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Integrating
HP Mobile Tablet PC Technology-Based Instructional Principal Investigator:
Kuldeep S. Rawat, PhD
Department of Technology |
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In April 2007, Elizabeth City State University (ECSU) received the HP
Technology for Teaching grant to integrate mobile technology in classroom.
The project emphasizes on importance of providing students equitable access
and actively involving them in the learning process. Dr. Kuldeep Rawat and Dr.
Mehran Elahi from the Department of Technology (Industrial Technology,
Engineering Technology, and Aviation Science programs) are using HP mobile
technology in the classroom that is aimed at facilitating new pedagogical
approach that promotes active learning. The Instructional Delivery System is
developed around HP mobile Tablet-PCs in conjunction with NetSupport School Classroom
Management Software (CMS) that allows individual and group monitoring,
assessment and management of all computer applications, and immediate
feedback and analysis of student performance. The new approach works towards achieving
intellectual engagement of all students during classroom instruction by
providing a venue for active two-way interactions between the instructor and
individual students, as well as collaboration between the students to develop
skills and strategies for problem solving, and eventually enhance student
learning. |
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Rationale Good teaching
principles involve student-faculty contact, collaboration among students,
active learning, provide rapid feedback, task on time, communicating high
expectations, and diverse talent and ways of learning. A
large body of literature supports that these seven principles of high quality
undergraduate teaching can be accomplished with the positive attitude towards
use of instructional technology tools develops strategies that make students
an active part of their own learning process. In the traditional classroom environment the
department faculty would usually explain the concepts either through slides
or use of whiteboard, with students taking notes. At the end of each lecture
students are given homework assignments. This approach has the following
limitations, (i) no exposure to collaborative learning, (ii) there is limited
interaction between student and instructor and virtually no interaction
between students, (iii) students often miss assignment submission, and (iv)
written or verbal feedback is given at a later date, which is usually
overlooked by students. Hence, there is no active engagement of students in
the learning process. A stimulating learning environment is required that
fosters collaborative and interactive learning. In the new pedagogical
approach, the use of HP mobile Tablet PC technology and supporting tools
(note-taking, CMS) proactively involves students in learning process with
less latency in feedback from instructor. The students can work on in-class
assignments, problem-solving exercises, project discussions, and collaborate
both face-to-face and via their Tablet PCs. The students can share their
circuit designs, analysis, simulations, and testing results instantly with
other students or the instructor. This instantaneous sharing of data and
results in real-time has improved interaction between students and faculty
and added new dimensions to the learning environment in the classroom. |
Impact on Teaching Through the HP
mobile Tablet PCs and supporting software tools the instructors are able to: § Increase usage of technology in classroom teaching; § Promote collaborative work and active learning
environment through effective delivery of teaching material § Achieve active participation of all students during
classroom instruction § Obtain feedback and solicit questions anonymously from students who would not
normally participate § Improve passing rate and overall class performance
grade § Create digital notes and perform live recording of
lectures, including audio interaction between students and instructor that
can be made available for distant education students §
Encourage other
faculty members to experience and observe effective use of technology in
their courses To assess the impact on
teaching/instruction a survey was administered to students to evaluate the
effectiveness of mobile Tablet-PC course content delivery. Also during the
last semester (spring 2008), unused tablets were given to six interested
faculty members from the School of Math, Science,
& Technology
( two from Biology, one from
Environmental & Marine Science, two from Mathematics & Computer
Science, and one from Chemistry & Physics) to evaluate its use in their classroom/field-based
courses and encourage them to come up with ideas on how to maximize the use
of technology to improve student learning and increase student engagement in
their courses.
These faculty members are
enthusiastic about using HP tablets and develop teaching strategies that accommodates
varied needs of diverse undergraduate student population and allow
for the design of more meaningful and timely assessment of student learning. |
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Implementation
(Pedagogy) In order to maximize the usage of Tablet PCs and
supporting tools in providing enriching learning experience the courses have
been redesigned to include lecture slides, oral presentations, audio
lectures, video demonstrations, in-class assignments, group problem-solving
and laboratory exercises that are easily accessible. These activities will
enable lecture content and pacing to be modified dynamically to address
students’ questions, misconceptions, and other queries. The instructional
approach in the redesigned course is to conduct classroom lecture followed by
an in-class assignment and problem solving exercises followed by a short quiz
so that immediate feedback can be provided. The laboratory class involves
circuit simulations, building and testing of circuitry, and writing a short
memo. The Tablet PCs and NSS facilitates active learning in the redesigned
course delivery system by wirelessly recording feedback on in-class questions
and enabling collaborative in-class problem solving sessions. During the
academic year 2007-2008, two undergraduate Engineering Technology courses;
TCEL 205: Electrical Circuits w/Lab and TCEL 234: Analog Electronics w/Lab.
Screen capture: Instructor monitoring student screen from his tablet
Screen
capture: Instructor using quick polling to gage students’ |
Impact on Student Learning The project
team strongly believes this project has the potential to significantly
enhance the teaching and learning in classroom. The introduction of HP mobile
Tablet PCs has enabled students to visualize and understand the concepts
discussed during lecture and apply them in laboratory experiments. It helps
them to be more organized in their coursework, improve their note-taking
skills, better understanding of course concepts, work collaboratively, and
participate in class-wide discussion. The students are more likely to keep
records of their learning process (in form of e-portfolio) from the
beginning, and steadily work on them, rather than cramming all the work at
the end. E-portfolio showcasing quality of their work over the duration of
their course will be measure of their self-monitoring and reflection skills. The project
team performed both formative and summative evaluation. Formative
evaluation was conducted on regular basis that helped the instructor to
improve the course, facilitate course and content adaptation, and identify
gaps in the course’s instructional plan. Summative evaluation included
post-tests, focus groups, class performance, e-portfolios, and attitude
surveys. Student performance data gathered (during previous years) through
departmental mid-terms and final exams, class
participation and engagement data, as well as
student satisfaction surveys formed the baseline measures for project
evaluation. The class performance in redesigned courses (treatment group) was
compared with traditional classes (control group) from previous years before
HP mobile technology was incorporated into redesigned courses. The impact on
students’ learning/engagement was measured through in-class tests, exams,
performance in collaborative activities, student participation in discussion
questions, amount of time students use technology, quality of e-portfolio,
and laboratory projects. Students’ communication skill was measured through
memo writing, oral presentations, and graded project reports. Students
involved in the project were surveyed and interviewed to determine the
effectiveness of this technology in enhancing their learning experience.
Assessment instruments were designed to provide qualitative and quantitative
data that will be used to determine the overall effectiveness of mobile
technology in redesigned courses. In the first year of the pilot project,
assessment was conducted by asking students to rate, using a five-point Likert
Scale, the quality of the learning environment and the effectiveness of
mobile technology on their learning. One
Year Ago – (i) There was limited interactions
between student and instructor and virtually no interaction between students,
(ii) students often miss assignment submissions, and (iii) written or verbal
feedback was given at a later date, which was usually overlooked by students.
This resulted in lower student performance leading to lower rate of passing. Today
– The use of Tablet-PC technology fosters ability to participate in active
interactions and collaborative work. Students can share their work instantly
and instructor can provide feedback with less latency. One Year
From Now – Using digital ink
capability of Tablet-PCs students will keep records of their learning process
from the beginning, and steadily work on them, rather than cramming all the
work at the end. We anticipate that with use of Tablet-PCs in redesigned
courses will result in: § Timely completion of course assignments § Active participation in class discussions and
problem-solving § Use of mobile technology in every aspect of teaching
and learning § Well organized in their coursework § Improved interaction in class §
A significant
improvement in student grades in all courses |
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Implementation
(Technology) The HP Tablet-PCs-based wireless/mobile learning classroom is on a dedicated
wireless network. Instructor can access any student tablet and send or
receive course work over the wireless network. Students are able to freely
move around the classroom and still have access to the course material and
other on-line resources. The HP Tablet PCs are used both in the laboratory
and the classroom lecture. This will provide students with access to notes at
all times and direct feedback during lectures, bridging the gap between the
two course components. The Tablet PCs and supporting tools help students take
notes, annotate text, draw diagrams, retrieve assignments, access electronic
textbooks, organize class work, and mark up handwritten notes that that can
be publicly displayed, and used as the basis for class-wide discussions. Students
can run circuit simulations on their Tablet PCs during lecture sessions,
making class demonstrations more engaging while encouraging the development
of design ideas to be tested in the laboratory. In addition, NetSupport
School (NSS) Classroom Management Software (CMS) in conjunction with
Tablet-PC enable instructors to improve course delivery by centrally
instructing their students on their Tablet PCs, maintain student attention by
monitoring application and web usage, and save time by quickly polling the
class and showing results instantly. Instructor is also able to project
student’s work for everyone in class to see.
HP Tablet-PC based wireless/mobile learning
classroom environment |
Student using Tablets during lecture
Students using Tablet-PCs during laboratory experiments |
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Students
in action during collaborative group activities both in classroom and
laboratory |
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Project Results Pre Survey Results A pre-survey was administered in the beginning of the
semester (TCEL 205: Electrical Circuits w/Lab) to gage students’ experience
with Tablet-PC/pen-based device, organizing coursework and use of Internet
resources. Even though majority of students were beginners or had no
prior experience with Tablet-PC, it only took 20-30 tes to get familiar with its
use. A short session was conducted to tutor students on use of Tablet-PC for
note-taking and using NSS to respond to instructor’s questions/polling.
Students also learned to use Windows Journal to import other documents and
export existing journal file to either an Internet file (mhtml) or image file
(tif). Post Survey Results The use of Tablet-PCs
in the classroom resulted in a number of distinct advantages that contributed
to the several improvements.
Bar
graphs shown below depicts the %Respondents and their Level of Agreement to a
particular post survey question. The post
survey questionnaire had 29 questions, which were rated on a five-point
Likert Scale (Strongly Agee – 5, Agree – 4, Neutral – 3, Disagree – 2,
Strongly Disagree – 1) by students.
Responses to only eight post survey questions are shown here. Some of these responses and responses to
other survey questions are also summarized for presentation here. |
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Post-Survey Summary Results and
Analysis Students were surveyed at the end of the semester to assess the impact
of using Tablet-PCs and supporting tools (note-taking and CMS) in classroom
and laboratory. The survey results (TCEL 205: Electrical Circuits w/Lab, N=18)
on the usefulness of Tablet-PCs and NSS are summarized in Summary Results 1
and Summary Results 2 respectively. As seen in Summary Results 1, 85% (agreed
or strongly agreed) found Tablet-PCs useful for note-taking, 78% found it
useful for classroom learning, 89% for circuit analysis activities, 100% for
keeping class work organized, and 78% found it useful in lab experiments.
Summary Results 1: Student responses to usefulness
of Tablet-PC in classroom As seen in Summary
Results 2, 89% found that NSS in conjunction with Tablet-PC improved their
group collaboration, 83% said it improved their interaction in class, 94%
said they paid more attention in class, only 44% said they asked more
questions due to anonymous message feature of NSS, and 95% agreed that NSS
helped in receiving immediate feedback. A higher 56% of students did not see
anonymous message feature of NSS to be factor in asking more questions during
class. This was not surprising as 70% of the students during pre-survey had
expressed that they were not apprehensive about asking questions in class.
Summary Results 2: Student responses to usefulness
of NSS in conjunction with Tablet-PC Summary
Results 3 and Summary Results 4 are the post survey scatter plots for
Electrical Circuits course and Analog Electronics course respectively. These
results depict average values for responses to each post survey question. As seen from these results students in both
courses have responded very positively to the use of Tablet-PC technology,
its supporting tools (NSS, Windows Journal), course redesign, and classroom
pedagogy. As seen in Summary Results 3 and Summary Results 4, a large
majority of average response values lie between Agree (4) and Strongly Agree
(5) on Likert Scale.
Summary Results 3: Post survey scatter graph with average
response value and standard deviation for each question ( TCEL 205 - Electrical Circuits w/Lab course) Click to access tabulated survey
response data
Summary Results 4: Post survey scatter graph with
average response value and standard deviation for each question ( TCEL 234 - Analog Electronics w/Lab course) |
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Class Performance/Engagement Results The active participation and engagement in redesigned
courses were measured through frequency of timely submission of assignments,
students’ attendance record, lab experiment completion time, and
participation grade. As shown in the results, use of tablets in both
classroom and laboratory significantly improved student participation and
rate of assignment completion/submission. During laboratory experiments
students had access to the classroom material for reference, which
significantly reduced the time spent in completion of labs. Also after use of
mobile technology in redesigned courses, the course grade distribution
improved significantly compared to previous semesters when mobile technology
was not used. |
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Average completion time
for 2 laboratory experiments in Electrical Circuits w/Lab course with and
without use of Tablet-PCs in both class and lab
Average students
attendance record in two courses
before and after the use of Tablet-PC and supporting tools
Comparison of student
grades in Electrical Circuits w/Lab (TCEL 205) course with and without the
use of mobile technology |
Percentage of students who
submitted assignments on time with and without use of Tablet-PC in classroom
Students participation grades for Analog Electronics w/Lab course with and without the use of mobile technology in classroom teaching
Comparison of student grades in Analog Electronics w/Lab
(TCEL 234) course with and without the use of mobile technology |
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Student
Quotes “I find this to be a vital tool
in classroom and students who have not had the chance to use it are
definitely missing out on the learning experience in a classroom.” – Grant
(TCEL 205 – Electrical Circuits) “I really enjoyed the use of
the HP Tablet PC in my courses. When
taking notes in class, the tablet PC helps me with writing my notes by
preventing my hand from "cramping up" when taking notes for an
extended period of time.” –
Chelsey (TCEL 234 – Analog Electronics) “Tablet-PC was very
helpful in taking notes and communicating with the professor and at the same
time submitting responses and accessing material from blackboard.” – Erika
(TCEL 234 – Analog Electronics) “Tablet-PC is a great
way to bring computer-based learning to classroom. It made my work as
paperless as possible, very helpful in keeping my assignments organized and
making them accessible on any PC using html format.” – Clyde (TCEL 205 –
Electrical Circuits) “This course taught me
how to use a Tablet PC to interact and collaborate in classroom.” – Craig
(TCEL 234 – Analog Electronics) |
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Administrator
Comments “The Technology for
Teaching grant from HP was instrumental in supporting faculty members to
create stimulating learning environment, and implement teaching strategies that are
effective in addressing different learning styles, and allow for more
meaningful and timely assessment of student learning. In addition, combining
technology and pedagogy will only enhance the learning environment and the
quality of STEM education the students obtain. I am positive that the success
of this Tablet-PC pilot project will encourage other faculty members in the
School of Math, Science, & Technology to integrate mobile technology in
their teaching to enhance student learning.” – Dr. Cynthia Warrick, Dean of School of
Math, Science, & Technology, ECSU |
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Quick Facts Department of Technology: Keywords: Industrial and Engineering Technology (Computer & Electronics) Click here for Using Tablet-PC tutorial
Click for Student
Testimonial Video 1
Click for Student
Testimonial Video 2
Click for Student
Testimonial Video 3
Click here for student sample work (Notes 1, Notes 2, Course project data
spreadsheet, Final Exam worksheet, midterm review, Simulation assignment, group activity)
Click here to access the Project Evaluation Matrix
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Contact Us
Dr.
Kuldeep S. Rawat Dr.
Mehran Elahi Sharonda
Walton Loretta
Powers Kerry
Krauss Dr.
Cynthia Warrick |
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Publications A Pilot Project in Evaluating the Use of
Tablet-PCs and Supporting Technologies in Sophomore Electronic Technology
Courses, (Accepted) in Proceedings of 2008 NAIT/IJME Conference, Nashville,
TN, November 18-22, 2008. Work in Progress: Integrating Mobile Tablet-PC
Technology and Classroom Management Software in Undergraduate Electronics
Engineering Technology Courses, (Accepted) in Proceedings of Frontiers in
Education Conference 2008, Saratoga Springs, NY, October 22-25, 2008. Knowing the Technology Tools: The First Step in
Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Integrate Technology in Classroom, in
Proceedings of the 19th International Conference of Society for
Information Technology & Teacher Education (SITE) 2008, Las Vegas, NV,
March 3-7, 2008. Promoting Collaborative Learning Environment in
Classroom Using Mobile/Wireless Tablet-PCs and Classroom Management Software
Tools, Presentation at the University of North Carolina Teaching &
Learning with Technology (UNC-TLT) Conference, Raleigh, NC, March 12 -14,
2008. Other References
& Resources Chickering, A.
W. & Ehrmann, S. C. (1996). Implementing
the Seven Principles: Technology as Lever, AAHE Bulletin. Retrieved March
27, 2008 from
https://www.tltgroup.org/programs/seven.html. Gardner, H.,
& Seana, M. (2006). The science of Multiple Intelligences theory: A
response to Lynn Waterhouse, Educational
Psychologist, Vol. 41, No. 4, pp. 227-232. NSS: NetSupport
School. (2007). Company Website as of March 10, 2008,
http://www.netsupportschool.com. |
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This project supported in part by an HP Technology for Teaching grant. |
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