Is a calculator the only cool tool that you can use in school? Believe it or not, the answer is no! There are a ton of other cool gadgets out there that are both fun to use and they can help you make the grade.
I couldn’t help but drool over a new gadget just hitting the market in time for everybody’s Christmas list. I’m talking about Livescribe’s [amazon_link id=”B002DJV83Y” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]new Pulse smart pen[/amazon_link]. Livescribe took last year’s technology from the Leapfrog Fly Pen and turned it into much more than a toy! The Livescribe Pulse smart pen is a palm-sized pen computer which scans your handwritten notes as you write them and records the audio at the same time.
The real magic happens when you take the pen at the end of the day and hook it up to a USB docking station. A few seconds later all your notes are moved to the Livescribe desktop software. Click on a particular section of your notes and you can hear the audio recording that was going on at that exact moment in time–no more confusing lecture notes!
The Livescribe Pulse comes in two flavors. The [amazon_link id=”B002DJV83Y” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]2GB memory version[/amazon_link] retails for approximately $149.00 and stores up to 200 hours of notes and audio before it needs to be downloaded to a computer. The [amazon_link id=”B001AAOZHI” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]smaller 1GB memory version[/amazon_link] retails for $95.00 but can only save about 50 hours of audio.
In addition to the Pulse pen you must use special microdot paper. The pen comes with a single notebook and additional notebooks can be [amazon_link id=”B002M3HO0M” target=”_blank” container=”” container_class=”” ]purchased in packs of four[/amazon_link] at $19.95 each. There have been rumors that Pulse will allow people to print their own paper using a laser printer but as of September, this software is not yet available. However, given the average middle school and high school student is not likely to be filling more than four notebooks a year, the $19.95 paper cost does not seem to be a deal breaker.
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Free live tutoring over the Internet for TI Calculator owners!
Tutor.com is running a special offer for TI calculator owners to provide twenty five minutes of real time free math help when you enter your calculator product ID number as an online coupon code on their special offer page.
To find your Product ID for the TI-84, TI-84 Plus, TI-83 Plus and TI-73 Explorer, press 2nd MEM, 1:About on your calculator. The TI NSpire product ID can be found on the “About” screen. You can reach the About display on the NSpire by pressing [HOME], select 8: System Info and then select 4: About.
Once you have your ID, register with Tutor.com on the TI Calculator special offer page and within minutes you can chat online with a professional math tutor about your homework questions. Customers with an existing Tutor.com account can use this special offer to add 25 additional minutes of time to your account. At Tutor.com online help is available 24 hours a day. You can get live support on any subject, no matter where you are—at home, at a friend’s house, at school, or at your local library. Once connected with a tutor through your Internet browser, you can walk through problems using a real time whiteboard and chat window on your home computer.
I am sure many of you have encountered the mysterious “Garbage Collection” screen (pictured on the right). In this article, the Garbage Collection feature of the TI-83 Plus, TI-84 Plus, and TI-84 Plus Silver Edition Calculators will be explained.
Texas Instruments produces a variety of calculators, all designed for different people with different needs. Of course, this may leave you wondering– which calculator should I buy?!
Learn how to transfer programs to your Texs Instruments calculator and you’ll have more than a calculator–you’ll have games to go for study breaks!
By far the most advanced calculator on the market, the TI NSpire once again increases the number of functions available to the student with operating system upgrade version 1.6.4379.
The TI NSpire is the newest calculator from Texas Instruments, and OS version 1.4 is now available for download.
Among bug fixes, and some update to programming functions, TI has added in some new data collection features.