implementation of a laptop program dr. bill moss – [email protected] mrs. laurie sherrod –...
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IMPLEMENTATION OF A LAPTOP PROGRAM
http://laptop.clemson.edu
Dr. Bill Moss – [email protected]
Mrs. Laurie Sherrod – [email protected]
Preparation for a pilot A ‘champion’ at a dean/provost level A laptop committee for planning
Laptop courses Laptop instructors/training Classroom prep Technical support Program management
Classroom Preparation Instructor Podiums
Laptop plugin to projector/ethernet
Student tables Ethernet port Electricity
Wireless Turns any location into a ‘laptop classroom’
http://wireless.clemson.eduhttp://dcit.clemson.edu/train/studenttrain/smrtcls/classrm.htm
A common laptop!
The key to top notch support is to require or strongly recommend a common laptop. Here are the things a common laptop facilitates:Spare parts
A software image --- software issues are 90% of support issues.
We partition drives into C: (windows/
programs) and D: (data) and offer
refresh of C: without affecting D:
Loaner laptops with student hard drive
Sharing of parts among users
Vendor selection Decide on approximate specifications Invite several vendors to bid Compare all aspects of each bid:
Hardware Prices Support options Delivery issues ‘Extras’
Free spare laptops? Paid warranty repairs?
Student notification Send letters to accepted students in the
early spring Presentation at summer orientation Web page/ phone ordering
Student preparation August workshop
Put software ‘image’ on laptops Put in student’s settings Instruct on use of email, CU network, and laptop
Advantages for the university Less need for labs
Save $$ on new computers Save $$ on lab support Frees space for other use
Save on printing costs! Common hardware = simplified/better support for students Equal access for all Any class can be turned into an instant lab when all have laptops
What is support is needed? A laptop helpdesk
Hardware support (10%) Software support (90%)
Someone to coordinate laptop selection, communications,training,support
A web page
Do your homework! Research what other schools have learned
We visited Wake Forest and UNC many times We attended conferences and spoke with
representatives from 25-50 other schools
Prepare your infrastructure
Classrooms Wireless
Prepare your faculty
Cost to students? Most students were already spending at
least $1000 on a computer – so $1500 for a laptop is a $500 ($125/year) additional cost
60% of those not required to have laptops are buying them anyway
They generally say the portability is well worth the additional cost
Software Licensing at Clemson
We believe that universities need to work together for good group options
Some vendors were convinced to allow the use of their software on student owned laptops
MS licensing is key to keeping laptop costs down
One of our biggest hurdles was software licensing! Here are a few things we learned:
Links Clemson – http://laptop.clemson.edu UNC - http://www.unc.edu/cci/relatedlinks.html Wake Forest - http://www.wfu.edu/technology/thinkpad/ NC State - http://www.eos.ncsu.edu/soc/
Clemson:•Wireless – http://wireless.clemson.edu
•Faculty laptop - http://laptopfaculty.clemson.edu/
•Bill Moss – http://www.clemson.edu/~bmoss
•Laurie Sherrod – http://www.clemson.edu/~laurie
Clemson Laptop ProgramFaculty Perspective
William F. MossCollege of Engineering and Science
Clemson UniversityClemson, South Carolina USA
http://www.math.clemson.edu/~bmoss/laptop_pedagogy/
Why Laptops?To build a better product
Laptop students have better … Communication skillsTechnology skillsTeam building skillsLife-long learning skills
Why Laptops?To enhance the classroom …
Laptop course characteristicsStudio coursesIntegrated lab and lectureOn-line quizzes and examsHybrid exams
Why Laptops?To slow the growth of IT costsWhere are the IT dollars going?
Keeping labs up-to-date Printing costs Storage costs Support of multiple platforms
Why Laptops?Convenience, professional practice
Students see advantages to the laptop even when they have no laptop courses. Mobility Small foot-print
Laptops are becoming standard in business, law, medicine, and engineering practice.
Laptop Program Best Practices
Student mandate, faculty opportunity. Provide for faculty development. Early adopter faculty should offer “best fit” courses first. Not all courses have to be laptop enhanced. Build smart classrooms with wired and wireless network
access as needed.
Engineering Laptop Programs
Clemson - http://laptop.clemson.edu Oklahoma -
http://coe.ou.edu/advising/laptop/index.htm Vanderbilt -
http://frontweb.vuse.vanderbilt.edu/vuse_web/transit/dean.asp
Tennessee - http://www.engr.utk.edu/coe/compreq.htm
Mississippi State - http://www.msoe.edu/notebook/
RPI - http://www.rpi.edu/laptops/
Faculty Development
Inventory the training needs of the participants. Laptop nuts and bolts, care and feeding. Software application training including a course
management system like WebCT. Smart classroom training.
Faculty Development
Good teaching practices lead to good technology practices.
Provide a good teaching effectiveness workshop. See Richard Felder’s SUCCEED Workshops http://www.ncsu.edu/effective_teaching/
Modeling by laptop faculty. http://laptopfaculty.clemson.edu/
Laptops in Humanities, Engineering …History, Chemistry, English CompositionMBA ProgramGeneral Freshman Engineering Introduction to ComputingMathematical Sciences
Laptop Learning Activities
Individual Quizzes – online and paper Team Quizzes Polling Survey / Minute Paper Think-Pair-Share Courseware Sessions …
Faculty: FAQ
Is the laptop a distraction? When does the technology detract from the teaching of content?
What are the potential classroom logistical problems? Can technology encourage students to be more
independent, exploratory learners?
Research Base
How People Learn, Brain, Mind, Experience, School, National Research Council, National Academy Press, 2000.
Studio Calculus III The Calculus of the 3D World Visualization is a strand that runs through the
entire course. Students build 3D solids by constructing their
bounding surfaces, one surface at a time. This course is more technically advanced than
the traditional pencil and
paper course.
Characteristics
Reduced lecture: 10-15 mini-lectures Course journal and Maple tutorials (TA graded) Tutorials submitted via the WebCT dropbox Low-stakes quizzes, paper and online Team projects and team quizzes Coaching by instructor Practice exams
Maple Tutorials Include
Instructional Objectives with suggested problems for each objective
Main mathematical points with examples worked by hand and with Maple
Course journal homework assignments
Maple homework assignments to be worked at the end of the tutorial
Pedagogy
Students take responsibility for learning.
Coaching enhances formative assessment.
Taking attendance and learning names is easy, e-mail absentees during studio time.
Frequent quizzes increase engagement.
Peer instruction is a goal of team projects.
Studio time mixes individual and cooperative learning.