Ubiquitous Computing in the Natural Classroom

1. Ubiquitous Computing in the Natural Classroom Investigators: Mitchell D. Theys Department of Computer Science; Kimberley Lawless College of Education Prime Grant Support: NSF, Dept of Ed., Industry Sponsors (Microsoft, HP) • Nationwide call for educators to emphasize methods that engage students during class • Ubiquitous computing is becoming available on campus • Merge the above and provide a system that • Exposes students to technology in the classroom • Improves feedback for both formative and summative assessment • Allows more collaborative activities • Enables the creation of a richer set of course archives • Leverage existing technologies (Wireless networking, Tablet PCs and digital ink, classroom communication systems, and course specific software) • Create a mobile Tablab system • Extend the research already performed by utilizing wireless technology and a mobile system to bring the technology to students in large classroom • Utilize the technology in courses the PIs are already teaching, then encourage more use of the systems • Completed preliminary results using a single Tablet PC by the instructor • Completed some experiments with summative assessment using the Tablet PCs and digital ink • Goal to create several mobile Tablab systems • Future testing at a 1:1 ratio in larger CS courses • Future testing in other large lectures (> 60students) to determine whether system scales effectively