket.

My work calendar, folders, email accounts all sync so that I have upto date information wherever there is wireless. I can also check my geo-location, the world clock, the stock market, the weather report, etc. I can work, talk and play with others, all in "real time," immediately and publicly. In a coffee shop.

Technology blog ReadWriteWeb, (syndicated by the NYT) is hosting a Real-Time Web Summit. Today! Many industry leaders are there (Google, Yahoo!, etc). They are streaming some sessions live and also have a Twitter feed on their website. This is about stuff like video conferencing, chatting, interactive apps, things that allow users to interact online at the same time, to be co-present, and to have immediate and shared data.

Here is a blurb about the keynote address by Marshall Kirkpatrick:

"Marshall stressed the fact that real time doesn't just mean speed but also creates value by including presence data, flow and data syncing. All of this, according to Marshall, will lead to radical changes in how users will experience the Web in the near future."

read more about the keynote on ReadWriteWeb

Group Video Chat Part 2

I just leaned about TokBox, which seems equally as promising as Tinychat. Watch the video on their website to see how it works. This is another free program that does not require any downloads, allows for multiple person video chats and is very intuitive.

Medical iPhone apps

See the Mobile Libraries' blogpost that describes various iPhone apps for visualizing the body.

Press Release > Oct. 8, 2009 - University of Utah researchers created new iPhone programs - known as applications or "apps" - to help scientists, students, doctors and patients study the human body, evaluate medical problems and analyze other three-dimensional images.

ImageVis3D
AnatomyLab
My Body

Group Video Chat

One of our online instructors asked about being able to have a video conference with her students. She wanted multiple people to log in from home with web cams and be able to see one another and talk. After doing some research and finding out that Skype only does one-to-one video chats, I found Mebeam and Tinychat. Tinychat seems most promising so far. Read this review of it. If you have a web cam and a mic, you can start a meeting, invite friends, see them all on video (if they have web cams too), hear them talk (if they have a mic), record the meeting, share your computer screen and text chat as well.

Just be careful and don't log in with your Twitter account because you will end up posting the chat room URL on Twitter. Then anyone can come into your chat room and start text chatting with you and all of your chats will post on Twitter. Moreover, if you feed your Tweets to Facebook, the chats will post to Facebook as well. That's what happened to me when I tried out the program for the first time. That's the danger of all these social networking crossovers. But also the cool part, if you do it intentionally.

Recording Phone Interviews with Skype

Are you interested in recording high quality phone interviews? Watch this video from the The Conversations Network. It explains how to use Skype for recording. The person that you are talking to can have any type of phone or also be on Skype and you can call anywhere in the world to do this.

Skype for Interviews

View more documents from dkaye.

New to iTouch

I just got an iTouch to learn how all those apps and mobile technologies in general are being used for education. An iTouch is like an iPhone but without the phone part. It connects through free wireless wherever it is available and is much cheaper than the iPhone because it doesn't require a subscription with AT&T. Its allure are the "apps" (applications) that users download through iTunes. Many of them are free, others cost money. For example, one GPS mapping app costs $1.99. It allows you to track your travel path, map it and share it online. Another app that's completely free(!), Carbon Tracker, allows you to track your personal carbon footprint. The Monterey Bay Aquarium offers a free app that recommends up-to-date and location specific safe seafood. Potentially great tools for a class that deals with environmental issues.

So far, learning how to work the machine has been very intuitive. It is really possible to learn how to navigate the iTouch without ever reading the manual as long as you are comfortable pushing buttons over and over again to see what they do. Navigating the iTouch is different than using a computer or a phone. Yet, there are just enough affordances and references to what most computer users already know from other technologies, that allow quick mastery of the system. I was able to add some apps, set up my email and connect to wireless networks within minutes of turning the iTouch on for the first time. The apps pretty much make up the entire interface. Each of those icons is an application that does something. There are the usual suspect like a calculator, browser, calendar and email which are already installed. All new apps that you download, come with their own icon that shows up on the screen when you turn on your iTouch.

I am really intrigued by this process of intuitively figuring out a new digital technology. I can see how the problem solving skills from playing games come in handy. Periodically, I get flashbacks from my brief addiction to the computer game Myst. Years ago I spent hours on end trying to make my way through various puzzles as a digital explorer. I am convinced that this experience was key in teaching me the skills that are so often required of us today: learning through exploring, making mistakes, persevering, and constantly figuring out new puzzles.

So far, I've tried out a few apps. The map is pretty exciting. It allows you to locate yourself wherever you are as long as there is a wireless connection. I've also uploaded a Facebook app and tried out blogging. The screen and the typing are still a bit too small for comfortable writing, but I am getting better at it and you can zoom in by dragging your fingers apart on the screen.

This website recommends 50 apps for teaching, such as Atom in a Box, that helps visualize the Hydrogenic atomic orbitals; iPresident, which provides details on all of the Presidents of the United States of America; Classics, which gets you access to some of the classics of literature, and allows you to read them just like a real book; and School of Rock, which teaches students the fundamentals of music. In my view, this has exciting potential for learning and engaging students long distance as well as in the classroom. I am looking forward to trying out these apps.

Twitter Teaching

We had a great turn out of students, staff and faculty for the Twitter talk last night. Guest speaker, Kathy E. Gill was kind enough to share her slide show with us.

And speaking of Twitter, take a look at a Twitter assignment posted by Prof. David Silver for a digital media production class at USF.

O'Grady Library

We just started a library blog at O'Grady Library. Take a look and also see the schedule of events for The September Project posted there.

Upcoming Workshop and Talk at SMU

Upload movies to YouTube and link to Moodle

Last spring Amanda, my undergraduate research and technology assistant, mastered Jing and created some helpful tutorials on how to add quiz questions to Moodle.

For a tutorial on how to upload your movies to YouTube and then link to them on your Moodle course page, check out this movie.

Make sure to turn on your speakers.

Maps

Strange Maps is a blog that documents interesting maps including a Japanese world map circa 1850 that places Japan in the center of the map, as opposed to Europe. There is also "the world's largest map," maps on Afgani rugs, a map of the Portuguese empire (pre 1974 Carnation Revolution), a map of known ship wrecks in the Atlantic, a map that presents global levels of wine consumption by displaying countries as a grape cluster, a highly detailed map that conflates human anatomy with the American transportation system and oh, too many fun maps to mention. Just take a look.