March 4, 2012

Inspire and GeoGebra

One of the great new features in Inspire is the ability to embed HTML code. This affordance allows us to have available a host of new tools in mathematics such as embedding YouTube videos, Twitter widgets and GeoGebra dynamic worksheets. In this tutorial, we will embed a GeoGebra dynamic worksheet.

You will need two things: GeoGebra 4.2 and Inspire 1.6 and above.

Step 1

Open GeoGebra and create a construction. In this tutorial, we will create a triangle showing interior-angle measures and each vertex of the triangle will be draggable (Figure 1).

Figure 1: Triangle constructed in GeoGebra.

Step 2

Once you have completed your sketch in GeoGebra, select File > Export > Dynamic Worksheet as Webpage (html)… (Figure 2)

Figure 2: Export option under the File menu.

Step 3

You will be presented with the export window (Figure 3). Click on the “Export as Webpage” tab. Toward the middle, select the “Advanced” button.

Make sure you have the same boxes ticked as you see in Figure 3. You can also choose to edit these settings if they are more appropriate for you. For example, under “User Interface” you may choose to include the “Menubar”. Or, you may choose not too show the “Show Toolbar” in which case you should un-tick the box, etc. Lastly, you can change the dimensions of your construction by selecting a width and height.

Of note, if you have a 78-inch board, you will want to make sure that your dimensions stay within 1024 (width) by 768 (height) since that is the default size of your flipchart page. At this size, the construction will take up the entire page, so anything smaller should suffice.

If you are using an 87-inch board or higher, then try to stay smaller than 1280 (width) by 800 (height) for your dimensions.

Figure 3: Options for exporting HTML in GeoGebra.

Step 4

Once you have the options just the way you want them, click on Export.
GeoGebra will prompt you to name your file and select a destination (Figure 4). Click Save.

Step 5

GeoGebra will export your file and open up your browser and show you your construction. When you see the construction in your web-browser, right-click on a part of the webpage that is not the construction, and select “View Page Source”. You will see a different window appear showing a bunch of HTML code or chicken gibberish (Figure 5). Do not be alarmed, this is the generated HTML code you will use in Inspire.

Figure 5: HTML code generated by GeoGebra.

Step 6

Click inside the window and select all of the code by selecting Ctrl-A on your keyboard (this will highlight all of the code on the page). Then, select Ctrl-C on your keyboard to copy all of this code into your clipboard.

Step 7

In Inspire, select Insert > Link > Embed HTML… (Figure 6)

Step 8

The Embed HTML window will appear. Simply select Ctrl-V using your keyboard to paste the code you copied in Step 6 (Figure 7).

Step 9

Once you click OK, you will see a new widget appear on your flipchart (Figure 8). It will now contain the construction you created in GeoGebra. This widget is similar to embedding a video into your flipchart and therefore you can resize it and move it anywhere on your page.

Figure 8: GeoGebra widget on an Inspire flipchart.

Considerations to Note

Since GeoGebra uses HTML5 as its core code for webpages, only features supported by HTML5 can be exported. For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, just keep this in mind: intricate constructions, for example, those that may contain sliders or traces may not export correctly because of the limitations of HTML5. Your best bet is to export your construction and view it in your browser. If you notice that certain features do not work, then it is likely that they will not work in Inspire.

Also, note that if you are not connected to the Internet, your constructions may not load properly. This is because Inspire relies on features of GeoGebra that are online. So, if you followed the preceding steps and nothing comes up in your flipchart, this might be the reason.

Resources:

Using GeoGebra and Inspire [PDF, 800k]

February 25, 2012

Pixlr-o-Matic

Pixlr is one of the easiest and best free image editors on the web. I have been using Pixlr for a couple of years and love its ease-of-use as well as its impressive array of features. Over recent months, Pixlr has evolved to include other fun web-apps that allow you to manipulate your images in interesting ways.

One of these web-apps is called Pixlr-o-Matic. This web-app is also and iOS and Android app which you can download for free on your mobile devices. It rivals popular apps like Instagram.

To use Pixlr-o-Matic, simply navigate to the Pixlr website and click on the “Retro Vintage Effects” link on the main page (Figure 1).

Pixlr Main Page — Figure 1: Pixlr's Main Page

You will then be presented with Pixlr-o-Matic’s main interface. To begin, click on the button (toward the right) that says “Computer” to navigate to an image on your hard drive (Figure 2). You can also click on the “Webcam” button if you would like to take a snapshot from your webcam.

Pixlr-o-Matic Main Page — Figure 2: Pixlr-o-Matic's main interface. Choose either "Computer" or "Webcam" to select your image to begin.

Once you have located an image, it will be loaded into Pixlr-o-Matic. At this stage, you will apply a filter by simply selecting different ones from the film roll beneath your image. Each filter has a ramdon name, but clicking through each one will give your image a unique look. Find one you like, and when you are done, click on the right-arrow (located toward the bottom-right) to move to the next stage (Figure 3).

If you like the way your image looks at this point, you can simply hit the “Save” button toward the bottom-center and your image will be saved onto your hard drive.

Figure 3: Adding a filter in Pixlr-o-Matic.

The next stage allows you to add lighting effects to your image. Using the same process as above, simply move the film strip to preview the different effects on your image. When you find one you like, click on the bottom-right arrow to move to the next step (Figure 4). If you find that none of these lighting effects look good, you can simply skip this step and move onto the next.

Figure 4: Adding a lighting filter in Pixlr-o-Matic.

The next stage allows you to add custom frames or borders to your image. The process is the same as above–simply move the film strip to select the border you like. There are some pretty groovy borders that can add that final touch to your image (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Adding a border in Pixlr-o-Matic.

The final step is to save your image. You have two options, your computer and Imm.io; which is a service that allows you to save your image on the cloud and provides a link you can share with others (Figure 6).

Here is the before/after of the image I edited in Pixlr-o-Matic.

Figure 7: Image before adding Pixlr-o-Matic's effects.

Figure 8: Image after adding Pixlr-o-Matic's effects.

February 24, 2012

Inspire: The Equation Editor…finally.

For all the math folks out there using Inspire, version 1.6 now offers a new Equation Editor tool that allows you to insert all types of expressions. The interface and functionality is similar to what you experience with Microsoft Word’s Equation Editor or MathType.

Begin by navigating to the Insert menu in Inspire and selecting the Equation option (Figure 1).

Equation tool in ActivInspire. — Figure 1: Equation tool located under the "Insert" menu in ActivInspire.

You will see the Equation Editor window appear (Figure 2a,b). Just as you would in MathType or Microsoft Word’s Equation Editor, select the type of expression you would like to insert and simply type the values into the blank spaces.

Figure 2a: Equation Editor window in ActivInspire.

Figure 2b: Equation Editor window in ActivInspire with expression.

Once you have inserted your values into your expression, simply click on the “OK” button toward the bottom of the window. You will then see your expression on your flipchart (Figure 3). You can resize the expression if it is too large, however, note that making it too small may cause anti-aliasing issues (i.e., creates a more pixelated distortion) that may cause readability issues.

Figure 3: Expression inserted in flipchart.

When you insert an expression into your flipchart using this tool, it is still editable. Simple double-click on the expression and your Equation Editor window will appear again. Note that at this point, you can not change the font-type or font-color properties for your expressions.