Classroom 2000: The Electronic Classroom
Our goal is to increase professor and student productivity in the
classroom by replacing existing media such as chalkboards and paper
with electronic media. Electronic media enables more effective and
efficient presentation, and allows distribution of teaching materials
in space (distance learning) and time (time shifting of presentations
and review of notes).
Electronic Chalkboards
Our first step is to increase faculty productivity by effectively
utilizing modern electronic presentation devices. Lectures will be
complemented with a presentation on a a high resolution large screen
display device, and the presenter will be able to control the display
with a pointer. The presenter will be able to annotate or modify
presentation materials during the presentation, and will also be able
to write or draw on the electronic display. All actions by the
presenter, the contents of the display at each instant, and audio and
video recordings will be captured and stored for distance learning,
presentation time shifting, and later review by students.
Electronic Notes
Increasing student productivity is also important. Each seat in this
classroom will have an inexpensive pen sensitive display device. A
student will be able to take electronic notes, either by writing on
"blank pages" or by annotating an electronic copy of the presentation
on the main display. The time when notes were written will be
automatically recorded, allowing students reviewing their notes to
recreate what was happening in the classroom at any time. Student's
will be able to review their notes at home using standard personal
computers connected to the Internet.
Tracking Student Knowledge
Ultimately, we want to know what each individual student knows so we
can teach more effectively, and students could utilize their past
course work more effectively. By retaining these type of records of
what is actually presented in classes for several years, professors
will be able to prepare more effective presentations by efficiently
looking at what actually happened in prerequisite classes. Lectures
could refer to previously presented concepts, and put more emphasis on
ideas that had not been presented before. A student that is confused
by the concept of "conservation of energy" can review the classes he
took previously by asking the system to access previous classes in
which that concept was discussed. A student could also review by
asking to see times in any classes during which conservation of energy
was discussed.
Active Learning
The deepest and longest lasting learning takes place when students
take control of their own learning. The electronic classroom will
allow students to take control in new ways. In a typical classroom the
person who holds the chalk is in charge, and everyone else is a
passive observer. The student computers will allow each student to
take charge of the main display to put forward their ideas. New forms
of student collaboration could also be explored, where electronic
voting or consensus forming could be used by all the students to guide
what happens in the class.
Personal Tutor
The standard of performance we seek for this system is to make each
student feel as if they have had a personal tutor throughout their
educational career. This tutor would know what the student knows,
assist the student in linking previous knowledge to new knowledge, and
help the student understand and avoid previous mistakes. As the
computer's ability to understand speech and handwriting increases, we
expect to transition from the Electronic Classroom to the Intelligent
Classroom.