Towards Collaborative Dynabooks

• In Alan Kay’s vision, the computer’s greatest purpose is to facilitate learning through creation and exploration of multimedia.– In pursuit of the

Dynabook, personal computers were created.

Our take is that Dynabooks are more successful in a collaborative setting:

• To provide an audience,

• To support creation of media

Some Current Projects

• CoWebs/Swikis– Facilitating collaborative multimedia in the

classroom.

• “Introduction to Media Computation”– Students learning programming as a medium

and to learn about media.

• Digital Storybooks– Making digital multimedia composition easier.

CoWeb:Collaborative Websites

• Based on Ward Cunningham’s WikiWiki Web– Hence it’s “other” name:

Squeak Wiki -> Swiki

• Simple system:– It’s a website– Where any user can edit any

page (caveat “locks”)– And any user can create new

pages

Using the CoWeb

Does the CoWeb help with learning?

• Compared two composition classes (each taught by Lissa Holloway-Attaway)– One used the CoWeb (n=24)– Other used existing tools (n=25)

• Benefits in learning (statistically significant)

– CoWeb students wrote better final essays– CoWeb students had better attitudes toward

collaboration

• Next question: Does it help with retention?

Computer Science Classes Today

• CS1 is despised among many non-majors.

• CS retention rates lower in CS than other fields.– 65% for 1995 cohort, vs. 73% for Engineering

• Drop-out rates near 50% at many institutions.

• Enrollment and completion rates are particularly low among certain minority groups and women.

Why?

• “Tedious,” “boring,” “lacking creativity,” “asocial”

• CS culture seems to be most attractive to white males.

Should We Care?

• In 1961, Alan Perlis argued that:

computer science is more important in a liberal

education than calculus.

• Calculus is about rates, and that’s important to many.

• Computer science is about process, which is important to everyone

Particular Focus: Introduction to Media Computation

• 121 students in Spring 2003,with 309 in Fall 03 and 400 planned for Spring 04– 2/3 female in Spring 2003 MediaComp

• Focus: Learning programming and CS concepts within the context of media manipulation and creation– Converting images to greyscale and negatives, splicing

and reversing sounds, writing programs to generate HTML, creating movies out of Web-accessed content.

Motivating the Computing

• As professionals, these students will often the use the computer as a communications medium.

• All media are going digital,and digital media are manipulated with software.

• Knowing how to program, then, is a communications skill.

Use a loop!Our first picture recipe

def decreaseRed(picture): for p in getPixels(picture): value=getRed(p) setRed(p,value*0.5)

Used like this:>>> file="/Users/guzdial/mediasources/barbara.jpg">>> picture=makePicture(file)>>> show(picture)>>> decreaseRed(picture)>>> repaint(picture)

original

def negative(picture): for px in getPixels(picture): red=getRed(px) green=getGreen(px) blue=getBlue(px) negColor=makeColor(255-red,255-green,255-blue) setColor(px,negColor)

def clearRed(picture): for pixel in getPixels(picture): setRed(pixel,0)

def greyscale(picture): for p in getPixels(picture): redness=getRed(p) greenness=getGreen(p) blueness=getBlue(p) luminance=(redness+blueness+greenness)/3 setColor(p, makeColor(luminance,luminance,luminance))

Using your personal pictures

And messin’ with them

Relevance through Data-first Computing

• Real users come to a user with data that they care about, then they (unwillingly) learn the computer to manipulate their data as they need.

• MediaComp works the same.– We use pictures of students in class demonstrations.– Students do use their own pictures as starting points for

manipulations.• Some students reversed sounds looking for hidden messages.

– They started doing this in the second week• How often do students use their second week of CS1 on their own

data?• How does that change the students’ relationship to the material?

Evaluating the Course

• Led by Andrea Forte• Comparing CS1321, COE1361, and CS1315 in terms of

learning and motivation.– Withdrawal, F and D grade (WFD) rates– Surveys (initial, midterm, and final)– Common exam problems

• Observational study of student performance to understand problems and strategies.– Conducted by Rachel Fithian

• Interview study of impact on women.– Conducted by Lauren Rich

Were Students Motivated and Engaged?

• WFD rates suggest they were.

• 121 students, 3 drops.– This semester, 309

students, 6 drops

WFD Rate

AverageCS1(2000-2002)

27.8%

CS 1321 42.9%

COE 1361 18.7%

Media Computation

11.5%

Were Students Motivated and Engaged?

• Homework assignments suggest they were.

• Some students reported writing programs outside of class for fun.

Were Students Motivated and Engaged?

Were Students Motivated and Engaged?

Survey responses suggest that students responded well to the context of media manipulation and creation.

Q. What do you like best about this course?

CourseDon't like it/Nothing

EnjoyContent

Content is

Useful

CS 1321

18.2% 12.1% 0.0%

COE 1361

12.9% 16.1% 25.8%

Media Comp

0.0% 21.3% 12.4%

Unexpected Results...

• Only 6% of Media Computation students reported that they planned to take more CS...

Unexpected Results...

• Only 6% of Media Computation students reported that they planned to take more CS...

• On the same survey Over 60% indicated an interest in taking an advanced media computation course if it were offered.

Digital Storytelling with Digital Cameras

• Digital cameras are amazing devices for capturing media today.– Video with sound, 360 degree panoramic shots

• And what do you do with them? How do you tell stories with them?– HTML just doesn’t cut it.

• How do you write a letter to your grandmother with these media?

• Hypothesis: We will not have “Hamlet on the Holodeck” until creating digital media is as easy as using a quill was for Shakespeare.