Laptops for Everyone Instructional Results

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Laptops for Everyone --Instructional Results
Clayton College State Universitys Information
Technology Project - ITP
Elliott McElroy Vice President for Academic
Affairs Donna McCarty Coordinator of Assessment
Faculty Development Associate Professor of
Psychology Martha Wicker Instructional
Development Coordinator
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The Beginning
March, 1997 Board of Regents of University System
of Georgia approved proposal for CCSU
Floyd College to make information technology a
central part of teaching and learning Fall,
1997 All faculty at CCSU issued a notebook
computer with Internet access to prepare for
use with students the following year Winter,
1998 Each student provided a laptop computer
with Internet access and charged a
technology fee of 250 per quarter/300 per
semester
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Four Keys to Success

• Help desk available to all faculty and students
  without cost to individual or department
• On-campus computer repair and/or swap-out within
  24 hours
• Faculty encouraged to determine their own level
  of involvement
• Faculty planning drove faculty development
  activities and support

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The Chronicles of Change

• a qualitative research project investigating the
  impact of technology on teaching and learning

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Chronicles of Change Project Prompts for Journal
Entries

• Describe any changes in campus culture you have
  noticed since universal access of information
  technology was introduced.
• What changes have you noticed in the quality and
  quantity of communication you have with your
  students? Between students?
• What changes have you noticed in the ways you and
  your students spend time?
• Describe any specific instances in which you
  believe ITP enhanced the teaching/learning
  process.

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Chronicles of Change Project Prompts for Journal
Entries, Contd

• Describe any specific instances in which you
  believe ITP detracted from the teaching/learning
  process.
• Please share any ITP-related incidents,
  anecdotes, etc. that you have found particularly
  inspiring, humorous, frustrating, puzzling,
  challenging, encouraging, discouraging, etc.
• Please summarize your overall assessment of how
  ITP implementation is going for you and your
  students.
• Other Please make any comment you wish to make
  that does not fit any of the above prompts.

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Technology as Change Agent

• Some faculty expressed the belief that
• ITP would create positive educational
• benefits in critical thinking,
• communication, and other areas
• I believe that students critical thinking
  skills
• will be strongly enhanced as a result of ITP,
• beginning at the moment they first use the
• laptop . . . I think this will be one of the
  major
• accomplishments of ITP.

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Cautious Realism

• Other faculty expressed more guarded
• optimism
• If we continue to teach in the same way, then
• the goal of improving critical thinking will not
  be
• achieved.
• I do not believe that ITP by itself will enhance
• the teaching/learning process . . . It is
• completely up to the humans involved to use
• these tools . . . in creative ways.

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Full Blown Skepticism

• A small subset of faculty journalists
• expressed serious doubts about the
• educational impact of technology
• To date there is no recognized diet pill that
  really
• works and allows people to lose weight. . . We
• constantly look for the quick fix to problems.
  I think
• the computer is the new diet pill in education.
  We hope
• (expect, think, etc.) that this will cause
  students to be
• better critical thinkers, more educated, use more
• resources, study longer, harder, and more
  thoroughly.
• I do not think this will be the case (especially
  since I
• have not lost any significant weight in the last
  years).

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PHASE I What we learned

• Obsession
• Early gains and losses the double-edged sword
  of efficiency
• The importance of access and infrastructure
• The Holy Grail Pedagogical Innovation

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Phase II What we learned

• Novelty wears off
• Skills build
• Expectations build along with skills
• Pressure on the infrastructure builds
• Support for the project remains strong for both
  faculty and students

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Faculty Satisfaction Survey
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Student Satisfaction Survey
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Many benefits

• Students are becoming more proficient at working
  independently.
• The notebooks enable us to tap into a different
  learning style.
• I think curiosity is definitely piqued to a
  greater extent.
• Students are communicating more with each
  other.
• Students are able to learn more efficiently,
  seek information on their own more readily,
  communicate with us more frequently.
• With the notebooks, students must organize their
  thoughts and commit them to a presentation
  format.

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Major lesson

• As the faculty began to get comfortable with
• the basics of technology use, their frustration
• levels with being unable to use the technology
• effectively for instruction began to increase.
• The reality that faculty development for basic
• skills is a much simpler, easier to accomplish
• matter than faculty development for true
• pedagogical improvement was becoming
• increasingly apparent.

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Major Lesson

• The novelty of learning how to do my own
• technical support has worn off. I would like an
• office where . . . I can take my stuff and get
  it
• done . . . I know how to do it I have the
• equipment to do it. I dont see that as the role
  
• of the professoriate.

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Phase II Findings - Positives

• Communication increased dramatically between
  faculty and students and between students
• The technology was serving as a creative vehicle
  for enhancing instruction
• Students and faculty remained excited about and
  supportive of the project
• The sense of community was increasing on our
  commuter campus

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Phase II findings - key areas for improvement

• Faculty and students needed improved reliability
  of basic e-mail and internet services both
  on-campus and at home
• Improved faculty support in the development of
  technologically enhanced in-class and on-line
  instruction a pedagogical emphasis
• Easier access to expertise, equipment, student
  assistants, etc.
• Student training options must be expanded and
  their use should be less optional

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• I wonder why instructional technology
• doesnt fall under the over sight of the
• Vice President for Academic Affairs like
• everything else connected with
• curriculum. Lord help us!

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The Center for Instructional Development was born
on July 1, 1998.
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Staff
?
Instructional Development Coordinator
WebCT Admin/Multimedia Developer
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Types of Services

• drop-in visits
• in-office assistance
• workshops
• Banner/DUCK
• Electronic Mail
• File Management
• Graphics
• Library Services
• Microsoft Office
• Multimedia Equipment
• Streaming Media
• Webpage Development
• WebCT
• Word Comments

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Types of Services Contd.

• brownbag lunches
• scheduled appointments
• telephone inquiries
• online training
• quiet workspace

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Utilization Statistics
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Special Projects

• Technology Symposium

• Summer Institutes

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Impact on Instruction

• increased usage of computers in face-to-face
  instruction
• development of online/web-enhanced courses
• integration of online course tools
• adoption of WebCT, a standardized course
  management program

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Examples of Online Courses
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Course Tools

• Communication
• e-mail
• bulletin board
• chat
• calendar
• Content Delivery
• content paths
• streaming media
• student presentations

• Assessment
• assignment dropbox
• self-tests
• online tests/quizzes

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Communication Tools

• E-mail
• announcements
• questions on course content assignments
• submitting assignments as attachments

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Communication Tools

• Bulletin Board
• announcements
• topic discussions
• questions on course content assignments

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Communication Tools

• Chat
• online office hours/help sessions
• group collaboration/brainstorming
• topic discussions
• guest interviews

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Communication Tools

• Calendar
• post assignment due dates, tests, etc.
• schedule student presentations, chat sessions,
  online office hours
• post personal dates

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Content Delivery Tools

• Content Paths
• display course notes
• post supplemental readings

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Content Delivery Tools

• Streaming Audio/Video
• add audio narration to content
• synchronize audio with text/lyrics
• narrate slide shows
• display video clips

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Content Delivery Tools

• Student Presentation Area
• display individual/group projects
• transfer/share files

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Assessment Tools

• Assignment Dropbox
• submit assignments electronically

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Assessment Tools

• Online Testing/Self-Tests
• scores tests automatically
• provides immediate feedback

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Phase III Findings

• Satisfaction levels with pedagogical support have
  improved dramatically, with universally positive
  reactions to the CID/FIDL
• Satisfaction levels with access improve as
  reliability gets better and faculty become more
  realistic
• Focus returns to pedagogy

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• Classroom sessions have had to be
• rethought with the new system. All of
• this work has made a good number of
• the faculty prioritize what is important
• to education and to dump things that are
• stylish, but provide no substance.

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• All in all, I think that ITP has caused me
• to reassess the way I teach and the
• materials I have created as a result of
• technology have, for the most part, been
• improvements over my previously used
• class materials.

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Challenges for Phase IV

• Faculty and students are comfortable with
  technology
• Great strides have been made in faculty and
  student uses of instructional technolog
• Finding the BEST uses of technology to enhance
  teaching and learning, especially in an online
  format, remains a challenge.
• The Pedagogy Enhanced Through Technology
  Project is a current attempt to use technology in
  ways that truly enhance teaching and learning

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Contact Information
Elliott McElroy E-Mail elliottmcelroy_at_mail.clayto
n.edu Telephone [phone] Donna
McCarty E-Mail donnamccarty_at_mail.clayton.edu Tele
phone [phone] Martha Wicker E-Mail
marthawicker_at_mail.clayton.edu Website
http//learningcenter.clayton.edu/fidl Telephone
[phone]