Technology in the Classroom

1. Technology in the Classroom Bill Griswold (wgg@cs.ucsd.edu)Associate Professor Cal-(IT)2 Teacher Technology ShowcaseJune 7, 2001

2. Outline • Introduction to ActiveClass • Trajectory of technology in education at universities • The near future at UCSD - ActiveClass - encouraging participation - Roamer and FindMe - education as culture • Principles of technology for education Please ask questions!

3. Part I: AC Intro Introduction to ActiveClass Tool for enhancing classroom participation Quick intro right now Please use it during talk, tell us what you think Start URL is:http://satie

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16. Part II: Tech in Education LCD projection overheads spreadsheets ??? web e-mail discuss 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 Trajectory of Educational Tech. • Computer technology is reaching the university classroom just now • But technology used widely in education • Past experience holds valuable lessons • Failures to avoid • Successes to emulate

17. Circa 1980: Administration • Spreadsheets • Keep grading and attendance records • Student and class statistics - average, high, low • Assign grades: 90+ --> A, 80+ --> B, … • Teacher-only technology • Needs computer at school and home • Otherwise, “stuck at school” doing grading • Still not integrated with school’s system

18. Circa 1985: Communication • E-mail • Ask and answer questions (point-to-point) • Communicate grades • Broadcast clarifications • Teacher and student technology • Home and work access nearly essential • Increasingly a commuter school • Fewer students in office hours • More impersonal, lower bandwidth, miss opportunities

19. Circa 1990: Presentation • Overhead projectors & comp.-gen’d slides • Lecture presented as sequence of slides • Support for complex graphics, color later • Crude animation via overlays • Teacher-only, but costly • Projector, graphics printer, school/home comps. • Time consuming • Somewhat crufty • Darkened room limits participation • Small, static format influences presentation

20. Circa 1992: Communication II • Class web pages • Post class materials • Policies • Assignments, due dates, clarifications, results • Lecture notes • Related links, “about me” • Raises the “technology bar” • Speed, resolution, software • Students stop coming to class • Profs give pop quizzes, withhold lecture notes

21. Circa 1998: Communication III • On-line discussion forums • Threads of conversation via posted messages • Students ask questions…andanswer them • Develops peer leadership • Shows that people like them – not just teachers – can master the material • Now must baby-sit three technologies • Dozens of threads, thousands of messages • More complicated system configuration

22. Circa 2000: Presentation II • LCD projectors and computer presentations • Lectures presented as sequence of slides • Sophisticated animation • “Live” demonstrations • Teacher-only, but costly • LCD projector, one more computer, no printer • Animation hard to use well, demos are hard • Somewhat crufty • Darkened room limits participation • Small, low-res format influences presentation

23. LCD projection overheads spreadsheets ??? web e-mail discuss 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 EduTech Summary • Adoption has been conservative • Expense and learning curve • Concern about impact on education • Apps are really rather mundane (except discus) • Democratization of knowledge…erosion of community • Slow adoption has mitigated problems • Vast learning about potential of technology

24. Part III: Emerging problems and opportunities The UCSD Context - the Future • Campus will grow 20,000 to 30,000 in 10 yrs • Hiring and building will not keep pace • Class size will grow • Complicate participation, lose intimacy • Will increasingly be a commuter school • Majority of students have cell phones, etc. • Bottom line: disintegration of community • Loss of “culture of learning” • Can technology help, rather than hurt? • Make a large campus feel like a small one

25. The Next Tech Wave: Mobility • Ubiquitous wireless PDA’s and tablets • $400 for 32MB color PDA w/full browser • $100 for 802.11b “wireless ethernet” client card • $200-1000 for classroom’s wireless network • Educational opportunities • Encourage students to participate in classroom • Learning can follow students everywhere • “Presentation meets communication” • Continue democratization started by disc. forums • Expense and unforeseen problems

26. Part IIIa: ActiveClass ActiveClass - Challenge and Idea • Large class sizes, gender and culture issues, can reduce verbal participation • Questions are not asked, students more lost • Conversation reduced to a lecture • Students become passive, less critical thinking • ActiveClass: A complementary channel • Silent, anonymous broadcast of “aggregated conversation” • No person-to-person communication

27. ActiveClass - Features • Students • Post a question • Others can vote on it, bringing to top of list • Rate lecture • Quality and speed, alerts professor to problems • Professor • Post lecture information (e.g., lecture slides) • Post polls • Students answer, all can see aggregate results • All can gauge interests, background, understanding • Moderation of conversation (delete questions)

28. ActiveClass - Design • Designed GUI to reduce interaction w/PDA • Minimalist content - “pointers” back to lecture • Each feature fits on screen, even PDA • Mostly selecting, not typing • Aggregated, summarizing graphical displays • Basic web browser and server technology • Works on virtually all devices • Familiar, easy to administer • Minimalist content eases server & PDA loads

29. ActiveClass - Results • Used in just a few talks and meetings so far • Plan to use in undergrad classes this Fall • Early indications • Question, polling, rating features heavily used • Interesting questions are asked • Display results so speaker can point at them • Helps to have a separate moderator • Not too useful in small talks • Will it improperly delay asking of questions?

30. Part IIIb: Roamer/FindMe University - Culture of Learning • Campus serves as an incubator or cocoon • Supportive, insulating - a village or community • Imbue students w/ lifetime desire to learn • Personal technology corrupts this • Distracts, reduces penalty for leaving • Roamer & FindMe are two applications to counter trend by creating an “Active Campus” • Increase awareness of activities around them • Not draw into device, away from place & moment

31. FindMe - Colleague Finder • Uses location data from PDA to detect nearby colleagues and facilitate a meeting • Enables the chance meetings on large campus that happen so easily on small one • Quick lunch after class, afternoon coffee, or late night encounter in department • Secure - only people on your buddy list can “see” you

32. Roamer • Uses location data from PDA, personal interests, and web to notify you of interesting activities nearby • Research, library holdings, performances • Makes walls “transparent” • See into departments, labs, and libraries • Minimizes intrusiveness • Filtering by personal interests • Personal control: push, beep, flash, blink

33. Roamer/FindMe - Entering Bldg

34. Roamer/FindMe - In Building

35. PDA Web Browser Location detection Roamer/FindMe Technology • Three major components • PDA location detection • Server mapping locations to people and activities • Web browser on client Server Web page “locations”colleague listspersonal interests

36. Location by Triangulation • Wireless coverage is provided by placing several “Access Points” (AP’s) throughout campus • PDA detects relative signal strengths to estimate location A B D

37. Roamer/FindMe Challenges • Fulfill edu. mission with minor side-effects • Democratization and strengthening of community • Could be used for immersive “virtual” education • High “hit rate” of delivered information • Location sensing is accurate enough(triangulation based on signal strengths) • Good filtering • Unintrusive delivery of information • Deploying to CSE undergrads this Fall!

38. Part IV: Principles Principles for Tech. in Education 1. Technology is democratizing, if affordable • Lets people answer questions for themselves • On their own terms, fit for their needs • Jobs, family, commuting • 802.11 PDA’s are cheap, grassroots nets arising 2. Technology erodes community • Online world is generally a poor substitute for physical world • Loss of intimacy and chance interactions • Handicapped are a unique case

39. Principles for Tech. in Edu. II 3. Technology is amoral • People will use it for what they want to, unless carefully (maybe even fascistically) designed • Technology often becomes an end in itself • We learn from mistakes and novelty wears off 4. Take long-term costs, benefits into account • Take risks in short term for payoff in long term • What is a lose in beginning may win later • Better understanding, lower costs

40. Thanks… • Minh Truong • Roamer/FindMe team: Minh, Bob Boyer, Jessica Chang, Tomas Molina • David Hutches • ActiveWeb project (NSF) • Cal-IT, SOE, Sixth College • Classroom of the Future Foundation