Teaching Math with Technology

Taking math education into the 21st century, and bringing my students and visionary teachers along for the ride!

Posts Tagged ‘mathcasts’

My Student Hyperstudio Projects

December 18th 2011 Posted at education, HyperStudio, Interactive Projects, Math Projects, Mathcast, Software, Teaching, Teaching Online, TechFriends(Geeks)
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Student Hyperstudio5 Projects

The final project I had my Math For Elementary Teachers do for the course was to create an interactive Hyperstudio Project.


The projects are too large to be viewed well inside my blog, so I have created a website to house them. The website is best viewed using Safari if possible, if not, just ignore the browser warning, as I have used a beta version of Hyperstudio to export them into HTML5 .

I have many of my student’s projects posted on a THIS WEBSITE.    Enjoy!

 

Creating a Text Embedded Interactive Worksheet with a Livescribe Smartpen

September 20th 2011 Posted at education, Helping students, Interactive Projects, Livescribe, Livescribe, Math Projects, Mathcast, Pulse smartpen, Teaching, Teaching Online, Technology, writing
15 Comments

EMBEDDING TEXT BEHIND A LIVESCRIBE PENCAST PDF

Recently I learned how to embed text behind a Livescribe pencast and it has changed everything!

I created a short interactive worksheet to show what can be created with this process.   The following is a screenshot of the text embedded pencast because I cannot embed a PDF file (yet) into a website.   A link to the actual pencast PDF is below the screenshot.

Pencast PDF with text in the background
(you must have Adobe Reader 10.0 or higher to view this interactive PDF)

If that does not work, I put a link on my website for you to click on OUTSIDE of WordPress
(I have some issues with opening PDFs inside WordPress – if anyone can help me to embed
a PDF in WordPress or a website I would really appreciate it!)

As listed in the pencast, the steps to embed the text in the pencast PDF are as follows:

1.  Print off the text file onto Livescribe dot paper (I used college-ruled dot paper in my printer)

2.  Record a pencast on top of dot paper that has the text printed on it (the text shows you where to write!)

(sorry about the poor photo quality)

3.  Connect your smartpen and upload your pencast as a PDF (use the “Computer” connector)

As you can see in this screen shot, the pencast looks pretty strange without the text behind it!

4.  Save the original text document as a .jpg (image file) – to do this you must first save it as a PDF and then you can use Adobe Acrobat Pro or the free online utility Zamzar (www.zamzar.com) to save your PDF as a .jpg file

5.  Open the pencast PDF in Adobe Acrobat Pro or PDF Pro (http://epapyrus.com/en/)  so that you can add a watermark to the PDF file

6.  Add your .jpg text file as a watermark to your pencast PDF and re-save the PDF

7.  The new pencast PDF can be viewed by anyone with Adobe Reader 10.0 or higher

 

Please add comments on this blog if you know of other free ways to save a text document as an image file and also if you know of other (especially FREE) programs that allow the user to edit a PDF.

Please send me the projects you make – I would love to see them!

 

 

Making Math More Accessible For ALL Students

April 25th 2011 Posted at Assistive Technology, bluetooth headset, Dragon NaturallySpeaking, Droid, education, flexT9, Helping students, learning styles, Livescribe, Mathcast, taking notes, Teaching, Teaching Online, TechFriends(Geeks), Technology
4 Comments

Reaching Different Learning Styles Through Technology

As you can probably tell, I have 2 passions that drive my teaching….technology and helping students.

My latest journey has been traveling down a path to find ways to help reach the different learning styles of my students. In turn this will help make my math courses more accessible to students who require either text, speech or visual aids because of physical or learning disabilities.

I started with the Livescribe smartpen to turn student notes into animated text with sound.  Then I tried to transcribe the text from the pencast using Dragon Naturally Speaking ,which works GREAT if I am speaking into my computer, but the student pencasts don’t pick up my speaking as well because I am walking around the room, so I am not near the pen most of the time.

Since Dragon cannot transcribe the text WHILE I am teaching from the Mobi software, then I needed to find a way to record my speaking during class and then download it into my computer so Dragon can create the transcript.  I spent some time today looking for options that would not require me purchasing a hand-held recorder.

I have a Plantronics Discovery 975 bluetooth headset that pairs with both my computer and also with my Droid X cell phone.   I use it with my computer and Dragon to ‘speak text’ into many programs on my computer, including Word and email (I still need to try it with MathType!).

I thought I found the perfect mobile solution…to be able to walk around the room and teach while wearing the bluetooth headset, but have the audio transcribe directly onto my phone!  I purchased the Droid version of Dragon called flexT9 …great idea and it works perfectly…except flexT9 does NOT support bluetooth headsets yet.   I can still use it for transcribing speech to text on my phone, but I have to be close to the phone mic.  It is an amazing app for $4.99!

I started looking for a voice recording app for my Droid that would support bluetooth.

I found Voice2Do (FREE).  It is the ONLY voice recorder I found that supports bluetooth.  I recorded a short message from my bluetooth headset to my Droid X (which was across the room) and then emailed it to my computer (to email the .wav file you must purchase the professional version).    Finally, I had Dragon transcribe the audio file and it worked GREAT!

I plan on playing with it for a couple more days and then trying it out in my classes.   My goal is to have the Livescribe pencast student notes and the Workspace board notes for visual learners, but then take the audio for the lesson and create a written transcript, which can also be read out loud by most computers, for students whose learning styles require reading or hearing the information.

I will post a link when I get it all put together.

 

Creating INTERACTIVE activities with HyperStudio5!

April 13th 2011 Posted at Algebra, education, HyperStudio, Interactive Projects, Math Projects, Mathcast, Teaching Online, TechFriends(Geeks)
0 Comments

Link to the official Hyperstudio website

In my spare time (ha ha) I have been playing with Roger Wagner’s Hyperstudio 5.   (Luckily Roger Wagner himself has been helping me!!)  What a fun program!    My goal is to create more INTERACTIVE activities and tutorials/videos for my students, without all the work of Flash.   Hyperstudio fits that goal amazingly well!   It is similar to PowerPoint, but far more incredible in my book!

I “finished” my first final draft (I keep “fixing it” so it is forever in draft mode) of an interactive tutorial on introducing combinations and counting, and posted the project on a new area of my website with the button “HyperStudio Projects”.

Before clicking on the link below that will take you to the Hyperstudio stack, you must first make sure you are using either Safari or Internet Explorer, because these are the only browsers that have the Hyperstudio web-brower add-on for now.   To get the browser add-on, go to:  http://www.mackiev.com/support_hs.html , click on the proper computer type, then get the browser add-in for either Safari or Internet Explorer, then you will be able to view and PLAY WITH the activity.

Here is the direct link to my first project: http://www.tech4mathed.com/HyperStudio/IceCream_SG.html

If you have the browser add-on correctly installed you should see the following screen:

Once the stack is finished loading, the screen should look like:

Now you are ready to click on “go to STORY”.

I created the story like a video, and I narrated every screen, so you can  hear the narration if you click on the button. The audio level needs some work, some of the narration is too quiet and I will need to redo those sections.  The most fun part of it, however, is the INTERACTIVITY that was easy to create!

In this activity, I created an Ice Cream Playground, where you can actually move around all the objects on the page to explore and find the answer before viewing the explanation of the solution.  My 14 year old son did all of the artwork for me!   It is wonderful having a live-in artist on hand!

Please give it a try and let me know what I can do to make it more interesting for my students.   I also need to know if you are able to view it on a Mac and on a Windows machine.  Some Windows machines can view it and some cannot, so I am trying to trouble-shoot which versions of Windows have difficulty to help find a fix for that.

I am excited to make more projects and play with Hyperstudio!

 

 

Training My Dragon!

April 9th 2011 Posted at Algebra, Assistive Technology, Dragon NaturallySpeaking, education, Livescribe, Mathcast, MathType, MyScript, Teaching Online, TechFriends(Geeks)
3 Comments

Dragon Naturally Speaking Web Link

 

I have started on a quest to make math more accessible!   I recently purchased Dragon NaturallySpeaking, Premium ver 11.0.   It just came today and I have been playing with it to train it to trancribe my voice.     So far it has  done a great job in Word, but then I decided to have it transcribe the audio file from the Livescribe pencast below.

Link to pencast

 

When the pencast is still on your desktop, you can export the audio separately.  I then imported the audio file directly into Dragon and the original transcipt is shown below (I just cropped a small part of the transcript for you to see).  I still have a lot of “training” on Dragon to do, but it didn’t do a bad job for the first try!  It certainly has potential to help create a transcript for my pencasts for students who need one.


(click on the image to see a larger version of the text)

Livescribe also has transcription software you can purchase called “MyScript”.  Here is a link to the software.   It has some difficulty transcribing the math, but here is the first pass it made:

(click on the image to see a larger version of the text)

My next task it to to learn to use MathType,

together with Dragon, to create equations that can be read aloud for students.   I will post when I make some progress there.  :)

 

Off To A Great Semester With Technology!

January 22nd 2011 Posted at Algebra, education, eInstruction Interwrite Workspace, Helping students, Livescribe, Livescribe, Mathcast, Mobi, Pulse smartpen, SnagIt, Student participation, Teaching, Teaching Online, TechFriends(Geeks)
1 Comment

A new semester has begun and I have added a few new ways to help my students succeed.

  1. I borrowed my colleague’s idea to have 2 students take notes during every class using a Livescribe smartpen.  I then upload the notes to their class website, and post a link  in the calendar on the day the notes were taken.

I created a webpage to house the daily notes for each chapter, starting with our first chapter:  Chapter 9

2.  I use a Mobi (from eInstruction) to present the lesson from anywhere in the room.   An especially nice feature of the Mobi software, called Workspace, is that I can save the board notes and export them to a PDF file.  I place on link in the calendar to the board lesson on the day the lesson was given.

*to see the actual board notes, you must go to the calendar and click on “board notes”, since they are an attached PDF file, I cannot link to it here.

3.  The students use an online program to do their homework, which sends me a screen shot when they need help on a particular problem.  Instead of trying to type back a response to them, I fully explain their solution using a Livescribe smartpen.  I then send them the link to the pencast, and I also created a webpage to house all solutions to student homework questions.

*here is the link to the page that contains all the homework solutions

Here is one of the solutions I wrote to my students just today:

SimplyNegativeExponentsEx2
brought to you by Livescribe
…
This is just the first week of class, and the students have shown a positive reaction to these extra support features I have included on my website for them.   I look forward to seeing how the semester progresses!
…
*To see more of my college website go to:  Glascoe College Website .  I built the website using Dreamweaver.
…
*All screenshots were taken using TechSmith Snagit
…

 

New Opportunities for Growth

December 9th 2010 Posted at AMATYC, Bio, Helping students, Livescribe, Livescribe, Mobi, Pulse smartpen, Teaching, Teaching Online, Technology, Training
2 Comments

I have not blogged much about my own teaching with technology in the past couple months.  Instead, I have tried to write about others who I admire and what they are doing to help move mathematics education into the 21st century……This is because I have been on medical leave for a broken foot.  I was successful for a short while teaching with the Mobi from a stationary spot in each classroom, but I was still having to walk to three different buildings and my foot was not healing.   My doctor advised me to go on medical leave and let it heal.   I have missed my students terribly, and am disappointed not to be able to try the new online projects I had planned for the semester.  It was hard not being able to do any training this past semester as well.    I have been given a doctor’s release to go back to teaching again in the spring, and I am excited to dig my heels back into teaching and learning with technology!

I do have other exciting news to share as well (besides getting to start teaching again in the spring):  AMATYC Project ACCCESS invited me to serve as a Consulting Colleague (mentor) for the 2011-12 Project ACCCESS Fellows!   They even sent me the contact information for the Fellow I will be directly advising on her project so I can get started today!  It will be amazing to be in a cohort of established teachers who will be mentoring, along with Fellows who are new teachers wanting to learn more about the scholarship of teaching at a 2 year college.   The Fellow I am mentoring is working on a project to include technology, like the Livescribe smartpen, into her Hybrid college courses to help her students.   I feel so honored to be chosen to assist in guiding her progress, and help her to evaluate her project.

To learn more about the AMATYC ACCCESS program, go to the link: AMATYC  Project ACCCESS .
to learn more about the American Mathematical Association of Two Year Colleges, go to:  AMATYC

I can’t wait to get started and to share the experiences I have  in working as a Consulting Colleague in this amazing program!

 

My Customer-Story Video for Livescribe

November 17th 2010 Posted at Bio, Helping students, Livescribe, Livescribe, Mathcast, published articles, Teaching Online, Technology
1 Comment

I was asked by Livescribe if I would give my testimonial as a college instructor using the Livescribe pen for my math classes.   I had so much fun making the video with the team!

Amazing how they can shrink 2 hours of  ”discussion” (with many retakes I might add!) into a minute and a half of produced video!

They interviewed 7 people in different professions to show how each of us enhances our work with the help of our Livescribe smartpen.

To see all 7 videos, go to the Livescribe Home Page and click on my photo on the bottom of the page.  (OK, I share the photo with three other people, but I made the home page!)

I still own my original 1 GB Pulse and now the new Echo smartpen, and I am so thankful for having such great technology to teach with!  I am also finding great ways to use my smarpens in  everyday life, too!

Here is my Livescribe Story posted on YouTube:


Clip to Evernote

 

Getting Published!

November 4th 2010 Posted at Bio, CPS Clickers, Livescribe, Livescribe, Mobi, published articles, Pulse smartpen, Teaching Online, Technology
0 Comments

I wrote an article for Community College Week magazine about how I use technology to enhance teaching and learning both inside and outside of my classes.   I was excited to find out last week that they accepted my article and it was published recently!

To find the article online, you need to click on the Community College Week website, and then click on the green “Technology Update” image to download the PDF.   The article I wrote starts on page 13.

Community College Week’s website


Clip to Evernote

 

Livescribe pencasts on my iPad!

September 23rd 2010 Posted at iPad, Livescribe, Livescribe, Mathcast, Pulse smartpen, Technology
2 Comments

Livescribe recently announced a fantastic new player for their pencasts!   Since none of the Apple portable devices are allowed to run Flash, we haven’t been able to use our iPads, iPods and iPhones to view any of the Livescribe pencasts.    Well, that is not the case any longer!

Here is a link to Livescribe’s article announcing their player and how to get the free player on iTunes.

I downloaded it on my iPad to try it out.  It has a great interface and allows you to download any of the Livescribe pencasts you have made with a Pulse or Echo smartpen, and you can also download any other Livescribe pencasts that are contained on their community site.    Here is a screenshot of the opening menu on my iPad:

Once a pencast is downloaded to your iPad, iPod or iPhone, then you can view it as an animated movie with sound.  This is a screenshot of one of my pencasts that I downloaded, and then played on my iPad.

* I just created a resource page where I will be starting to place my .pencast files if you want to download them and try them on YOUR iPad, iPod Touch or iPhone

Clip to Evernote

 
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