The Java MathwrightWeb ActiveX Control makes it possible for you to
enter Mathwright Microworlds in your Web Browser. A Mathwright Microworld
is like an applet, with two differences. First, while it is running in Java,
it is generally faster than a generic applet because it uses a mathematics
engine that is housed in the MathwrightWeb Control -- running in your machine.
Second, its object-oriented design and colloquial interface generally present
a more versatile and expressive learning environment to the reader that applets
can.
The
MathwrightWeb Control is the 32-bit version of Mathwright. It makes use of
an object-oriented computer algebra system that has benefited from over 18
years of development with and by teachers. Like applets, it is designed to
elicit and invite reader questions by presenting a simple User Interface.
But a Microworld has the power and range that a generic applet can seldom
achieve and this makes possible a wide variety of reader interactions. It
invites students to play.
Click the Atom below to download the free MathwrightWeb ActiveX Control
Last Update: 10/03/01
We
include a few free Demonstration Microworlds
below. We think that you will agree that our Mathematical Microworlds offer
the promise of something entirely new and fresh for Mathematics on the Web.
As we translate the Library WorkBooks into MathwrightWeb format, Library Members
will have free access to all the new WorkBooks in their MSIE browsers. You
may join the Library here. Web authors who would
like to place any of the current Library WorkBooks on their own web pages
now as Microworlds, visit the Teachers' Lounge
for details. No programming of any sort is required.
To
enter our Microworlds, your browser must be able to read ActiveX controls.
Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 Browser (or later) is so equipped.
You should check that the Security Settings under Tools, Internet Options,
Security for the Internet, Custom Level has:
- "Run ActiveX Controls and Plugins" set either to enable or prompt.
- "Initialize and Script ActiveX Controls not marked as safe" set either to enable or prompt.
If
you have any difficulty with this procedure, please let us know at our Feedback
page.
If
you do not find the sky-blue Microworld window labeled: Mathwright Microworld
on a Microworld page, it may be that your browser (older versions of NetScape/AOL
for example) does not support ActiveX controls. You will see instead a tiny
icon that represents the Microworld. In this case, we recommend you either
upgrade, or use Microsoft Internet Explorer (4.0 or later). And in any case,
you may have to tweak the security options as above to see the sky-blue window.
Several
of the Microworlds make use of Databases as Active Data Objects. This means
that you do not have to have a database program to use these data bases, but
you should have the Microsoft Access 97 Database installed as a Data
Server. To be sure that your setup is ready to use them.
In
Windows 95/98/ME, just go to the Control Panel, and under ODBC Data Sources,
add or select: MS Access 97 Database as User Data Source. Double click,
and enter in the Data Source Name: MS Access 97 Database. That's all
there is to it! In Windows 2000, the procedure is essentially the same.
All
of the Microworlds shown below were written with Mathwright 2000, and translated
automatically to 32-bit MathwrightWeb using our new Java Translator
(Visit the Library Store). We shall be translating
the best books in the Library to this new Microworld format in coming months,
and these Microworlds will be available to be viewed in browsers by all Library
members. With the Java Translator, Mathwright Authors may create rich and
lively web interactions for their web pages in no time, without having to
learn Java, C++, or even Visual Basic. Our proprietary scripting language,
MathScript, is all they need.
In
order to use MathwrightWeb to visit a Mathwright Microworld, you must install
the plug-in once. Then, just browse to a website (such as this one) that posts
MathwrightWeb Microworlds. Follow their link to the Title page.
In
the Title page for a Microworld, click the hyperlink on the title of the Microworld.
If the Microworld is a free demo, you will be taken directly to it. If it
is a regular Library holding, you will be asked to sign in. Then you will
be taken to it.
Most
Microworlds have some documentation both above and below the actual portal.
The portal is a blue rectangular screen that will have either a Start
or a Continue button, along with some checkboxes. The default behavior
for a Microworld is to behave like an Applet. When you press Start or Continue,
the Microworld is automatically downloaded from the server and stored in your
cache. These downloads only happen once as long as the books are cached.
This
is important, because most Microworlds have several pages, and if you return
to a page or an object that was already downloaded, you will not have to wait
for it to be downloaded again.
The
checkboxes give you two options. The Fit in Box option should remain
checked unless the author explicitly asks you to uncheck it. That will guarantee
that, whatever your screen resolution, the Microworld will look the way the
author intended.
The
other option: Disk Version breaks away from the web idiom somewhat
in order to accomodate the obvious facts that learning environments may be
rich in resources (pictures, sound files, programs, data tables, etc.) and
so require large one-time downloads. These learning environments, being multipage
interactive documents, may not always be digested in one, or even a few sessions.
And readers may want to make notes or reports, take pictures of interesting
screens to share with others, and so on, and this requires the sort of "persistence"
that the web does not grant easily.
An
example of such a Microworld is our 45-page MathScript Author Toolkit, which
provides a command line and a great number of example calculations: symbolic
and numeric, matrix calculations, differentiations and integrations, graphing
and sprite animations, factorizations and step-by-step symbolic solution of
equations or simplification of trigonometric expressions, and even a tool
the reader could use to simplify his own expressions according to arithmetic
or functional identities (an expert system). In addition to this, the Microworld
details the 350 or so built-in commands, functions, protocols, and constants,
along with instructions for creating your own programs and commands.
Such
a Microworld, and it is by no means the only one, is not likely to be digested
in a single web session. And the programs, sprite animations, rewriting rules
for the expert system, and so on, must persist in some place
so that the reader can return to them and use them in later sessions.
Our
solution is to allow the reader to check Disk Version before starting
a Microworld. In this case, the reader selects or creates a Resource Directory
for the Microworld on her computer, and all the resources for the Microworld
are delivered there once, at the beginning, in compressed form, as a self-extracting
executable. For large Microworlds, this can reduce the download time by a
factor of 5 or 10, depending on connection speed. When the reader presses
the UNZIP button, the entire WorkBook is placed in her Resource Directory
in the Documents folder, and never needs to be downloaded again. This protocol
is very much like that for Mathwright 2000.
Once
a Microworld is stored in such a directory, the reader may open the Microworld
in the future either with MathwrightWeb (by checking the Disk Version) or
with the free Mathwright32 Player. The latter may be downloaded from
the Free Stuff page. As a Win32 application,
it performs much faster than the Applet version, and does not require further
web access. The reader simply navigates to the resource directory for the
Microworld, and works in it, without having to go online at all. This makes
possible both the convenience of an Applet and the speed and endurance of
a Win32 application.
When
you leave the web page, the Mathwright WorkBook is automatically closed for
you, but you may move from page to page of a WorkBook within a single session.
The first page of the WorkBook will appear in the Mathwright Microworld
when you click Start or Continue.
Some
books (those that have a Continue button) are meant to be navigated
through hyperlinks on the web page itself. We call these "distributed"
books. For these books, authors place their explanations and instructions
on each web page that displays a single page of the book. As you read these
books, your settings and other work will not persist from page to page (i.e.
graphs will not be remembered, etc.) You may, however, right click on the
page background to get the book menu, and use the Goto option to move
from page to page without leaving the book. If you do this, then your settings
and graphs will remain, but you will not have the benefit of the documentation
on the associated web page.
Other
books (those that have a Start button) are self-contained. One navigates
the book without leaving the web page. In these books, all of your work will
remain as you move from page to page. Settings, graphs, and so on will be
the same as you left them when you revisit a page. These WorkBooks are designed
to be read "All-in-one."
Another
option is to select "Disk Version" for your Microworld. In this
case, Mathwright will ask you to create or select a "Resource Directory"
for your Microworld in the "My Documents" folder. The entire Microworld
is saved to this directory, and you may revisit it whenever you like, either
in your browser, or with our new Mathwright32 application, that is
independent of the browser. Mathwright32 provides a fast, simple way to read
your WorkBooks without having to go online. But whether you are online or
not, the Disk Versions will be faster, since there will be no need to download
resources.
Mathwright
WorkBooks running in MathwrightWeb or in Mathwright32 are multipage
documents (like web pages) and you may move freely from page to page, changing
their form and content as you go. You may even create and save your notes
and reports from a Microworld in your Resource Directory. In general, to visit
the menu of any object click on the object with the Right Mouse Button.
To get the menu of the whole microworld, right click on the background page.
If you want to stop an animation or calculation, press the Esc key.
In
general, we tell the Mathematical
Story and/or place
the Table of Contents above the Microworld,
and the Interaction
Instructions below
it.
For
ease of viewing, you might like to press the F11 Key to show the browser
in full screen mode.
Since
the Mathwright Microworlds contain many resources: Displayed mathematical
text and matrices, Picture and Sound files, Programs that support the interactions,
Database files, Help files, Sprite Animations, and so on, these resources
are automatically saved in the Browser cache (or in your Resource Directory
if you use the Disk Version) so that they will not have to be downloaded each
time you come back to a page.
The
Mathwright 2000 Authoring Program has undergone many stages of refinement,
in order to place into teachers' hands a tool that they could use to translate
their pedagogical ideas into genuinely interactive teaching and learning environments
that could support participation and visualization on the part of their readers.
Now, with the new Java Mathwright32 extension of Mathwright 2000, WorkBooks
may be translated directly from the original Mathwright format to a MathwrightWeb
Microworld, and placed on web pages for viewing and interaction.
WorkBooks marked Project WELCOME below were developed under the Mathematical Association of America (MAA) Project WELCOME. This Project is made possible by funding from the National Science Foundation DUE/EMD under grant #9952530
The Lava project, which contributed much to the development of MathwrightWeb and Mathwright32, was funded in 1999-2000 by eduprise.com
...And
now for something completely different...
--
Monty Python
Library Microworlds:
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 |
|
Elementary
|
High
School
|
Beginning
College
|
Intermediate
College
|
Advanced
|
Derivatives
and the Graphs of Functions
Cardano:
An Adventure in Algebra in 7 Parts
Free Demonstration Microworlds:
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Elementary
|
High
School
|
Beginning
College
|
Intermediate
College
|
Advanced
|
| - James E. White, Ph.D. , Library Director, | ||
| author of this website, Mathwright 2000, MindScapes, | ||
| MathwrightWeb, and Mathwright32 |
