June Lester - Continuing and previous electronic activities

Continuing activities Previous activities

 

Continuing activities
 
  WebMath I started and host a Canadian Math. Society-sponsored mailing list, WebMath, for any and all aspects of mathematics on the web: educational technology, online math pedagogy, online mathematics text, mathematical interactivity, math e-journals and publishing, and so on. There are currently about 300 subscribers. Signup page and list archives
APuRL I am involved with the Advanced Publishing Research Lab, "An Open Source Canadian Research Initiative on the Future of Publishing jointly hosted at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, BC." "APuRL was established to undertake applied research into the digital publication and dissemination of knowledge."
Dynamic geometry As an expression of my current interest in dynamical geometry software/webware and the mathematical issues surrounding it, I applied for and was awarded an NSERC research grant for a project entitled "The Mathematical Foundations of Dynamic Geometry". The intent of the project is to axiomatize dynamic geometry in a manner that reflects its own inherent structures rather than those of classical static geometry.

 

Previous activities
 
  Mathematical communication I am interested in the theoretical and practical issues surrounding networked mathematical communication, particularly on the web. To this end, I organized a very successful Math on the Internet session for the Dec. 1998 meeting of the Canadian Math. Society and a larger sequel for the Math 2000 CMS meeting (June, 2000).
BinderBabies As part of my interest in web interfaces for mathematical and other education, I developed a javascript-operated web notebook interface for online educational and other materials. The interface is easy to use, and is freely distributed. The BinderBaby notebooks are part of a more extensive project encompassing multiple educational interfaces.
Hypatia For the first 8 months of 1995, I ran a webserver named Hypatia from my office computer at the University of New Brunswick (using MacHTTP, the precursor of WebStar). It was small, mostly lists of links on geometry and women's issues, but popular. I learned how to serve a downloadable QuickTime movie of a proof of Pythagoras' theorem (made with the precursor of Director) and live Geometer's Sketchpad sketches (i.e. click a GIF to open the corresponding GSP file using GSP as a helper application). It was a fun and illuminating way to cut my web-teeth, but I had to take it down to go on sabbatical. By the time I returned, it was hopelessly passé, so I moved on.
ESC I was a member of the Electronic Services Committee of the Canadian Mathematical Society until December 1999 (when it was reconstituted) and am now a member of "ESC+". The ESC oversees and makes policy on the CMS website and electronic journals. I was also a member of TeamCamel, the CECM committee (now defunct) responsible for the development of the CMS e-journals, website and associated projects.
Telelearning I was a researcher with CECM's Telelearning NCE project, Advanced Knowledge Delivery for Mathematical Learning, whose purpose is "to explore and create next-generation interactive tools and environments for teaching and communicating mathematical knowledge and intuition." We were developing components for an online mathematics lab environment.
Online calculus I had a contract with the Centre for Distance Education at SFU to design an online version of Math 151 (Calculus I). My purpose in accepting this contract was to learn first-hand about the realities of designing an online course, and to learn how to integrate technology (in this case, LiveMath) directly into the day-to-day course pedagogy, rather than using it as an adjunct, as is currently done with most online mathematics courses.
Women's projects On behalf of the Women's Committee of the Canadian Math. Society, I originally designed and for several years maintained the women's pages of the CMS website. I also co-directed the creation of the Directory of Canadian Women in the Mathematical Sciences. I was also on the board of CCWEST, the Canadian Coalition for Women in Engineering, Science and Technology.