Classroom Technology

Steve WolfmanUW CSE Education &

Educational Technology Research Group

Educational Technology

…in the winter of 1813 & '14 … I attended a mathematical school kept in Boston…On entering [the] room, we were struck at the appearance of an ample Black Board suspended on the wall, with lumps of chalk on a ledge below, and cloths hanging at either side. I had never heard of such a thing before. [Samuel J. May, 1855]

Technologies in the Classroom

Challenges for Classroom Technologies

“Raise the floor” [Nass]

Don’t “lower the ceiling” [Nass]

Sculpt an effective design space

Secure adoption!

Our projects

Classroom Presenter Initial development at MSR

Classroom Feedback System Structured Interaction

Presentations

Classroom Presenter

Initial problem Develop a distributed presentation

space for use in a distance learning class

Later Many of the same issues / challenges

in large lecture classroom

Large lecture classes

Challenges Maintaining attention Communication Feedback from students Flexibility in presentation materials Conducting activities in class

Background studies Studied UW CSE PMP

Interviews, Surveys, Observations Greatest pain in distance course

Presentation environment “PowerPoint is a pain for the same reason

it’s a pain in a non-distance course, the slides impose a rigid structure on the lecture and make it more difficult to adjust to the interactions that occur during it.”

“PowerPoint sucks the life out of a class.”

Important features

Wireless Integration of High Quality Ink and

Slides Multiple views “Performance UI”

Classroom Deployments Spring 2002

Database (Masters) Summer 2002

Introductory Programming (142)

Fall 2002 Introductory

Programming (Ext 142)

Introductory Programming (143)

Algorithms (417) Software

Engineering (403) Languages (413) Compilers

(Masters)

Results Observation, instructor comments,

logging Positive reception from instructors

Sustained use of writing through full term Wide range of use

Highlighting / Attention Derivations / Diagrams Recording comments

Studentresponse:

lessno

changemore

Attention to lecture

4% 39% 57%

Understanding of lecture

2% 52% 46%

Results System easy to use Flexible navigation important

Superior to shuffling transparencies Auxiliary inking surfaces useful

Whiteboard, border, mylar Pen based UI for navigation and controls

is critical Generally works well (large buttons,

workflow) Remaining issues

Questions What is the educational impact of

Presenter? Across different disciplines, teaching styles Different components of the system

UI Issues for delivering presentations Future development plans

Integration with viewer devices Expand use of ink Manipulatives to go beyond virtual whiteboard

Classroom Feedback System

Student feedback does not scale Encourage participation Ease of expression If the method does scale, how does

the instructor make sense of it

Design choices Low attention requirements Embed in context of the slide

Slides are the mediating artifact Fixed feedback

Avoid having to compose questions Instructor control of feedback

Example, More Information, Got It Slow Down, Question, Explain, Cool Topic

Experiment Roughly 12 students given laptops

to use in class 3 week deployment in CSE 142

4 weeks no intervention 2 weeks Tablet PC 3 weeks Tablet PC + feedback system

Extensive observations, logging, surveys, interviews

Results Mixed results

Classroom culture not what we had expected Instructor goals different than expected

Interactions did increase Pre CFS: 2.4 (spoken) episodes per class With CFS:

2.6 (spoken) episodes per class 14.8 (feedback) episodes per class

Discovered new interaction patterns

Structured Interaction Presentations

Assume students have wireless devices

Build interactive activities into lecture

Computer support to overcome logistical barriers

Why Computer Support?

Facilitate execution Unify design Enforce polices

Why Structure?

Attain broader participation and more input

Achieve specific goals Spread cognitive effort over planning

time Mediate classroom activity Share activities across instructors and

across terms

Example: America Before Columbus [Cross and Angelo]

1. How many people lived in North America in 1491?

2. How many years had they been there by 1491?

3. What significant achievements had they made in that time?

Your Impressions of America Before Columbus

1. About how many people lived in North America in 1491?

2. About how many years had they been on this continent by 1491?

3. What significant achievements had they made in that time?

1. About how many people lived in North America in 1491?

2. About how many years had they been on this continent by 1491?

3. What significant achievements had they made in that time?

Your Impressions of America Before Columbus

% completed

% completed

% completed

How many people?

From To400 2,500,000

0 10 100 1000 10,000 100,000 1,000,000 10,000,000

“Solving” Natural Language

Problem: handling free text responses in class is impractical

Solution: “distributed student computation” allows rapid, in-class turnaround can be pedagogically sound

Significant AchievementsGet together with your neighbor and:

rate the significance of each achievement note if an achievement repeats an earlier one

Significant AchievementsGet together with your neighbor and:

rate the significance of each achievement note if an achievement repeats an earlier one

Repeat of:

Repeat of:

Repeat of:

Insignificant Somewhat Significant Very Significant Crucial Didn't happen in NA before 1492

Repeat of:

Insignificant Somewhat Significant Very Significant Crucial Didn't happen in NA before 1492

Insignificant Somewhat Significant Very Significant Crucial Didn't happen in NA before 1492

Insignificant Somewhat Significant Very Significant Crucial Didn't happen in NA before 1492

Insignificant Somewhat Significant Very Significant Crucial Didn't happen in NA before 1492

Significant achievements

Credits

University of Washington Ruth Anderson, Steve Wolfman,

Tammy Vandegrift, Fred Videon, Ken Yasuhara

Microsoft Research, Learning Sciences and Technology Group Jay Beavers, Jack Davis, Randy

Hinrichs, Alvin Hui, Chris Moffat, Steve Wolfman

UW CSE Education & Educational Technology Projects

Professional Masters’ Program Tutored Video Instruction Program CSE 142/143 Classroom Assessment Tools