We are developing a new web community for mathematics educators. Our
goals are to:
* Enhance teaching and learning with the finest mathematics
multimedia on the web.
* Allow educators to create, maintain, and update course homepages
quickly and easily without knowing HTML.
* Do it for free.
Earlier this year I met Martha Goshaw (outgoing AMATYC Secretary) who
introduced me to AMATYC. I attended this year's wonderful convention
in Pittsburgh and I've enjoyed reading mathedcc for a while now.
I am posting to ask for your help. We would very much appreciate both
your feedback on how we're doing relative to our goals and your
suggestions on ways to improve ExploreMath.com, our newly launched
learning community. Below is a little more information about the web
site.
* Interactive Multimedia Activities
The free multimedia activities allow students to experiment with
mathematical concepts in ways that go far beyond what is possible with
a graphing calculator or typical Java applets. Each activity is focused
on a particular mathematical topic which can easily be used for
classroom demonstrations related to that topic. In addition, the activities
have a very friendly and intuitive user-interface which enables both
students and instructors to use them to their fullest potential
without having to read an instruction manual.
In developing these activities we have been blessed with ongoing
assistance from U.Va.'s award winning Center for Technology in Teacher
Education (http://curry.edschool.virginia.edu/teacherlink/). Their
regular input and feedback has helped us to refine our activities for
maximum effectiveness and ease of use.
In Pittsburgh, I had the good fortune of being introduced to Brian
Smith (outgoing AMATYC technology committee chair) and you can look
forward to seeing some of his ideas for statistics activities come to
life on ExploreMath.com in the coming weeks.
* Course homepages
We think every educator should have his/her own web
pages without having to spend time learning about web authoring.
Therefore, in addition to the Multimedia Activities, ExploreMath.com offers
member educators the ability to easily set up course homepages without
knowing any HTML.
At ExploreMath.com you can create a separate course homepage
for each course you teach in under 10 minutes. On a course page you
can post announcements, assignments, links to other sites, or even
upload files in seconds. It's very easy.
* Community
ExploreMath.com is a community and like any true community it needs
input from its members to make it the best it can be. Please come
visit and tell us what you think. Our goal is to make it the perfect
place for math educators on the web and we'd appreciate any feedback
you could give us.
A good place to start is by taking the Site Tour -- just click on
"Welcome" from the front page. Please send feedback/suggestions to
suggestions@exploremath.com.
Oh, one more thing. To use the multimedia activities, you'll need the
latest Shockwave plug-in (free download from
http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/download/ ).
Thanks and best regards,
Dave
David Shuster, Ph.D.
President
Third Millennium Press, LLC.
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