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new Mathtrain blog

Check out our companion blog for our iTunes podcast of Mathtrain:
http://www.mathtrain.tv/podcast

iTunes error

I updated iTunes yesterday and it works fine, except it won't allow me
to download items I purchased. I keep getting errors that a
connection can't be made with the store. Very frustrating! It works
fine on my iMac, but not on my PC.

I hope Apple fixes this quickly.

[via iphone]

World's First 3D Mathcast!

Here is the World's First 3D Mathcast!



You need those funny 3D glasses to see the 3D effects. It isn't super, but for a first timer, it's promising. Just need to read the instructions next. I used the new Minoru 3D Webcam and Camtasia Studio.

This is going to be fun! I plan on lending it to my students for Student TV.

I Bought My First 3D WebCam!

I'm a bit excited. I just ordered the new Minoru 3D Webcam from Amazon! Can't wait to try it out.

Equation Editor

Google Equation Editor Gadget is kind of cool.

Screencasting English

Been an exciting week! One of our English teachers began making
student-created videos!

[via iphone]

Happy Mathcast 2nd Anniversary!

This week marks the 2nd anniversary of our first "official" student-created math video.  "Bob" decided she wanted to make a proportion video, and so it all started.  Up to that point, I had begun making little tutorials as "the teacher".  In early 2006, I had discovered Camtasia Studio (screen recording software).  After "Bob" made her first video, other students wanted to make them too.  It was then that I realized the power of what Daniel Foster of TechSmith would latter call, "kids teaching kids".

The first videos were posted as links onto Mathtrain.com.  Within a year after our first video, I created the video site, Mathtrain.TV, to host our student content.  Today, students continue to come by to make mathcasts.  It has come to the point where I need another tablet pc to meet the after school student-demand.  Anyway, Happy 2nd Anniversary!

FETC Presentation, Orlando, FL

It's been a few weeks since the FETC conference, but I wanted to write how much fun it was. I always like meeting others in the ed-tech genre.

After a delayed flight from LAX to Orlando, I arrived the night before my scheduled Saturday presentation. I presented: "Kids Teaching Kids via Tablet PC, Moodle and Student-Created Screencasts". Much of the collaboration my students do is through our class web site, Mathtrain.Com, and our student-created math video site, Mathtrain.TV.

The videos on Mathtrain.TV are created by using a Tablet PC and screen recording software called, Camtasia Studio.

iPhone App

One of my students has created a Mathtrain app for the iPhone. I hope it really works out. I saw it installed on an iPhone, and it is still being sorted out. But how exciting!

Easily Installed Memory

OK, I know this isn't a big deal. But being a Windows guy and only recently an iMac owner too, I am happy to report I successfully installed an extra gb of RAM all by my lonesome self.

I eventually will order 4 GB from Crucial or someplace cheaper than the ridiculous Apple Store prices. I mean 1GB of RAM is only about $16 on-line and $75 at Apple? Rip-off!

Next, I plan on installing Vista and Parallels onto my iMac. Yikes, now that is the scary segment. Wish me luck.

I Love Australia!

Today, I presented from my classroom in Santa Monica, CA at the MAV Math Conference in Melbourne, Australia. It was 3:45pm my time and 10:45am the next day in Australia.

Student, "Bob", co-presented. It was unique in that we were broadcast via Skype and Adobe ConnectNow. Tomorrow, we get to do it again! Meanwhile, some students were participating and/or watching the presentation in my classroom in front of me. They were impressed that we were talking and viewing live a live feed to Aultralia. Thanks to the wonderful Tony Richards, of itmadesimple and edtechcrew.net for running the show locally in Australia. And thanks to Darren, who hooked us up with his smooth Skype connection!

Seismometer App

Pretty cool iPhone app called, Seismometer. I did my high school
science fair projects with seismometers, so I'm psyched to own my very
own finally!

Decibels

I'm trying out the Decibels app on my iPhone. I like the idea of it.
Maybe I can use it in class to measure how loud the students are? (jk)

Google Earth on iPhone

Finally, it is here! I am currently downloading the Google Earth app for my iPhone. I am excited to try it out. I have used Earthscape on my iPhone and it seemed to work pretty well. But Google Earth is the mother of them all and it is free too.

Mathtrain Podcast on iTunes

This week, I was browsing podcasts on iTunes and saw that our Mathtrain Podcast had reached #4 in the Education:K12 category. Very cool. My students were very excited!

Funding Conferences

It still angers me that our school pays for teachers to *attend* conferences, but yet do not pay when a teacher is actually PRESENTING at a conference! My school does not seem to understand the value of having one of their staff members presenting at an international conference. Yes, it is great publicity for our school. But it is also inspiring to our students who benefit from an increasing global audience.

Forget all this focus on "teacher quality" and credential upgrades... we need to focus on re-vamping what our "Administrators" learn in Administration School! As I have mentioned before, administrators need to understand PR. They need to be savvy publicity agents. Sadly, many I have worked with do not seem to grasp the concept of proactive PR. They DO understand negative publicity, though.

Well, I am presenting at the ILC Conference in San Jose, CA this Thursday, October 16th. It will cost me over $500 out of my own pocket for flight and hotel. In the big picture, I don't mind... it's worth it. However, I am not wealthy and I will have a challenge paying for the other upcoming conferences.

But what is maddening is how difficult it is to get my own school to sponsor our project or help with any funding. Ugh!

Last year, as I struggled for funding, there was a staff e-mail sent out inviting 3 teachers to go to a conference in Northern California. The school offered to "...take care of the hotel, the registration, and the airfare..." for the 3 individuals, but they were short in finding teachers who wanted to attend. They sent out a mass e-mail looking for someone-anyone to attend so they could spend the money. What a waste, especially as I was burning a hole in my pocket as I tried to pay for a conference I was presenting at around the same time period.

Please Lincoln, help fund our project.

Suspension for a Mohawk

I understand dress codes as important sometimes. I taught in East Boston, and the color red was forbidden. That is because it was associated with a gang and students would go to all lengths to find creative ways to wear a piece of red to show their allegiance.

But a haircut? A student got suspension for a mohawk. That's so old-school that it isn't even a rebel thing to do anymore. C'mon, that is pathetic.

Old One was Better

I had the original 4GB iPhone for over a year. I liked it and the only real bummer was that it was such a small amount of storage for all my podcasts, music and videos.

So this week, I bought the new 3G 16GB iPhone. Now I have plenty of storage! However, the newer device is disappointing.

Of course, the casing is not as good as the first one. But there are other issues. For example, the 3G doesn't kick-in very often. And when it does, I am underwhelmed. Also, my old iPhone paired well with my car stereo for hands free conversations. But the newer iPhone sounds like tin, it echoes and even feeds back while in the car. This never happened with the older version.

Also, the screen should blacken while near my ear and light back up when removed from my ear. Well, this newer iPhone does the opposite. It blackens the screen when I remove it from my ear and then it is a challenge trying to hang up. OK, so maybe I need to visit the Apple store. But, I just wish my older iPhone was a wee bit larger than 4GB so I could go back to that one.

PR in the School

School administrators should be trained in PR. They MUST be savvy about publicity, and sadly they are more reactive than proactive when it comes to publicity.