MathPad 1.1 Exploring Learning with Pen Computing Paradim Software Engineering pcurtain@eworld.com, http://www.teleport.com/~pcurtain 1925 NW 173rd #1604, Beaverton Oregon 97006 503.880.3038 The Idea for MathPad MathPad was born while talking to some home schooling parents and local teachers. All of us were computer literate, liked gadgets and were dreaming up what education would be like in the future. The idea was "what if all homework was done electronically, with as much as ease as paper but the automation that doing it electronically provides?" We've all seen StarTrek TNG and other shows with the kids all walking around with some kind of clipboard style learning tool. I dream of those being some kind of client in a communications structure that receives both learning plans, text material and homework to be done sent from a server controlled by the instructor. MathPad is a very, very crude stab at what the student would see in that environment. Using MathPad Operation MathPad is extremely simple. It presents the user with a math problem and waits for an answer to be entered in the text entry beneath the bar. Once an answer has been entered select the Check button to check your work. If the entry was correct, MathPad will generate another problem. These problems will eventually get progressively more difficult until a problem is skipped. Progressing MathPad reports the user's progress beneath the entry area: These numbers are generated by the user's responses. After selecting Check the entry is evaluated. If it's correct, the Total Correct number is increased. If it's not correct the user can continue to try to get the answer correct, nothing changes until the user selects Skip. Selecting Skip increments the Total Wrong number. When the user continues to get correct answers MathPad starts trying to make the numbers bigger and the problems more difficult. When a problem is skipped MathPad works at making the problems easier. Preferences You can change the current settings of MathPad using the Preferences view: You can adjust the range of numbers to include. If you specify a higher Lowest Number value than your Highest Number value, they'll be set to the same number. You can control the list of operators to switch among. NOTE: MathPad doesn't yet select numbers based on the operator you've chosen. Because of this you may find yourself multiplying 2698 by 479. Choose those operators carefully. Finally, you can clear the current totals to give a clean slate for reporting progress. Future Plans o Add an overview that shows the user's progress along with all the problems they've done and whether they got it right. o Add the ability to pass the history data to another system, probably through an encrypted email message. o Provide a way to lock in a given range of numbers and operators and remove the user's ability to control those items, probably locked through a password. Please contact me if you find this package interesting or the concept intriguing! Patrick Curtain, Husband & Father (I also do Software) Paradim Software Engineering 1925 NW 173rd #1604 Beaverton, Oregon 97006 vox: 503.880.3038, fax: 503.645.6260 email: pcurtain@eworld.com http://www.teleport.com/~pcurtain/ Project History --------------- 1.1, 950604 Corrected Prefs return bug. Had the values setting in two places, one of which reset the number range to initial/entry values. Removed the extra method. 1.0, 950430 Initial Release. Added Preferences form for selection of number range and operators. Added a clear button and added the progress showing the number correct and incorrect. 0.9, 950301 Released to freinds. Basic functionality, math etc. Works.