Tools+-+Input+Devices

**Make your own mathcasts: Getting Started -- Tools --** Tutorials and book

 * Some advice (based on 9 years of experience) - by Tim Fahlberg**

If you have no money or very little money then use your keyboard + your mouse + SMART Notebook software with various annotation tools. Then try writing a bit with the mouse (you'll get better quickly).

Then when you have some money buy an inexpensive graphics tablet ($30 ones from eBay or Geeks.com can give decent results). Then if you do more work consider investing in a larger (4" x 5" or 6" x 8") graphics tablet ($70 - $150) or a CyberPad ($150 US - see below). If you are an educator then buy yourself or get a grant or your school to buy you a wireless SMART Airliner.

A Tablet PC ($1000 on up) is a fantastic tool for creating mathcasts and a great replacement for both desktop and laptop PCs.

Interactive whiteboards (IWB) are pricey ($1,500) and a challenge to take home with you but if you have one and can find a way to stand at one and get audio from a microphone into a computer will do splendidly. IWB's are particularly good for working out problem solutions between 2 or more people.

> > > > > > > > > > Although many people prefer 6" x 8" (20 cm x 15 cm) graphics tablets several teachers (the Rev. Graeme MacNeil & Julie Dansby) report that students prefer and get excellent results using smaller tablets like the Wacom Graphire 4" x 5" graphics tablet. This graphics tablet is very easy to find in stores and online. Anything larger than a 6" x 8" tablet is likely a waste of money.
 * Wired graphics tablets**:
 * 1) New! - **[|Adesso CyberPad]**. Graphics tablet + note recording tool. Has an SD memory slot so you can also use it to transport files.. About $150 with academic pricing from the [|Academic SuperStore]. Adesso's website has a nice PowerPoint presentation about it [|here].
 * 1) **For student use - [|Wacom Graphire] 4" x 5" graphics tablet** (< $100). Includes a cordless pen, cordless mouse but no annotation software. www.Wacom.com. Wacom also sells an inking pen for this tablet. Caution: Replacement pens for this tablet are about $40 (compared to $12 for the UC-Logic tablet below).
 * 1) **Could someone please try one of the Aquila graphics tablets** available on eBay or on Geeks.com for about $35 and report back to the rest of us on how well or badly it works? I'm hopefuly that these will work reasonably well as it would dramatically lower the cost of outfitting a mathcast studio if they did!
 * 1) **For student or teacher use - UC-Logic 6" x 8" graphics tablet** (< $100). Includes a cordless pen, cordless mouse + annotation software. Order from a UC-Logic dealer in Pasedena, CA, John Ho, who sells these on [|eBay] with a Buy-It Now for $85 + $12 shipping. I strongly recommend that you spend an additional $12-$14 for a 2nd pen so you have a spare just in case you misplace the 1st pen. Go to www.eBay.com and search for "UC-Logic" and look for gains91107.
 * 1) **For student or teacher use: [|Adesso 6" x 8" graphics tablet]** ($100 - $130). Includes a cordless pen, cordless mouse + annotation software. A great source for this tablet as well, the wireless Wacom one (see below), and TechSmith Camtasia Studio, etc (in the USA) is Ventura Educational Systems ([|VenturaES.com]) in California.

> This tool is also a must-have tool for any classroom that has an LCD/DLP projector for teachers to create, share, and deliver lessons. This tablet is actually a Wacom Bluetooth graphics tablet with Smart Technologies' extraordinary software (see below). If your classroom has one of these (or a Smart Board) then you can use Smart Notebook software with any graphics tablet to create whiteboard movies. > >
 * Wireless graphics tablets**:
 * 1) **[|Smart Technologies AirLiner WS100 Bluetooth wireless graphics tablet]** ($399 educational price)
 * 1) [|Wacom Bluetooth wireless graphics tablet] (6" x 8"). Retail price $250 ($219 + shipping from [|VenturaES.com]). You'll need Bluetooth to use this tablet (built into some laptops or add for about $30 with a USB Bluetooth adapter). Wacom has long made the best graphics tablets bar none and this tablet is no exception. Ah yes - Wacom also offers an inking pen (about $70) for this tablet which can be used with paper (or lined Post-Its are nice) so that you can see what you're writing without having to look at the screen so much.

>
 * Tablet PC:**
 * 1) Fantastic tool for creating mathcasts, taking notes, etc. Use one with Microsoft OneNote 12 and TechSmith Camtasia Studio and you'll get hooked. Tablet PCs start at about $1,000. I (Tim Fahlberg) used a $2,000+ Acer Tablet PC to create about 300 movies over a 4 month period with Corel Grafigo but now I use it with Smart's Notebook software or OneNote 12.
 * 2) Opinion (by Tim Fahlberg): Mathcasts are an almost completely overlooked "killer application" of Tablet PCs. I visualize a world where students no longer do much pencil and paper ("dead") homework but instead record their writing, thinking and voice using Tablet PCs to create "living" records of their work.


 * Mimio and eBeam**:
 * 1) Much less expensive and much more portable than IWB.
 * 2) If you've got one then by all means try it for creating mathcasts.