Attended a conference in Baltimore last week on the NEW Smart Math Tools. During the training, tools like the Rule, Compass, and Protractor that are available on the current Notebook versions to all users were introduced. The new Smart Math Tools are an add-on feature to Notebook and costs about $150 for two licenses. These new tools are brand new and have a lot of potential for classroom use...that is, if you are a middle school math teacher. After sitting through three hours of training, I realized there are very few features (without really stretching the imagination) would help align to Maryland state standards for primary grades. I wasn't sold on this new software, as it is in the beginning stages and still has plenty of kinks to work out.
Some of the best features I envisioned for a 1st grade class are the following:
1. Interactive Numberline - this is much better than the ones previously offered in Notebook. This numberline can be adjusted to different mins and maxs and you can adjust the interval of numbers on the line. I think number lines are a great tool for students to use, and this one is better than the rest.
2. Interactive Shapes - Takes regular shapes and makes them adjustable. You can pull on vertices. This is especially nice for triangles so that you can demonstrate the many different appearances of triangles.
3. Shape Splitter - you can divide shapes into fractions to show equal parts.
4. Shape Free-Form Tool - allows you to create shapes by tapping out the vertices. I used this on a Hexagon picture to show the shapes that could be used to "fill" the shape.
There's still a few downfalls to this product though. First, it doesn't have many tools appropriate for grades below 5th. It has great graphing features, but that doesn't help me in 1st grade. Like Notebook's Text Recognition feature, Math Tools will recognize numbers and equations that are handwritten and put it into text. This is VERY fickle and doesn't respond well to anything but perfect penmenship. In the end, its too frustrating to be useful.
