Typesetting Tools, the Internet, and the Classroomcfnkv/Presentations/MCC16S02_Workshop_talk.pdf ·...

Typesetting Tools, the Internet,and

the Classroom

Peter Andrews Duane BrolineWilliam Slough Nancy Van Cleave

Eastern Illinois University

Department of Mathematics

Andrews, Broline, Slough & Van Cleave—16th Annual MCC, April 12, 2002 1

Goals

✎ Communicate technical material via classroom and

Internet

✎ Use familiar tools

✎ Minimize costs

✎ Produce documents with high quality typesetting tools

✎ Produce documents which are platform-independent


Overview

✎ LATEX and related tools

✎ Both Internet and classroom presentations

✎ Slides with color, graphics, and mathematical & technical

typesetting

✎ The software used is available at no cost for the Linux

environment


Web Site Goals: Behind the Scenes

✎ Platform independent

– HTML

– PDF

– No reliance on proprietary document formats

✎ Convert 200+ existing pages of LATEX documents

✎ Create new documents with hyperlinks

✎ Create documents for overhead presentations

✎ Package C++ source code


Creating Web-enabled Documents

✎ We wanted a TEX-based approach

– Fine control of typesetting

– Utilize existing TEX documents

– Use in other courses

✎ We wanted to spend little or no money

✎ Utilize public domain resources

xfig Gimp

FoilTEX PPower4 hyperref

pdfLATEX TEX4ht


PDF Documents

✎ Portability across platforms

✎ Free Acrobat Reader

✎ Web standard

✎ Hyperlink capability


TEX-based Tools

✎ pdfLATEX—PDF files from LATEX source

✎ foilTEX—slides from LATEX source

✎ TEX4ht—HTML files from LATEX source

✎ hyperref—hyperlinks in PDF files from LATEX source

✎ Other LATEX packages


Other Tools

✎ Gimp—grab snapshots of windows

✎ xfig—drawing program

✎ Ppower 4—slide postprocessor to add special effects

✎ emacs/AucTEX—editor


Generating PDF Files

✎ Acrobat Distiller

✎ National Library of Medicine’s DocMorph

✎ pdfLATEX and associated tools


Course Web Site

✎ Late-breaking news, errata

✎ Syllabi

✎ Lecture notes

✎ Lab materials

✎ Programming assignments

✎ Overhead presentations

✎ Useful links


Desired Computing Environment

✎ Consistent

✎ Highly available

✎ Economical

✎ Always up-to-date

✎ Portable


Campus Computing Environment

✎ Linux server

✎ Linux workstations

✎ Student accounts/files on server

✎ Remote access from campus labs & dorms (via Xvnc)

✎ Total software costs: < $1/workstation


Mathematical Examples

Superscripts and Subscripts

x2y, x2y, xy2, xy

a, and 222n

\begin{center}$x^{2y}$,$x_{2y}$,$x^{^2y}$,$x^{y}_{a}$, and$2^{2^{2^n}}$\end{center}


Limits and Special Symbols

l’Hopital’s rule: if f and g are differentiable,

limx→∞ f(x) =∞, and limx→∞ g(x) =∞, then

limx→∞f(x)g(x) = limx→∞

f ′(x)g′(x).

\begin{center}l’H\^{o}pital’s rule: if $f$ and $g$ are differentiable,$\lim_{x \rightarrow \infty}f(x) = \infty$, and$\lim_{x \rightarrow \infty}g(x) = \infty$, then$\lim_{x \rightarrow \infty}\frac{f(x)}{g(x)} =\lim_{x \rightarrow \infty}\frac{f’(x)}{g’(x)}$.\end{center}


SummationsThis summation can be embedded ∀x 6= 1,

∑ni=0 xi = xn+1−1

x−1 in text.

The following summation will be centered on its own line:

∀x 6= 1,n∑

i=0

xi =xn+1 − 1

x− 1.

This summation can be embedded$\forall x \ne 1, \sum_{i=0}^{n} x^i= \frac{x^{n+1} - 1}{x-1}$ in text.\\

The following summation will be centered on its own line:\[ \forall x \ne 1, \sum_{i=0}^{n} x^i= \frac{x^{n+1} - 1}{x-1}. \]


Chaos Game – Drawn with xfig

B

A

C

D

E

FG

1

3

2


Chaos Game – Screenshot with gimp


Chaos Game – Another Screenshot


Technology: the Good...



✎ Provides highly structured course organization




✎ Allows for consistency among various sections





✎ Provides ready access to course handouts and references






✎ Effort can be amortized over several semesters of use






✎ Effort can be amortized over several semesters of use

✎ We and our colleagues can use similar techniques for other

courses


Technology: the Bad...



✎ Network infrastructure is crucial




✎ Classroom presentation equipment is crucial





✎ Substantial effort is required





✎ Substantial effort is required

✎ It is challenging to identify, install, and learn software

tools


Technology: and the Ugly


Technology: and the Ugly

Substantial effort is required!


Helpful URLs

✎ TEX Users Group: www.tug.org

✎ TEXLive: www.tug.org/tex-live.html

✎ MikTEX: www.miktex.org

✎ OzTEX: www.trevorrow.com/oztex

✎ Editor: www.winedt.com

✎ DocMorph: DocMorph.nlm.nih.gov/docmorph


www.eiu.edu/~mathcs


Typesetting Tools, the Internet, and the Classroomcfnkv/Presentations/MCC16S02_Workshop_talk.pdf ·...

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