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Using Palm-OS PDAs in Calculus I and II. Abigail Hoit and Allen Rogers 16th Annual ICTCM, Rosemont, Illinois November 1, 2003. Personal Digital Assistant (PDA). Store & retrieve calendar entries, phone numbers, to-do lists, notes Chose Palm Operating System: $100
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Using Palm-OS PDAs in Calculus I and II Abigail Hoit and Allen Rogers 16th Annual ICTCM, Rosemont, Illinois November 1, 2003
Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) • Store & retrieve calendar entries, phone numbers, to-do lists, notes • Chose Palm Operating System: • $100 • many third party applications • easy user interface for organizer tasks • Pocket PC: • $300 • fewer third party applications • more steps for organizer tasks
PDA Data Entry • Stylus: “Graffiti” shorthand, on-screen keyboard tapping • Synchronization with computer • Beam data/applications to other PDAs via infrared port
Palm m130 • Palm OS version 4.1 • 8 MB internal memory • Color screen with backlight • Rechargeable • USB cradle • 4.8” x 3.1” x 0.9”, 5.4 oz • DataViz Documents To Go included (Word and Excel)
Rationale for PDAs • Can be used in place of graphing calculator for graphing and calculations • Existing calculator labs still usable • Small, convenient • Have a lot of extra features • Useful outside the math class • More exciting for the students than graphing calculators
Implementation • Use graphing calculator program on PDA instead of traditional graphing calculator • Use programming language to create programs that the students run on their own • Use “WebTarget” to facilitate downloading of information to PDA.
Graphing Calculator • Considered PowerOneGraph, EasyCalc, ADACS • Decided on EasyCalc • Freeware • Has all the features needed for calculus • Lacks some statistical functions (curve-fitting) • Very stable • Designed by Ondrej Palkovsky
Programming Language • Considered Basic, C, ADACS • Decided on Basic • Options included SmallBasic, HotPaw • Chose SmallBasic • Freeware • Easy to use • Very stable • Created by Nicholas Christopoulos
WebTarget • Small hardware unit on classroom wall
WebTarget • Small hardware unit located on classroom wall. • Allows the instructor to upload programs or information from the PC for the students to download in classroom to their PDAs. • Allows students to use the internet in the classroom. • Made by TriBeam Technologies.
Some of Our Programs • Slope Graph • Estimating Area • Graph Shift • Function Composition • Definite Integrals • Rates of Change • Newton’s Method • Riemann Sums