A Heads-up on the forthcoming release

MathDisk 2.0 is scheduled to be released on the 2nd  week of November. We hope the release would be game changer in the field of education for the following reasons.

Integrated Rigid Body Dynamics

MathDisk will help students understand the abstract nature of mathematical structures using simulated physical objects such as pendulum, gear, pulley etc. These objects behave exactly the same way as they would do in real life such as responding to simulated gravitational forces, impact, collision etc. Users can build worksheets highlighting the mathematical nature of these interactions and study concepts such as calculus, vector algebra and differential equations.

Keeping in mind, the growing influence of Game based learning, MathDisk will now allow teachers to build game like simulations to improve the cognitive abilities of their pupils in Maths and Physics.

Scripting

"Power" users of MathDisk can now use scripting to produce amazing math and physics models. The script is based on the syntax of popular processing language, the same used by the ubiquitous khan-academy to teach programming to students. But unlike khan academy, the users of MathDisk  will program against natural coordinates rather than pixel based coordinate system. Animations, Interactions all will be seamless with the rest of the features of MathDisk.

Similarly users can also customize and conditionally change the appearance and behavior of Mathematical models by attaching snippets of scripting to many objects such as annotations,images etc. Just as Mathematical Expressions, these scripts can also be instantly visualized as they type. Much more sophisticated simulations can be achieved by scripting rigid bodies and images. We believe with scripting MathDisk would become truly open ended and infinitely extensible.

What makes MathDisk different?

Where does MathDisk stand among the numerous graphing tools available today?. What does MathDisk have that you can’t get somewhere else?

While MathDisk is a competitive product with many unique features, what distinguishes it from the rest of the numerous other graphing tools currently available, is our approach and philosophy. We at MathDisk have made the tool experience simple and easily accessible to the average user; removing the technical jargon, and moving virtual mathematics teaching into the future.

Natural Math Notation

In almost all the Math tools,  trying to do anything beyond graphing a simple 2D function, would require writing code using the tool's own programming language. This approach makes  creating worksheets and  building  math lessons, complex and difficult to comprehend. It also causes the average student, difficulty in correlating the math content developed in the worksheet to the content in their math textbooks.

MathDisk on the other hand allows  the users to express equations as they see it in their textbooks, be it is Vector, Matrix, algebraic expressions, differential symbols etc. There is no artificial layer that stands between the user and the native math expressions. With this, MathDisk eliminates the high barrier entry in adopting the tool for both teachers who are using the tool to create a worksheet and students who make use of it.   Both teacher and student can feel at home without getting distracted by computer programming constructs.

Take a look at these two sample worksheets using Natural Math:

• Area by Integration
• Mean value theorem

A cursory glance will show these worksheets look almost identical to any math textbook. The worksheets strike  the right balance between  the symbolic and visual aspects of the underlying Mathematics without compromising interactivity.

Instant Visualization

MathDisk allows users to instantly visualise the result of the expressions as they type.In fact it would appear as though MathDisk guides the user, when he writes those snippets of expressions.There are many popular tools which gives such instant feedback and visualization when it comes to 2D graphing, but to do the same for a complete Mathematical program in 2D as well as in 3D is a different phenomena...and MathDisk excels at it.

Well,we haven’t even started talking about the spectacular 2D/3D graphics support MathDisk offers but still it is the Natural Math Notation and Instant Visualization which forms the core what makes MathDisk stand out from the crowd.