http://mathforum.org/library/drmath/view/53879.html has an explanation of the practical uses of “i.” Interesting that it mentions “oscillations,” because that ‘back and forth’ concept is where my explanation of i has evolved to. Essentially, the same way -1’s little exponential powers oscillate between -1 and 1, the value of i raised to ever-increasing powers oscillates… but in more dimensions. So it takes four times around to get back to 1.
I’m getting accustomed to the LiveScribe again… I did a ten-minute ramble, but then condensed the lesson to “just the i to the powers” part, since that’s a confounding issue for students who are comfortable up to that point.
(Now, the jury is still out as to whether I am happy with doing that on the grounds that the *reason* it’s a confounding issue could be because working memory could get away with Memorizing A Rule Or Two up to that point, and in fact the student hasn’t really mastered the negative-times-negative is positive idea.)
… okay, the jury is still out as to whether I shall hurl the pen across the room, as its functionality is waxing frustrating. I *love* instructions that say “click on share on the main menu” … when, um… there is no “share” on the main menu. Yes, I’m in the “pages” setting. Oh, and … I registered the pen, except I’m being prompted to register it.
More importantly, I don’t really like the recording. I was explaining to myself, so my selection of what to say was on the random side. I need to imagine A Live Student…
Resource Room Dot Net Blog 
Joe
July 17, 2013
Awesome explanation on Mathforum. As a math teacher, I really like blog, which has a lot of good insights and articles. Can you write something on ed tech as well, since it is the trend? Ed tech is changing the face of education. For example, I stumbled upon a tool called ClassroomIQ (https://classroom-iq.com). It’s a very efficient grading tools. It helps me grade homework and exams more quickly and easily. It’s a very handy and convenient tool to have. Anyway, great post!