• Embed Doc
  • Copy Link
  • Readcast
  • Collections
  • CommentGo Back
Download
 
Math Accessibility Online
Abstract
An open discussion about mathematics, including algebra and calculus, on Web 2.0 andsocial networking sites. Note: This document is now out of date, and has been replaced by a wiki,
OnlineMathematics Access
at: http://onlinemathematicsaccess.wikispaces.com/. Please modify the wiki rather than this document.
Author List
Please add your name here if you have made any changes or additions to this wiki.Anyone interested in mathematics may be an author.23/7/2009, Colin McAllister, email: colin dot mcallister@ymail.com, Twitter: colinmca,cmcallister.vox.com23/7/2009, Maria Droujkova, Twitter: MariaDroujkova, Math, technology andcommunity consultant,naturalmath.com25/7/2009, Bob Mathews, email: bobm @ dessci.com, Twitter: MathType,dessci.com
Copyright
This document "Math Accessibility Online" is licensed under a Creative CommonsAttribution-Share Alike 2.5 Malaysia License. "Math Accessibility Online" is simply adescriptive name for this document, similarity with any other uses of the name or of similar names is coincidental. Suggested reasons for which you might wish to modify thisdocument include: adding your own contribution, correcting errors, or translation toanother language or media format.
Disclaimer
This document or wiki is open to anyone interested in mathematics. Content should be of general interest to mathematics enthusiasts around the world. User created content islicensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike license. Opinions are thoseof their authors. Mathematics is traditionally an open and free academic discipline, andremains so on this document or wiki. Most of the sites mentioned are free, open andinternationally available. They are commercial too, and may offer some features for  payment. For many online services, most users find that the free features are adequate for their needs. Please obey laws and regulations that apply to your use of this document or wiki, e.g. copyright laws, or regulations at your place of work or study. Please appealagainst laws and regulations that restrict your right to freely access this document or wikiand other forms of personal or academic communication. Content on this document or wiki expresses our personal interest in mathematics, and does not represent any businessor organisation. The content is presented soley for general information. I manage thisdocument or wiki as a personal hobby, using the free Basic Service Plan of Wikispaces.com, and make no service guarantees of any kind. Please keep a copy of anycontent that you create, in case this document or wiki becomes unavailable withoutMaths Accessibility Online 1 of 14
 
notice. If you are presenting a lot of information, or any information that is valuable or commercial in nature, then you should post it on your own wiki or website, and not here.All trademarks are the property of their respective owners. Any errors will be correctedon request.Colin McAllister, 29th July, 2009.
Weekly Math Chatas announced at Mathfuture
The future of mathematics and education is discussed on a wiki athttp://mathfuture.wikispaces.com/and weekly discussions on Twitter under hashtag#mathchat, and using meeting softwareElluminate. In lieu of attending the meetings, Ihave prepared this document and opened it up for collaborative editing as a wiki athttp://onlinemathematicsaccess.wikispaces.com/.
New Wiki - Online Mathematics Access
The wikiOnline Mathematics Accessis an open discussion about the support for mathematics on Web 2.0 and social networking sites. It contains background material for a July, 2009 online meeting organised by Maria Droujkova. Some of Maria's questions are in the Discussions section, and you are invited to add your opinions as comments.The page "Status of Online Support for Mathematics Discussions" is a draft summary of the situation, and is open for collaborative editing.Open discussions on this wiki include:* How can we share math online?* What sites support math conversation?* Is it OK to use plain text math?* Considerations for impaired vision or hearing?The wiki is public. If you wish to modify it or add your opinion, justfollow the link  and request access. In case of access difficulty, send an email to colin dot mcallister atymail.com, or contact Support at Wikispaces.One of the varied topics is "Text vs Graphical Problem Solving" or 
Solve the Same Problem in Different Environments
To compare a text only discussion forum (Orkut.com) with a graphical discussion forum(Ning.com), it is helpful to observe the same mathematics problem being attempted ineach environment.This wiki began as a document, available asMath Accessibility Online (PDF) or Math Maths Accessibility Online 2 of 14
 
Accessibility Online (Microsoft Word) Document on Scribd.com. These are out of date,so please refer directly to the Wiki.I wish to thank Maria Droujkova for organising the online meetings on this topic at theMathfuturewiki, and for asking the above questions.
Personal Introductions:
Colin:Hello, I'm Colin, a Software Engineer lecturing in Computer Science in Malaysia. Duringthe last year I have checked many social networks, and found that they do not offer goodsupport for technical discussions. Nevertheless maths discussions thrive among studentson the Orkut.com and Friendster.com social networks, which only offer plain text dialog.Email: colin dot mcallister@ymail.com
Some of the questions:
 
Asked by Maria Droujkova for the July 23rd, 2009 online discussion.
How can we share math online?
Colin: Many documents with math content are saved as Microsoft Word or OpenOfficedocuments, or asAdobe PDFfiles. We share them with our contacts via email, or uploadthem to shared disk drives, or to online ftp or file sharing sites. Mathematicians andscientists have, for decades, been usingLaTeX, PostScript and DVI files to prepare and publish math documents.Donald Knuth, inventor of Tex is the pioneer of usingcomputers to create typeset documents. More spontaneous dialogue, on bulletin boardsand social networks, is usually text based, and that limitation makes complex equationstedious to read.
What social networks and virtual worlds are more supportive of math conversation?
Colin: Blackboard and Moodle for course management, and Zoho Writer for online word processing all provide an equation editing tool.The Wordpress and Movable Type blogging platforms support equation rendering, by theinstallation of extensions on the host blog.Mathematics CyberBoard http://www.sosmath.com/CBB/include equations that are entered asLaTeXand embedded as images within the text.The Thesaurus of mathematical termshttp://thesaurus.maths.org/uses Java for graphics.Browsing the site with Firefox, it usesMathMLfor equations. Browsing with InternetExplorer, it requires the free MathPlayer plugin; as described on the the Help Page. Social Networks on Ning.com support one or multiple images embedded in discussiontext. With the assistance of online equation editors, that is good support for discussingmathematics.Maths Accessibility Online 3 of 14
of 00

Leave a Comment

You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...
You must be to leave a comment.
Submit
Characters: ...