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Hi all. It's been a while since I've posted. I'm wondering if anyone has any recent thoughts on using AT for math writing. We are not sure what math course my 11-year-old DS is taking in the fall but I think it's Algebra 2. The math sequence is Algebra 1, geometry, Algebra 2 and then pre-calc, but they think he should reverse geometry and Algebra 2 to make their scheduling easier. Not sure if that's a great idea or not. They also think he should do Algebra 2 using some sort of online program because they can't keep him in a gifted cluster for other subjects if they put him in an 8th grade Algebra 2 class.
He has been typing his math using something called EquatIO. We have been told by 2 professors that LaTex is the best math writing program. It's already in his Google Acct. But I believe he has to choose either EquatIO OR LaTex whenever he types anything, and I don't know what the differences are. Has anyone heard of either of these two apps or tried them? I want to make sure he is trained in whatever is going to be the most useful moving into Calculus.
DS's motor coordination is below the first percentile and he still can't keyboard very well, so all of this has been kind of nightmarish, esp. with him being accelerated so much. I'm debating having him just skip math for a year, if that's possible/allowed. I can't imagine him in an independent course if he is so shaky using assistive technology.
Last edited by blackcat; 07/31/1807:13 AM. Reason: typos
My mathematical friends and family tell me that LaTex is what is used further up the educational chain, at the postsecondary and professional level. So it would make sense that professors would find it to be the best.
EquatIO has the advantage that it has embedded voice-to-math functions.
If he is still struggling with keyboarding, you might look into using voice-to-math more, either inside EquatIO, or by pairing Dragon Naturally Speaking with LaTex or MathTalk (though MathTalk is pricey). I wouldn't be surprised if the existing dictation functions in Google for Education work with LaTex, too, though I don't know for sure.
Also, LaTex and EquatIO have some compatibility with each other. (EquatIO can read and write in LaTex.) So I don't think he actually has to choose between the two of them, in the sense that when he starts to notate in EquatIO, he can choose LaTex inside it.
...pronounced like the long vowel and first letter of the alphabet...
Yes, that's correct. He can open up the EquatIO but then as he is typing he can open LaTex inside of EquatIO. So I guess I'm confused as to whether he needs to be trained in LaTex or he can keep using EquatIO and if he needs to use LaTex we can figure it out when the time comes without him needing to "re-learn" things. He has barely been trained at all in EquatIO other than informally by the teacher, who has also not been trained. You need to do a double exponent? Ok, let's see how that works. Let's spend an entire class period figuring it out. But moving forward he will be seen by a teacher inconsistently. So he doesn't know how to do speech to text using EquatIO, even though we are told that was the reason it was selected. If you need to divide 3y +2X all by 3 he wouldn't know how to do that using speech to text or what he needs to actually say. I wonder if there is a tutorial online since the training he has received has been so lacking. The teacher just doesn't have time to figure all of this out with him and the most the AT specialist does is pop in once or twice a year for 20 minutes.
Awesome! Thanks so much for all the links. The gifted specialist called me and said she figured out a way to manipulate his schedule to put him in the Algebra 2 class. It's not an ideal situation, but better than the independent study idea she proposed before (or the idea of putting him in the high school for math!). There are about 25 kids so I'm not sure how much time the teacher will have to help him. I need to experiment with the speech to text and LaTex to see if I can figure it out. We are also trying to improve his keyboarding skills. It's kind of hard to type complicated symbols when you are typing with 2 fingers. The district staff aren't really grasping how complicated and time consuming it is to type math, esp. for an 11 year old with a disability. It's actually easier to handwrite, but it would be impossible to read.
We have had no success with EquatIO for my daughter, my daughter is doing standard yr7 math which seems to fall between the levels that you see in EquatIO videos (all the ones I have seen are either K-2 kind of math or upper highschool). I asked the Australian distributor for help, sent them a page of her homework and they basically said "Yeah, EquatIO isn't going to be right for her, she should learn to use a whole lot of shortcuts and work arounds in Word". Which left me rather disappointed. Moving to full time Keyboarding in all other subjects made such a difference to her and has only made her handwriting worse now that she uses it less.
MumOfThree--is it pre-algebra? Last year (the year before Algebra 1) he was trained to use something called g(math) but no one ever bothered to implement it in the actual class. It may be discontinued, not sure.
The developer of g(math) (who was a single teacher with a passion project) joined texthelp, where it was further developed into EquatIO. So they have the same origins, but EquatIO has been refined and expanded by a team of professionals.
...pronounced like the long vowel and first letter of the alphabet...
Ok then g-math is not going to be helpful for pre-algebra. I'm glad to see that all these new developments are happening but I hope the developments can keep up with DS as he progresses through math. They still don't know how he is going to do Geometry, but I started watching that webinar and it looks like there is a way to import figures. However, DS was never even showed that texthelp screen that they are using. He is clueless about most of what that webinar is showing. What we need is something like Khan Academy for EquatIO where he can practice certain skills.
I see this about using Dragon in LaTex but given the fact that I don't know how to use either it comes across as gibberish to me. Maybe it can help someone else.
