QuickClips

I have translated one of my plans into something concrete. I know of some people in the College who have a similar idea but, as usual, have failed to move beyond plans and chatter. Well, it is a bit understandable considering that an effort like this requires time, hard work and perseverance, especially if one will work on it almost single-handedly.

I am talking about my project aimed at producing video clips showing Math problems being solved. Although this is not something new (a lot of similar clips can be found in the Internet), I believe that a well-produced collection of such clips specifically targeting a particular set of students would help a lot in a teacher's task of facilitating learning. I have produced more than 20 clips for ALGEB-X and BMAT2-X and am targeting to produce more. Producing this initial batch is very important for me because I will now have something to show my colleagues in order to convince them that it can be done.

What do I have to show? Well, I already have a prototype of a CD which I can distribute to my students. They can have the CD copied, bring the copy home, insert it in their CD drive, and start watching clips of their teacher demonstrating solutions to problems which they discussed earlier or will discuss later.

If I can convince other teachers to create more clips, the collection will expand and might even afford the student the luxury of choosing which teacher he or she wants to see and hear explain a particular solution. Now, if no teacher signs up, I can always ask my students to produce the clips given my guidance. Let's do the Math: 5 clips per group and 8 groups of 5 students in a class of 40 is 40 clips per class. Since I have 6 different classes this coming term, wouldn't that translate to 240 clips (or at least 120 good ones)?

That is why this effort of producing an initial batch is so important because I have the chance to convince teachers and students alike that it is something beneficial to them. If they find it useful, I will have an easier time convincing them to produce more for sharing with others.

Aside from the CD as a distribution medium, here's another possibility (again, I just I have to show that something like this works and I will probably be able to convince one or two others; "Doc Zaldi, how did you do it?"):



I will talk to Odie and Caloi about sharing my experiences regarding this and other similar efforts with my Math co-teachers. Yan muna.

Will Hit The Ground Running

This is the last weekend of my service leave. Classes for Term 2 will start on Wednesday and I will hit the ground running. In fact, I was not really inactive during my service leave. I am happy I was able to accomplish a lot. I was able to do what I set to do and a lot more.

Since my last post, I did the following:

• Install Windows XP in our MacBook via Boot Camp. I was already running a Windows XP virtual machine via VMWare Fusion. But I needed something that runs natively and not virtualized. I need Windows XP to fully utilize the power of the Intel Core 2 Duo processor and the 1 GB RAM. Anyway, Fusion detects the Boot Camp partition and I can still run Windows XP via Fusion on Mac. But when I need to do, for example, heavy video editing, I run Windows XP via Boot Camp.
• Work on my video clips project. This consisted of the following subtasks:
• Setting up our EGI outer room as a "studio" for the video shoot, which means buying and installing a whiteboard, buying markers and eraser and buying and installing additional lighting fixtures;
• Shooting clips using our Sony Handycam;
• Transferring the clips to the computer;
• Doing video editing, which includes assembling the clips, reducing the noise, adding captions and transitions; and
  
• Encoding the "movie" in SWF and WMV formats
• Wrapping up my work on my instructional materials. I did a lot of work on this area. Here are what I have completed:
  
• Handouts for 5 Math subjects: ALGEB-X, BMAT2-X, ELEMSTA, DS-MATH and TRIGONO
• Problem sets (about 7-9 per subject)
• Pair quizzes (about 4 per subject)
• Online quizzes (about 4 per subject; 15-25 items in each quiz; 1 hour and 1.5 hour setups are available; offline versions were also prepared, in case no computer laboratory is available)
  
• Slide presentations (for 3 out of the 5 subjects)

It was a lot of work and I learned some new things. I will share these with my fellow Math teachers if they are interested. Offhand, I can think of three topics for sharing already:

• Preparing instructional materials with Math elements using OpenOffice.org (main focus is on the use of OpenOffice.org Math constructs; probably branding also)
  
• Creating Math quizzes in Moodle (main focus is on LaTeX constructs; showing also how to reuse what were typed in OpenOffice.org)
• Producing video clips for use in Math subjects (will give a walkthrough from shooting to packaging)

As I said, I will likely hit the ground running. I just hope some people will run with me.

Custom Animation In OpenOffice.org Impress

I was adding a Custom Animation effect in my OpenOffice.org Impress slides and I came across something which could be bug (or a poorly implemented feature) in the software.

First, here is a description of what I want:

1. From the current slide, I want to reach a new slide containing bullets simply by leaving the current one.
2. The first bullet item is displayed upon entry of the slide.
3. When I click the mouse, the first item is dimmed and the next one is displayed.
4. A second click of the mouse also dims the second item and displays the third item.
5. And so on, until I leave the slide for another.

No. 1 is implemented without a problem. I select the whole text box containing the bulleted items, add an effect, and choose "After previous" in the Start dropdown list under Effect Appear section. Details of the desired effect is then displayed in a list.

When I double-click on the effect detail, I can set No. 2 (under Text Animation) and, supposedly, Nos. 3-5 (under Effect). Why supposedly? Because if I do so, and click OK, my indicated settings under Effect are wiped out. They do not register.

So, I had to do it this way:

1. Set options for Text Animation.
2. Click OK.
3. Double-click on the effect detail again.
4. Set options for the Effect.
5. Click OK.

I have a feeling that something is wrong..

Our Broadband Internet Connections

About a month ago, I applied for a basic PLDT subscription (PhP750 per month) for our communications needs and Eveth's once-in-a-while Internet browsing at EGI Taft Tower. I reckoned that dial-up access would be enough for her needs. Unfortunately, the connection is less than satisfactory, maxing out at 52kbps and drops every so often.

Anyway, I still thought that the setup would suffice since she can still use our Internet connection at Treelane. We have a SMART Bro subscription here priced at PhP988 per month with speed of up to 384kbps. A router (Linksys BEFSR41), which I bought more than a year ago, "splits" the Internet connection for sharing between two PCs.

Here is a photo of our two PCs here at Treelane, with the router on top:



Last Saturday, however, I took a longer look at the currently running PLDT DSL ads, particularly the PhP999 1mbps Xperience plan. We called 171 and learned that PhP999 is exclusive of the payment for the phone services. Too expensive. In the course of the conversation, we were offered instead the PhP990 plan (phone+DSL). That is not too far away from the PhP750 phone-only plan. The speed is up to 384kbps. So we applied. That was Saturday. The installation was performed on Monday. Fast eh?

The "DSL Installer" (as he calls himself) had the DSL modem with him. Following his instructions, I did the configuring with the laptop (OS is Windows XP). We were done in about 7 minutes. When he left, I did the configuration for the MacBook. It took me sometime. I learned later that you cannot "hot plug" the ethernet cable from one PC to another. You have to restart the modem. I also learned that unlike dial-up, you can use the phone while you are connected to the Internet. From Wikipedia:

Some variants of DSL connections, like ADSL and VDSL, typically work by dividing the frequencies used in a single phone line into two primary "bands". The ISP data is carried over the high frequency band (25Khz and above) whereas the voice is carried over the lower frequency band (4Khz and below). Thus the DSL modem and the phone can simultaneously use the same phone line without interfering with each other.

Now, do we buy a router to again split the Internet connection for sharing between the laptop and the MacBook? The Linksys BEFSR41 is cheaper now than one year ago. But the cheapest I saw is still PhP1995. How about another brand (and therefore another tweaking)? In the end, we settled for an Edimax BR-6104K, PhP1350 from Rising Sun. I did not have a hard time configuring it, although, initially, I got confused not seeing an option similar to the "Obtain an IP Address Automatically" found in the Linksys router setup. I later found out that I had to choose the "Cable Modem" option. Not intuitive for me. I am thinking all along that cable and DSL modems are different. Anyway, it is now running.

Here's the photo of the setup at EGI.



It feels good to dabble with things like these. You somehow feel, well, connected :-)

TeX And GIFT In Moodle

As I pointed out earlier, Moodle uses a TeX filter to convert TeX code to GIF images. Moodle can use a binary program on the server to render the images. The binary program can be MimeTeX or a full LaTeX implementation. This is configured by the system administrator.

The quadratic formula, for example, is rendered by typing

$$x=\frac{-b\pm\sqrt{b^2-4ac}}{2a}$$.

Here is a rather concise Moodle TeX reference.

Take note, however, that when you save your questions containing TeX codes in the GIFT format, additional symbols appear.

For example, the following code in TeX

Find the discount interest if $$F=\text{PhP}5,000$$, $$d=.09$$ and $$t=9$$ months.

becomes

Find the discount interest if $$F\=\text\{PhP\}5,000$$, $$d\=.09$$ and $$t\=9$$ months.

in GIFT. Notice the extra backslashes (\).

Here is another pair:

TeX:

What are the factors of $$4c^{2}-a^{2}+2{ab}-b^{2}$$?

GIFT:

What are the factors of $$4c^\{2\}-a^\{2\}+2\{ab\}-b^\{2\}$$?

So here are my recommendations:

• You can use GIFT for editing, but not for creating the items with a lot of math. Why? There are extra characters that need to be encoded.
• Suggested work flow: From ODF to TeX to Moodle to GIFT. For editing, you can simply work with the GIFT version. Just synchronize the ODF copy with it. The TeX and Moodle versions are intermediate and need not be maintained. To update the Moodle version, for example, you can just import the GIFT back into Moodle.
  

Happenings This Week (July 9 - July 15)

Let me narrate some happenings since Monday of this week.

• Lynne arrived on July 9, Monday. We packed... the goodies for the kids, dropped by Robinson's Place Imus to exchange her yens for pesos, and headed for home. Of course, the kids were ecstatic.
  
• On Tuesday, we started sorting her things. And I started dabbling with our new MacBook. I installed VMWare Fusion, along with two virtual machines: Windows XP and Ubuntu Linux. I am impressed seeing three operating systems running in one hardware. Three-in-one. A very efficient use of resources.
• I was also able to configure and use our Apple USB Modem, successfully connecting to DLS-CSB's dial-up service. Bluetooth must be running for this to work. I suspect that this is because there is a Bluetooth internal modem which then connects to the external one.
• In the afternoon, we pre-ordered the final version of VMWare Fusion via the Internet. The price is $39.99, a 50% savings over the suggested retail price of $79.99.
  
• On Wednesday, she started working on the required revisions for her SIBS book. Eveth caught up with us before we went to SM Mall of Asia. There, we bought a Keyboard Shield at the Power Mac Center. And let me warn you about that store. The Keyboard Shield item is being sold in that store at PhP1,800 even as that same product costs just PhP1,200 in a store at SM Southmall. Gee, I don't know of a worse example of how a store takes advantage of customers. I will never buy anything from that store or any of its branches again.
• They also bought new pair of glasses and Converse shoes for Eveth. They made me wait a long time.
  
• On Thursday, she continued working on her book and I on my course materials.
  
• On Friday, we issued a check to Woodridge Properties, Inc., had a meeting with HomeCredit in relation to our mortgage, and bought a smaller bag for the MacBook (I got a 10% discount because I had an SM Advantage Card, but had to pay in cash).
• On Saturday (Elmer's 14th birthday), Lynne finished her SIBS work! Yehey!!! And we did the grocery shopping.

Next week, I will make sure her environment is fit for her continuing research work. I will go with her and help her clean her J205 cubicle. :-)

What About Me?

So aside from my single parenting chores, what have I accomplished so far during this service leave of mine? Well, here are some impressive statistics:

• I have been working on course materials for 5 Math subjects - College Algebra, Business Mathematics, Discrete Mathematics, Elementary Statistics and Trigonometry.
• I am done with the handouts for these subjects - 21 modules = 60 sections = 227 pages.
• I have prepared 21 sets of Quizzes and 35 sets of Problem Sets.
• I am ready with 16 sets of Online Quizzes, configured for 1- and 1.5-hour setups. The pool has 504 items. This is quite a lot! Three hundred nine (309) of these items have been checked and are now in GIFT format, ready for loading into Moodle.
  

Yes, I made good use of my time too. In addition to the above list, SIBS also asked me to make revisions on the high school textbook I am writing for them. That I was able to accomplish too, working intensely for about a week.

Here are some more things I hope to finish before my service leave ends:

• Check the remaining 195 test items and make them Moodle-ready
• Prepare print versions of these online quizzes (if my class cannot use a computer lab)
• Prepare a plan for conducting item validation on these questions (using Moodle's tools)
• Prepare overviews and concept maps for each module
• Create screen movies on the use of the Analysis ToolPak

That's My Lynne

This trimester, I have availed of the so-called service leave, my second in my 14 years in DLS-CSB. I took my first service leave back in Term 1 SY 2002-2003. The second was supposed to have been in Term 2 SY 2006-2007 but was deferred to this term. I'm halfway through it now and, looking back, I am happy that I spent it quite well.

First, my wife went to Japan for the second summer of her three-year post-doctorate studies and left the five kids with me. It is longer this time, 90 days to be exact, the longest we have separated in our married lives. I was worried about being able to cope with the challenges like my eldest entering College, my second-born moving to another campus, and my third entering Grade VI. Of course, the two youngest, who I am sure will miss their mother. But somehow, we managed.

Why am I doing this apparent retrospection? Well, Lynne had just finished her presentation and will be returning in 5 days. I cannot help but look back and smile. We did well, especially her. Her sensei told her that what she is doing is "interesting" and, if she can get the work she presented accepted for publication, it is enough for her to earn the degree. He even asked her to expand her work, which is what I told her her sensei will ask from her. She is so happy since she reached this point just on her second summer. Flying to Japan in early April, she had no inkling she will get these results, even doubting if what she is doing is significant.

Well, the husband knows she is good and he never doubted her abilities. To give you an idea how kick-ass her work is, here's the title of her presentation: Zeta Polynomials for Codes over Rings and the Riemann Hypothesis Analogue for Type IV Codes over Rings of Order 4.

Go figure. Hehe..

Adding Symbols In OpenOffice.org Math

I needed to insert symbols for therefore and logical equivalence in my OpenOffice.org Writer documents These are not present in the symbol sets available in OpenOffice.org Math. However, I was able to figure out how to add these and other symbols in an existing symbol set (Special):

1. In OpenOffice.org Math, choose Tools > Catalog > Edit.
2. In the Font list box, select a font containing the desired symbol. All the available symbols for that font will appear in the symbols pane. (In my case, I found the symbols for therefore and logical equivalence in the Mathematica1 font stored in my computer.)
3. Click the target symbol in the symbols pane.
4. Type a name for the symbol, for example, therefore.
5. In the Symbol set list box, select the Special symbol set (or type a new name to create a new symbol set). The new symbol is displayed in the right preview pane.
6. Click Add and then OK.
   

The new symbol can now be inserted in the formula by

1. Choosing Tools > Catalog,
2. Choosing Special in the Symbol set list box,
3. Clicking on the symbol and
4. Clicking Insert.
   

A faster way is by typing the name of the symbol preceded by a percent sign. For example, typing everything on the first line of the image below, highlighting the same and invoking the Formula command will give you the symbols you see in the second line.

VMware Fusion Or Parallels Desktop For Mac?

Gee, I never thought that choosing a virtualization solution would be this difficult. All I want is to be able to run multiple operating systems, like Windows and Linux, on our new MacBook. When Macs started using Intel processors, virtualization software for Macs started appearing as well.

So what makes choosing difficult? First, there are actually choices to choose from. There are two very good products. There is the already released Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac and the soon to be released VMware Fusion. Parallels has a head start. Here is a picture of Parallels with Windows XP running full screen. (Yes, it is Windows running on a Mac!)



VMware is the industry leader but is playing catch up here. But it promises better features like being able to run both 32- and 64-bit operating systems, which makes our investment future-proof. Here's a picture of VMware Fusion with Ubuntu running full screen (again, it is Linux running on a Mac!):



And second, VMware is pricing Fusion similar to Parallels: $79.99. This is around PhP3,700+. But if we pre-order before August 15 (which is near Fusion's target release date), we get it for $39.99 or PhP1,800+. Another good deal.

So which one? We'll decide later.

Spacing Around Formulas

I have been bothered from the start with the way formulas are rendered in OpenOffice.org in relation to the surrounding text. There is just too much space around them. See the first line of this image? The second line, for me, is better.



So how do you change the default spacing in OpenOffice.org Writer? Here are the steps:

1. Open the Stylist by pressing F11 or by clicking Format > Styles and Formatting.
2. In the Styles and Formatting window, click on the icon for Frame Styles.
3. Right-click on "Formula" and select "Modify...".
4. Select the Wrap tab page.
5. In the Spacing group, decrease the "Left" and "Right" values to 0.00".
6. Click OK.
   

"Sweetheart, We Have Another Baby."

A picture paints a thousand words. So here are two thousand words worth of pictures:





Beaming with pride eh? Her face in these pictures reminds me of how she looked in each of those five hospital deliveries. "Sweetheart, we have another baby." Hehe..

Including the payment for a bigger hard drive (120GB, where the basic is 80GB) and for Apple Care, this baby costs 198,150 yen (75,297 pesos at .38 peso per 1 yen). She would not have been able to buy that same package in the Philippines at that same amount. As I pointed out in the previous post, a MacBook (with 80GB) costs almost 90K here. Adding the price for the increased hard drive capacity and the Apple Care will surely raise the price to around 100K.

This discrepancy was brought about by the strong peso. It is now about .38 peso for every yen. Last year, at about this same time, it was .46 per yen. So we reckoned that we have to do the buying there. The 198,150 yen price would have translated to 91,149 pesos.

And because she got a certification from Kyushu University that she is a student there, she also got a discount of 22,000 yen (8,360 pesos). So the baby actually cost her 176,150 yen or 66,937 pesos. Good deal indeed.

In the next couple of days, she will shop for infant accessories like a mouse, a USB modem, a VGA connector, and a backpack. Congratulations, Mrs. Nocon!

We Are Buying A MacBook!

After more than a month of exploring and comparing options, my wife and I have arrived at a decision. We are buying a MacBook! I started out with the following supposedly non-negotiable specifications: Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 1 GB of memory, 12.1-inch display (so it is small and will not be a hassle to carry around) and must be installable with Ubuntu. She, on the other hand, is casting moist eyes on a MacBook, because her acquaintances in Japan are proud owners of the machine and have given her good reviews: sleek and durable.

Well, the MacBook actually passed two of the four criteria. It runs on an Intel Core 2 Duo processor and has 1 GB memory. The screen size though is wider by an inch. And Apple's Boot Camp doesn't do Ubuntu.

I initially told her to wait for an impending Dell announcement regarding machines with Ubuntu pre-installed. And the announcement did come in the last week of May. But Dell offered only three machines. And the laptop, an Inspiron E1505, has a bigger 15.4-inch display and is only available in the U.S. But how about other Dells with the desired specs? Like the Dell XPS M1210? Not available in Japan. I was actually leaning towards a Dell Latitude D620. She tells me that although it has a 14.1-inch display, it is a light machine. We also looked at HP, Toshiba, Fujitsu and Sony. The ones that matched the specs are not available in English, only in Japanese (keyboard and OS language).

So, do we buy a 14.1-inch Dell Latitude D620 or a 13.3-inch MacBook? And how about Ubuntu on Mac? Well, we can buy Parallels for Mac, and run Ubuntu and Windows as virtual machines within the Mac OS. I asked her some more questions about the two machines and, gaging from her answers and from her facial expressions (as seen via the webcam), letting her buy the MacBook will make her happier. And so, I told her to buy one.

She is so excited! The MacBook's sleekness and wow effect thrills her. As for me, I will have to learn (and then teach her and the kids) about a new OS and virtual machines too. And here's another factor we considered: a MacBook costs around 89K here, in pesos. If you convert the amount (in yen) she is spending in Japan to buy the same MacBook, it translates to roughly 64K pesos. Good bargain eh?

Printing OpenOffice.org Writer Files

Last Saturday, I printed about a week's worth of work of course materials. I observed that I have some undesirable rendering in my Math elements like radical signs and brackets in the printed copies. It is probably the font and font attributes from one computer to another as I used a different workstation for printing from where I did my encoding. Not portable eh? I will try using the save to PDF feature of OpenOffice.org more in the future, and print the PDF files instead.

Chugging Along

The summer classes ended last May 21. I distributed the course cards on that day and accompanied my daughter Eveth as she finished her other enrollment-related activities (going to the clinic, activating her CSB Infonet account, having her ID picture taken). After that, we returned to EGI and picked up her two sisters and we all went to MOA. We watched Shrek 3 and ate lunch at Jollibee. We went home after dropping by PowerBooks.

I stayed at home on May 22 and was with Eveth again at CSB on May 23 for her frosh orientation. I foresee having to do this "managing" for a couple of weeks :-)

In the meantime, I continue to hammer at my course materials preparation activities. Since I am doing most of the work using OpenOffice.org, I am listing here some related notes:

1. I can now type the "math code" directly on the page, highlight it with the mouse and, with a click of the Formula button, automagically transform the highlighted text to the desired format.
• To place the Formula button in the, for example, Standard Toolbar,
1. Go to View > Toolbars > Customize...
2. Choose the Toolbars tab.
3. Choose Standard in the Toolbars dropdown list.
4. Click the Add... button.
5. Select Insert in Category and Formula (the one with square root of a as icon) in Commands.
6. Click Add and then Close.
7. You can click on the Up or Down arrows to place the icon in your desired position in the toolbar.
8. Click OK.
• To invoke the Formula command via a shortcut key, say CTRL+M,
1. Go to View > Toolbars > Customize...
2. Select the Keyboard tab.
3. In the Shortcut Keys box, scroll down until you see "Ctrl+M" and click on it once to highlight it.
4. In the Category box, select "Insert".
5. In the Function box, select the second "Formula" listing.
6. Now click on the button up in the right that says Modify, then click on OK.
   
2. I can use the Color command to change the color of my formula. Here is a sample code: color red {x^2 + 2 x - 1 = 0}. The available colors are white, black, cyan, magenta, red, blue, green and yellow.
   
3. The secant and cosecant functions are typeset in italics. To make them appear similar to the other trigonometric functions, I can type either "func sec" or "nitalic csc".
4. I wanted to find out how to align multiple equations by aligning on the equal signs. Stacks and matrices are possible solutions. But matrices are better.
   
5. I came across OOoLaTeX, which allows integration of TeX and OpenOffice.org. I tried the Cygwin on Windows XP setup but can't seem to get it going. I have written to the author of the macro author but have not received a reply yet.
   

Administering Quizzes In Moodle

As I give quizzes to my students via Moodle, I have been taking notes and here are a few:

• Review all items before opening the quiz. You do not want the correct answer to be missing among the choices in a Multiple Choice type question!
  
• The default quiz setting has Adaptive mode active. This allows the students to make several attempts at choosing the correct answer with a penalty given for every wrong attempt. I am not sure I like this feature. It could be nice for some scenarios. But for now, whenever possible, I just give the students partial points for choosing a wrong answer. For example, in a Multiple Choice type question, I assign a 25% score for each wrong choice so it doesn't become an all or nothing affair. I cannot do this though with, for example, the Short Answer type. I am thinking instead to give points to "nearly correct" answers, e.g. "proceed" for "proceeds".
  
• Yes, shuffling questions and answers will minimize cheating. But for good measure, divide the quiz into pages (5 per page is good) and walk around the computer laboratory if you are having the quiz there.
• Emphasize, repeatedly if need be, that they should not click the "Submit all and finish" button until they are really done answering the test and have reviewed all their answers. They should, on the other hand, press the "Save without submitting" button from time to time so that they will not lose their answers in case something unexpected happens; for example, the computer shutting down because they managed to kick the UPS.
• If in the eClassroom, talk first about the fact that you will be using Moodle and that Moodle runs on any browser, implying that it can run on any Internet browser. Next, talk about the Ubuntu Linux operating system, the panels on the GNOME desktop, and the shortcut to the Mozilla Firefox browser. Ask them to open the Mozilla Firefox browser and to type the DLS-CSB Moodle URL in the Navigation toolbar. Talk about logging in, changing password, various quiz setups, submitting the quiz for checking, logging out and shutting the computer unit down.
• For those who left their calculators, you can ask them to use the GNOME Calculator (Scientific mode).
• Provide the students with a list of formulas they will need to use.
  
• Once any one student attempts a quiz, you cannot add or remove questions anymore. But you can actually edit existing ones!
• Do not include the correct answers in what the students will see upon submission, as they may pass these on to their seatmates. Showing their responses and the corresponding grades are OK. They can navigate between pages as they do this. Clicking the Continue button will show them summary information on quizzes taken. Clicking the Continue button again brings them to the Main page. Once there, and if they have used up their attempts, clicking on the link to the quiz will just bring them to this summary.
  

A Compelling Reason Why You Should Go Open Source

I came across a blog post listing things the author can do in Linux but cannot do on Windows. The post is pretty much straightforward and practical. But what hit me as very insightful is the following two paragraphs:

When you learn closed-source proprietary software like Photoshop or Office, you have spent your time indenturing yourself to a lifetime of spending $700 every so many years. And the same goes for every company you work for that you insist you need Office or Photoshop. And if you don't think that your company's expenses affect your salary, think again.

Conversely, if you take the time to learn open and free systems like Linux, Gimp, or OpenOffice, you now have given yourself a lifetime of perpetually free software. The value of that is quite profound. No more worrying about installing Office on more than one computer and running into activation issues. I have OpenOffice installed on all 5 computers I own, and my flash drive where I can run it on any computer I wish.

Of course, proprietary software shops will not agree. It is alright with me but only as long as they churn out good, reasonably-priced, standards-compliant software. And that they do not use their market position to edge out competitors.

Summer Classes

It has been a while since my last post. I am busy with my two classes this summer, both BMAT2 (Math of Investment). I have been "operationalizing" what I have in mind as regards my teaching. In fact, I will be bringing my classes tomorrow to the eClassroom for their quizzes.

The items were originally encoded in OpenOffice.org Writer. I then created the Moodle "questions" in my laptop-based Moodle installation, doing mostly cutting and pasting between the two applications. I then exported the Moodle questions to the GIFT format, saved the file in my USB drive, and, once inside the campus, imported the GIFT file back into the College's Moodle system. Perfect!

And today, I was able to upgrade my office PC to Ubuntu Feisty Fawn and was rewarded with something I did not expect from an old machine -- I got Beryl running! I feel like showing the exciting effects to everyone :-) If you are in DLS-CSB, you can drop by the office for a visual treat. (Offer is good until May 15, 2007 only).

Notes on My Screencasts Project

This morning, I explored the screencast producer I have in mind (Camtasia). Although the latest version is 4.0, what we have in the College is just version 1.1. But I think it will do. Here are my exploration notes:

1. 5 Steps in Recording: (1) Open Camtasia Recorder > (2) Select input (Do you want the whole screen? Just a window? A region? A fixed region?) > (3) Record (Just press F9) > (4) End recording (Press F10) > (5) Save video.
2. 800x600 is a good size for a screencast. Set the screen resolution system-wide to this value before you start recording.
3. If you have a not-so-powerful machine, turn off hardware acceleration to get better videos.
4. Configure Camtasia Recorder's Annotation, Audio and Cursor settings to get something other than what the default values give.
5. Generating a Flash file from the original video is a good idea. Flash files can be viewed on many platforms. And my 1,111 kb .avi test file was converted to just a 202 kb .swf file.
6. It is advised to make multiple short recordings instead of one large recording. These short recordings can be stitched together later if you need to have it that way.
7. It is good practice to prepare a script and documentation for each project.

From Kuhala Bay Resort

I just came back from a two-day planning activity held in Kuhala Bay Resort, Cardona, Rizal. It is a nice place, with a nice view of Laguna Lake. Here is nice picture of the lake and a portion of the venue from the many pictures I took:



I was with my colleagues from the Math and Science Area. I also brought along my wife and our five kids since she will be leaving for Japan tomorrow (April 11). She will be there until July 9. We did not see another opportunity to be together with the children anymore before she leaves other than them joining me in this two-day activity. So, the whole gang went. As usual, Mareng Annie made sure we had a good time.

We essentially had four groupings -- NATSCI (Area?), ALGEBRA, BMAT2 and ELEMSTA. On the first day, the groups reported on their accomplishments in relation to last year's operational plan, citing strengths and weaknesses of the plan, and giving recommendations to address the weaknesses or enhance the strengths. This morning, plans for the coming school year were also presented.

I gave inputs to two groups -- ELEMSTA and BMAT2. I also volunteered to share teaching techniques (how am I able to attain 100% coverage of the syllabi?) and materials (in particular, the ones which enable me to cover what are in the syllabi). I am sure that the others have some techniques and resources to share as well. We will no doubt benefit from such sharing activities, something like an area kapihan. For example, I proposed that we create screencasts on the use of Microsoft Excel's Analysis ToolPak. This add-in is usually the one used in introducing students to the concept of technology-based tools which they can use when working on Statistics problems. I hope to present one prototype later for my colleagues' comments and suggestions. Their inputs will give me ideas on how to produce the remainder of the set. Once finished, the screencasts can be used by anyone teaching ELEMSTA as additional resources.

I also suggested the production of video clips of problem solving for distribution to students and using, for example, Moodle in their expressed desire to create test item banks. (More on these in future posts.)

To be useful, these and other ideas must be translated to something concrete and working. It will be busy days ahead.