18 Feb 08 Chapter 5.2
Working with a tablet PC makes a lot of fun. I thought that it might be more difficult than it was in reality. Using the tablet is like writing on normal paper; I was able to erase easily and to change my colors even faster than it would have been with normal paper. Furthermore, all the notes are organized and well arranged. In addition, it is easier to call up the files in the computer than searching for them in your folder. It will be nice, if the school arranges those tablets for the math department, so that each student will be able to write on them and to use the notes as they wish. Although this tablet program is very comfortable (the students do not have to write everything down on their own) I have the feeling that when I write the notes from the class on my own, that I am able to understand and to follow the class better than without taking notes. This part is the only disadvantage that I can figure out by just one student using a tablet per class.
During class, we corrected the homework problems # 18, # 19, # 23, # 24 and # 28. Basically, we exercised a lot and deepened chapter 5.2, and the most important things to remember are the formulas of i, i^2 and i^3. The homework is on page 391 # 21 and 22.
I hope that I am able to use the tablet as soon as possible, because I definitely prefer to work with it than with my paper notes.
11 Feb 08 Using a tablet PC
Well, to start off, I have never used a tablet before and I thought it was going to be a very hard tool to get used to. Boy I was wrong. I really like that kind of computer, it allows you to write everything down that you could ever think of, best of all you can take notes on the monitor and then review them later without having the ink or pencil get washed away or erased.
In class today, our tests were handed back and we went over a few of the questions. To be exact, they were questions number 1, 4, and 5. We then decided when the due date would be for the corrections for the test, and that date was set to be Thursday February 14th.
From the end of that discussion we started working on Chapter 5 material. The first part of chapter 5 deals with estimating the area under a curve. (You can see how we did the problems in the attached document. We also determined that you can estimate or calculate the total distance traveled by a system using the same process of equations as finding the area under a curve (the area being the total distance traveled).
Comments on using a Tablet PC:
First- Don’t be afraid to press down on the screen when you are writing… The monitor is meant to take some pressure, and it makes writing much much easier.
Second- Use lots of colors, they add to the visual effect of the document and they also stimulate your eyes rather then looking over a black and white text the whole time.
Finally- Calibrate the pencil before you use it, when you are writing nothing is worse then the text coming up in a different place from where you write it. (Mr. Seamon can show you where to do it)
Thats all….. Hope it helps.
11 Feb 08 My tablet experience.
My tablet PC experience was something new for me, because it was the first time I saw one. The minute Mr Seamon brought them to the class everybody was so happy and excited, exept for me, and I asked Pedro what was that and he told me ” Its amazing, you’ll see” he was right it was amazing.
I have to say that iy was more easy to work on than a paper, also you can keep all your work clean and organized, you can change color easily and erase thing fast. but all this good things has its bad things, for example, its uncomfortable to put your arm in it, you can’t put find a way to put it. Also talking about myself I got so distracted with all the things, so I started to check it out forgetting the time I had for my exam.
I would definitely use the tablet PC, but not in a test or something like that, because I was so nervous for the first thing Mr Seamon told us ” if you mess this things up, you will need to pay all your College Tuition” and i didn’t want to lose all that, and for the test too.
09 Feb 08 Using the tablet for the ch.4 test
After I realized I had volunteered to use the tablet for taking the test, I immediately regretted my decision to raise my hand. For the first 5 or 10 minutes it was a bit difficult to get used to not writing on paper. It made me a bit nervous because I had never used a tablet before, and I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t want to end up accidentally deleting everything half way through the test, or something to that affect. After my nerves calmed down a bit it wasn’t so bad. I actually prefer using the tablet for taking tests.
Using the tablet made erasing much easier and neater, and I never ran out of paper. I liked the fact that I could change colors and widths when I was writing. It is easier to make the more important things noticeable. It was also easy to go back to a problem because there were no papers to shuffle around to find the question I wanted to go back to. Everything is in a nice logical order, and I didn’t have to plan according to page length. I hate running out of room and the bottom of a piece of paper when I am working on a long equation, and with the tablet I never had to worry about that. It was also nice to be able to put a graph into the work that I created in winplot. It looks much neater.
It was a bit awkward to get used to writing on the tablet at first. It took a few minutes to find a comfortable way to write. I found that Mr. Seamon’s suggestion to rest my hand on the screen while writing worked best for me. The other thing that bothered me while I was using in was I would accidentally press the button on the stylus and highlight something that I didn’t want to highlight and move it. I hadn’t realized that there was a button the stylus so the first time it happened I had no idea what I did.
I think I prefer using the tablet for test taking now. Over all it makes the work look much neater, and the tablet isn’t hard to use.
Tags: tabletpc, test taking
08 Feb 08 Tablet
When I used tablet to take notes in class, it was great. It is so easy to use. I can change pen easily. I can move everything I write. However, there are many problems while I was using it.
- Battery is too big and hot
- Battery didn’t last long enough so I have to tell Mr.Seamon to put AC Adapter in
- All the writing count as picture so when I made mistake, it delete everything if it is connected line
- It was hard to write on the table
I want to show you all my note at the end of this post.
07 Feb 08 My Tablet Experiences
For the sake of disclosure let it be noted that I love technology.
That being said, My experience using the tablet in Calculus was a mixed bag. The ability to dynamically modify and save work and telecommunicate my thoughts and ideas effectively was fantastic. However, there were some major issues that I found while using the tablet.
- You can’t comfortably use it on the desk. The writing angle just doesn’t work.
- The only comfortable place to put it is on your lap. (see next point)
- It gets ridiculously hot (see next point)
- I think this speaks for itself.
- The weird shape battery makes resting it anywhere a pain because the angle of the tablet has to be adjusted.
- The rope attaching the pen to the tablet was so troublesome I had to disconnect it.
- Running the tablet in portrait instead of landscape while taking notes, I found that you run out of screen space reallly quickly. OneNote Doesn’t create enough page bottom space fast enough for my tastes.
- Once I switched to Landscape I found that i was constantly knocking into the buttons encircling the perimeter of the screen. Highly annoying.
- I can see the tablet being an issue for persons who re not completely comfortable with wacom technology or the onenote interface.
I think, and I’m sure Mr. Seamon does as well, that the tablets have real potential. A few minor bugs are always to be expected.
A list of my suggestions for their use:
- Either new chairs or new desks. The angles simply do not work currently.
- A different battery size for the tablet.
- The ability to dynamically interact with the teacher’s presentation.
- Figure out a way to make one note provide more real estate in portrait.
My class notes are at the end of this post for all those interested in seeing my take on the test prep and 4.10 homework.
06 Feb 08 Problem #77 & Chapter 4 Test Review
I thought I could have done a better job at explaining #77 from class on 2/6, so I went ahead and recorded a screen capture (w/sound) of another run through of the problem: Part1, Part2
The files are in flash format and are pretty small (<4mb each), so you should be able to play them fine. Email me if you have any issues.
Last night I wanted to see what more I could do with my shiny new tablet, so I setup an online study session. Here is a recording of what went down. Note: I was on a conference call with three students during the session. You can only hear me in the recording.
17 Feb 08 2/15/08 Tablet
2/15/08 Notes A blockThis was the first time that I have used a tablet pc and it was more than a bit frustrating at first. The computer itself worked fine, but I did not pick up on it as quickly as I had hoped. The one major problem that I had was I hit the button on the pen several times in the middle of taking notes…very annoying. The good things about the tablet was that you are able to take colorful notes that are much easier to read when you want to go over them at a later time using any computer.
In class we went over problem #23 from the 5.2 homework. I didn’t get the question for homework the night before so I spent most of the class attempting to understand what was being taught instead of taking notes on the tablet. Basically what I learned was that you need to know the formulas on page 383.
I’m hoping that my next experience with the tablet will go much more smoothly, and that what I learned the first time will make me a bit faster at taking notes and much more comfortable at using the tablet pc overall.
Tags: , comments, tablet pc