IMPROVED COMPUTER SOFTWARE FOR THE TEACHING OF ORDINARY DIFFERENTIAL EQUATIONS: The ODEToolkit in the Classroom Setting

We discuss a collection of commonly-accepted goals for future education in the field of ordinary differential equations, especially as involves the uses of technology in the classroom. We single out several of these as particularly in need of further emphasis, and discuss meth-ods for improvement. Specifically, we introduce the ODEToolkit, a free, online differential equations solver designed specifically to help a professor incorporate these paradigms into an introductory course.