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David Keathly

UNT Computer Science and Engineering

and the Convergence Technology Center

Working Connections 2010

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My Students are Glued to Their Phones – What do I do??

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Motivation

Goal: Improve education by integrating computing devices into classroom.

Do in low-cost, sustainable way.

One way, leverage devices students carry!

They are going to use them anyway!!!

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Before We go too far… Who has a laptop or Tablet PC with them?

Who has a cell phone or PDA with them?

College Students:

86.1% Cell Phone

12.0% Smart Phone

11.9% PDA

56.3% Digital Gaming Device

73.7% Laptop

Source: The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2007

Potential Benefits of Using Cell Phones in Learning According to PARENTS! 43% Increases student engagement41% Prepares

students for world of work38% Extends school day learning37% Provides access to online textbooks35% Improves teacher-parent-student communications32% Students can review class materials31% Personalizes instruction27% Provides way to help struggling students

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More Cell Phone Access Stats• 98% of high school students have a cell

phone (31% with mobile Internet)• 83% of middle school students have a

cell phone (25% with mobile Internet)• 43% of 3rd through 5th graders have a

cell phone (15% with mobile Internet)• 28% of K-2nd graders have a cell phone

(12% with mobile Internet)

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Student Suggestions on Use Look up information on Internet Record or take notes Work on projects with classmates Access digital textbooks Take videos of class presentations or experiments Play educational games Communicate with classmates Receive reminders and alerts Organize schoolwork Communicate with teacher Learn about school activities Access social networks Create and share documents/media Upload assignments and work to portals Coordinate calendars Share/edit bookmarks

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Cells Phones vs. Laptops

“Cell phones, not laptop computers hold the most promise for the spread of one-to-one computing, particularly students with limited resources and especially for students from under-developing nations” – Bill Gates

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Part I: BackgroundActive LearningClassroom Responses Systems (CRSs) Different CRS activities

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Active Learning Active Learning = teaching pedagogy were

best way to teach students is to have them be active in the learning process

Abrahamson’s “Socratic teaching” method Student needs to:

Build on existing mental frameworkIncorporate existing knowledge and ideas

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Abrahamson A. L. “Teaching with Classroom Communication System – What it Involves and Why it Works”. Mini-Course presented at the VII Taller Internacional "Nuevas Tendencias en la Ensenanza de la Fisica". Puebla, Mexico, May 27-30, 1999.

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Quantitative Evidence

Hake’s study 62 physics courses>6000 studentsSet taught interactivelySet taught traditionally (lecture focus)

Students in interactive courses had learning gains 2 std. dev. greater than traditional courses

Hake R. “Interactive-engagement Versus Traditional Methods: A Six-thousand-student Survey of Mechanics Test Data for Introductory Physics Courses”. American Journal of Physics, 66 (1), Jan. 1998.

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Classroom Network

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PublicDisplay

Instructor

Students

A

A

A B

B

C

D

Classroom Network

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PublicDisplay

Instructor

Students

Classroom Network

Classroom TechnologyCooperative Note-

taking

e.g. LiveNotes

PowerPoint Slides

Digital Whiteboards

Digital Ink Presentation Tools

Digital Whiteboards

Classroom Response Systems

Classroom Feedback Systems

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PublicDisplay

Instructor

Students

Classroom Network

ActivityActivityActivity

Classroom Response System (CRS): Learning Cycle

Activity

Activity

B

Activity

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Multiple-Choice Example

Clickers

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Multiple-Choice Example 2

Classtalk

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Textual Example

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Diagrammatic Example

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Diagrammatic Example

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Image Example

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Brainstorming Example

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Part II: Vendor Tools and Software

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Tablet PC CRSs

General Properties:Support many types of exercises

Examples:Classroom PresenterUbiquitous PresenterDyKnowGroupScribbles

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Classroom Presenter

Devices:Tablet PCLaptop

Activities:Whole Slide, Ink/Text

Features:Anonymous

SubmissionsPush Model

Limits:Cost

Anderson R. J., Anderson R., Simon B., Wolfman S. A., VanDeGrift T., Yasuhara K. “Experiences with a Tablet PC Based Lecture Presentation System in Computer Science Courses”. SIGCSE '04, pp. 56-60, 2004. Site: http://classroompresenter.cs.washington.edu

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Ubiquitous Presenter

Devices:Web-browser

Activities:Whole Slide, TextMultiple-choice

Features:Same as Classroom

Presenter

Limits:Requires Web Server

Wilkerson M, Griswold W. G., Simon B. “Ubiquitous Presenter: Increasing Student Access and Control in a Digital Learning Environment”. SIGCSE ’05. 2005. Site: http://up.ucsd.edu/

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GroupScribbles

Devices:Tablet PCLaptop

Activities:Post-It Note, Ink/Text

Features:Multi-part ActivitiesMultiple Subs.Editing/Moving Sub.

Limits:Cost

Brecht J., DiGiano C., Patton C., Tatar D., Chaudhury R., Roschelle J., & Davis K. “Coordinating networked learning activities with a general-purpose Interface”. To appear in the International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning.

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Handheld CRSs General Properties:

Many types of small devicesActivities more limited

Examples:ClickersClasstalkPebblesActiveClassPLS TXT UR ThoughtsUbiquitous Presenter (Mobile)

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Clickers

Devices:Custom

Activities:Multiple-choice

Features:Small and AffordableScales to 100s

Limits:Limited Utility HWUsed for Wrong

Reasons?

Duncan D. “Clickers: A New Teaching Aid with Exceptional Promise”. Astronomy Education Review, 5(1), 2006.

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Part III: Using the Tools You Already Have! Cell Phones Web Browsers

Interacting in Class Wifitti

Demowww.wifitti.com

PollEverywhereDemowww.polleverywhere.com

Mobiode polls and surveysDemo wc2010.mobiode.mobi

www.mobiode.com

Use informal discussion to engage students

Use polls and surveys to get feedback and opinions

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Remember the clicker?

Enter eClicker! http://www.bignerdranch.com/

software/mobile/eclicker iPhone Host iPhone or Browser client

DemoEditor.eclicker.com

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Give them a try yourself!

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Communicating in and out of class SendGM

Demowww.sendgm.com

TwitterMore later…

Send reminders of homework, tests and events

Send interesting supplementary materials and links

Communicate other important information

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Study Tools Study Cell

Demowww.studycell.com

Readthewords.comDemo

Mobile StudyDemohttp://www.mobilestudy.org/u/3013/http://www.mobilestudy.org/u/3013/m/www.mobilestudy.org

Make Flashcards Reading for

comprehension Quizzes

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Other Study Tools

MyNoteIThttp://www.mynoteit.com/

NoteCentric http://www.notecentric.com/

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Try them yourself!

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Discussion

How can these tools be used in your classroom?

Have you had experience using any of these tools?

Are there other tools you have used effectively?

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Session II

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So you want to create a mobile website? Question 1 – Platform dependent or

independent? Question 2 – Which Platform(s)? Question 3 – Are you a programmer? Question 4 – Are you good with

HTML/XML? Question 5 – How much time do you

have?

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Some Simple Options Winksite

Demo winksite.mobi/dkeathly/demowww.winksite.com

ZinadooDemo - http://dkeathly.zinadoo.mobiwww.zinadoo.com

UbikDemo: http://dmk.ubik.net/www.ubik.com

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Discussion

What could you use mobile web sites for in your class?

Would the add value? What types of features do you need?

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Want to Build one? – Give it a try!

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Cross-Platform

PhoneGap – open sourcewww.phonegap.comHTML and CSS

JavaSupports Android and many other platforms

Mini-Discussion

How important is cross-platform for your classes?

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A little more difficult…

MoSync – www.mosync.com○ Cross platform and open source○ Not iPhone○ C/C++ codebase

Appcelerator TitaniumFree community editionwww.appcelerator.comHTML, Javascript, CSS

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Discussion

How much effort are you wiling to put in for mobile applications development?

What skill sets do you have or are willing to learn?

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Demos and Experimentation Demos of some of these tools Try it on your own!

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iPhone Specific iWebKit

Iwebkit.netHTML and CSS3

WebkitOpen source projectWebkit.orgRequires Xcode and Apple Developer registration

iUIFramework with Javascript, CSS and imagesCode.google.com/p/iui/

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Demos and Experimentation

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Getting Fancy

Augmented Realitywww.layar.comExisting downloads and developer toolsiPhone (3GS) and Android

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Wrap up

Questions? Discussion What do you think? Consider adding a

comment to the Wiki!

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