Tablet Math
User/Admin Manual
2006.05.02, Version 1.0
Copyright Notice
Copyrightⓒ 2006 Team Tablet. All rights reserved.
This product or document is protected by copyright and distributed under licenses restricting its use, copying, and distribution. No part of this product or document may be reproduced in any form by any means without the express written permission of Team Tablet.
Preface
This document describes the functions and directions for use of tablet math application. The document contains the directions for both desktop and web applications.
The instructions on technical overview of tablet math application are explained in Tablet Math Technical Manual.
Document Overview
Chapter / DescriptionPreface / Objective and overview of this document
1. Overview / Functions, structure, security and data processing procedure of Tablet Math application
2. Setup / Installation/Uninstallation
3. Web Application / Steps of using web application
It is divided into Admin and Teacher sections
4. Desktop Application / Steps of using desktop application
This is mainly for Student
Appendix/Help / Acronyms, definition of vocab, etc
Related Document
Document Title / Document Number / Date WrittenTablet Math Technical Manual / TM8-TECH-MAN-01 / 05.02.2006
Contents
1. Overview 1
1.1. Functions 2
1.1.1. Web Application 2
1.1.2. Desktop Application 3
1.2. System Structure 3
1.3. Data Flow 4
1.4. Security 5
2. Setup 6
2.1. System Requirement 6
2.2. Installation 6
2.2.1. Desktop Application 6
2.2.2. Web Application 6
2.2.3. Visual Studio 2005 6
2.2.4. SQL Server 2005 7
2.3. Uninstallation 7
3. Web Application 8
3.1. Administrator 8
3.1.1. Login/Logout 8
3.1.2. My Account 9
3.1.3. View Admin 11
3.1.4. Add Admin 11
3.1.5. Delete Admin 12
3.1.6. Reset Password 14
3.1.7. View Teacher 15
3.1.8. Add Teacher 16
3.1.9. Modify Teacher 17
3.1.10. Delete Teacher 18
3.1.11. View Student 20
3.1.12. View Student Personal Information 22
3.1.13. Add Student 23
3.1.14. Modify Student 24
3.1.15. Delete Student 25
3.1.16. View Class 27
3.1.17. Add Class 28
3.1.18. Modify Class 29
3.1.19. Delete Class 30
3.1.20. View Exercise 32
3.1.21. View Statistics 33
3.2. Teacher 37
3.2.1. Login/Logout 37
3.2.2. My Account 38
3.2.3. View Student 40
3.2.4. View Student Personal Information 42
3.2.5. Add Student 43
3.2.6. Modify Student 44
3.2.7. Delete Student 45
3.2.8. View Class 47
3.2.9. Modify Class 48
3.2.10. View Exercise 49
3.2.11. Create Exercise 52
3.2.12. View Statistics 53
3.2.13. Frequently Asked Questions (Help Page) 54
4. Desktop Application 56
4.1. Student 56
4.1.1. Login/Logout 56
4.1.2. Choose Settings 57
4.1.3. Start Problem Limit Exercise 59
4.1.4. Start Timed Exercise 61
4.1.5. Self Study 63
4.1.6. Accept Assignment 64
4.1.7. Solving Problems 65
Appendix / Help 68
V Tablet Math
User/Admin Manual
1. Overview
The Tablet Math application will utilize the tablet PC sketching technology to allow students to solve simple math problems on the tablet. This will be a desktop application.
The desktop application will interact with a web application which will record students’ performance and relay their performance to teachers. The program will keep track of students' scores, and will submit them to the server when a connection is available. The web application will also provide basic statistical analysis. In this way, teachers can identify weak areas in student learning, and focus on them to improve student performance. It is often difficult for teachers to pinpoint which areas students are struggling with, especially in large classes.
The tablet medium also has the advantage of encouraging student learning by providing real-time problems as well as interacting with children in a familiar way. Studies have shown that students learn faster when they actually hand-write the solution, rather than speak or type the solution. Students are also encouraged by new technology and will actually enjoy practicing math.
Both teachers and students can get benefits from Tablet Math application as following.
• Teacher
- Can provide as many exercises as they want without difficulty.
- Saves time for creating problems as well as for grading all assignments.
- Can easily compare the performance across students, and find out where the most students got wrong answer.
• Student
- Can learn math faster by actually writing down the solution rather than speak or type the solution.
- Can do the exercise anytime and anywhere they are as long as they have tablet PC.
- Can see the performance of his/her math skill.
This chapter describes the functions, structure, security and data processing procedure of Tablet Math application.
1.1. Functions
1.1.1. Web Application
The main purpose of the web application is for account and exercise setup. There are two actors or users for web application: administrator and teacher. Administrator can do everything teacher can do except creating exercise for students. The functions of administrator and teacher are drawn below in the use case diagram.
For use case specification, please refer to chapter 3 in the Tablet Math Technical Manual. To see how to use web application, go to chapter 3 of this document for admin/teacher guide.
Figure 1 Use Case Diagram for Web Application
Note
The State Transition Diagram for web application is shown in chapter 4 in the Tablet Math Technical Manual.
1.1.2. Desktop Application
The main purpose of the desktop application is to practice and solve math problems. The desktop application can be accessed by any user as long as he/she has an account. However, it will be mostly used by students only. The main purpose is to make students solve math problems so the use case diagram has only student for actor. It is shown below.
For use case specification, please refer to chapter 2 in the Tablet Math Technical Manual. To see how to use desktop application, go to chapter 4 of this document for student guide.
Figure 2 Use Case Diagram for Desktop Application
Note
The State Transition Diagram for desktop application is shown in chapter 4 in the Tablet Math Technical Manual.
1.2. System Structure
The Tablet Math application uses distributed databases. There is a central database to store all information of the system and each student tablet also has a local database of its own. The basic structure of this system is shown below.
There is no backup server in this system, so make sure you make second copy of all important data. For table structures of database, please refer to the chapter 5.4 and 5.5 in Tablet Math Technical Manual.
1.3. Data Flow
As shown in the diagram in section 1.2, there is a local data base in student’s tablet PC and a central database. When student launches a desktop application, the system checks whether the student has the internet connection. If the student has the connection, it simply sends the data to the central server when the student is done with exercise or self study. If not, then the data is stored in the local database. This data in the local database will be sent to the central database when the tablet PC gets internet connection and the desktop application gets launched.
For detailed transition diagram, refer to chapter 4 in the Tablet Math Technical Manual.
1.4. Security
The security is not a serious concern for this system. This system is not for business or government use so losing the data in the database doesn’t mean much. However, since there is no backup server, it is good to store the information in second storage such as local hard disk or CD.
It is still important to keep the data safe from virus, so we recommend you to install anti-virus software.
2. Setup
This chapter explains the programs that need to be installed or uninstalled in order to use Tablet Math application.
2.1. System Requirement
We recommend user to have 256MB RAM or higher.
For OS, as long as it is run on Windows OS, using Tablet Math application will not be a problem. However, we recommend Windows XP or higher for system administrator so that Visual Studio 2005 can be run smoothly. It is not proven, but running Visual Studio 2005 on old Windows OS could bring a system error.
2.2. Installation
Tablet Math is a simple and easy-to-use application. So there are not many software to install.
2.2.1. Desktop Application
· Must be installed on a tablet
· Must have Microsoft Recognition Installed (Microsoft.Ink.DLL)
· Must have MS SQL Express Installed
· Must have .NET 2.0
Note
The installer will install everything and check if everything is installed for .NET.
2.2.2. Web Application
· Must be installed on Windows Server (preferably 2003)
· Must be installed on a ASP.NET server with MS SQL installed
· Must have ample storage space for images (1-2GB)
· SQL must be configured to interact with distributed database
· Must have .NET 2.0
2.2.3. Visual Studio 2005
In order to change design or some codes to make additional functionalities, the system administrator needs to have this software since Tablet Math application is built using Visual Studio 2005.
2.2.4. SQL Server 2005
All admin/teacher/student/class/problem information is stored in one database. In order to connect to the database, the system administrator needs to install SQL Server 2005 in his computer.
2.3. Uninstallation
No programs need to be uninstalled to use this application.
3. Web Application
This chapter describes how to use the web application. The main purpose of the web application is for account and exercise setup.
This web application is accessed by administrator and teacher only.
Note
Section 3.1 focuses on administrator only. To see the functionalities for teachers, go to section 3.2.
3.1. Administrator
3.1.1. Login/Logout
When you first run the web site, you will see the following login screen.
Figure 3 Login for Admin
Enter the email address and password, and check on ‘Administrator.’ When Login button is pressed, you will be logged in as an administrator.
If you forgot the password, click on “Forgot your password?” link. It will ask you to enter the email address. Then the system will send you the password.
Figure 4 Forgot Password
After you are logged in as an administrator, whenever you choose to logout, you will see the following logout screen.
Figure 5 Logout Screen for Admin
If you press Yes, then you will be logged out from the web application.
3.1.2. My Account
To see or modify your information, choose [My Account] from the menu on the left hand side. You may change your information from here.
Note
If email address is modified, make sure you log in with a new email address from now on.
Figure 6 My Account page
If you want to change password, click on the underlined sentence at the bottom of the page. Then you will be asked to enter old password and new password as shown below.
Figure 7 Change Password
If you have modified your account information successfully, your new information is saved in the database.
Figure 8 Account Modified
3.1.3. View Admin
To see the list of all administrators, simply click on [Admins] menu on the left hand side.
Note
An administrator cannot change the information of other administrators.
However, an administrator can add or delete another administrator.
Figure 9 Administrator List
3.1.4. Add Admin
To add an administrator, choose [Admins]à[Add An Admin] from the left menu. Then you will see the following screen.
Figure 10 Add Admin
Enter the information and press Add Admin button. A new administrator has been just created.
Figure 11 Add Admin Success
3.1.5. Delete Admin
To delete an administrator, choose [Admins]à[Remove An Admin] from the left menu. Then you will see the following screen.
Figure 12 Delete Admin 1
From the drop down menu above, choose an administrator to be deleted. You will be able to see brief information of the chosen person.
Figure 13 Delete Admin 2
If you press Delete button, the chosen administrator will be deleted.
Figure 14 Delete Admin Success
3.1.6. Reset Password
To reset a password of administrator or teacher, go to [Admins]à[Reset a Password] from the left menu.
The list of administrator and teacher is displayed. Choose a person whose password needs to be reset.
Figure 15 Reset Password
Press Reset Password button. A random password is sent to the chosen person. From [My Account] menu, he/she can change the password after logging in to the web application.
Figure 16 Reset Password Success
3.1.7. View Teacher
To see the list of all teachers, simply click on [Teachers] menu on the left hand side.
Figure 17 Teacher List
It is possible to see the detailed information of a certain teacher. Simply click on the name of the teacher. You will see the information as shown in the below figure. The information contains personal account information as well as the classes that the teacher is teaching.
Note
It is not possible to modify any teacher information from this screen. To modify teacher information, see section 3.1.9.
Figure 18 Teacher Information
3.1.8. Add Teacher
To add a teacher, choose [Teachers]à[Add A Teacher] from the left menu. Then you will see the following screen.
Figure 19 Add Teacher
Enter the information and press Add Teacher button. A new teacher has been just created.
Figure 20 Add Teacher Success
3.1.9. Modify Teacher
To modify teacher information, choose [Teachers]à[Edit A Teacher] from the left menu. Then you will see the following screen.
Figure 21 Edit Teacher 1
From the drop down menu above, choose a teacher whose information needs to be changed.
The information of the chosen teacher will be displayed as shown below.
Figure 22 Edit Teacher 2
Make any necessary changes and press Edit button. The modified information will be saved in the database.
Figure 23 Edit Teacher Success
3.1.10. Delete Teacher
To delete a teacher, choose [Teachers]à[Remove A Teacher] from the left menu. Then you will see the following screen.
Figure 24 Delete Teacher 1
From the drop down menu above, choose a teacher who needs to be deleted.
The information of the chosen teacher will be displayed to make sure that you have selected right person.
Figure 25 Delete Teacher 2
To delete the teacher from the database, press Remove button. The selected teacher will be removed from the database.