Listmembers..... Have talked about the Tomorrow's Professor Mailing List. If you are not = subscribed, directions can be found below. A recent post, I thought some = would find of use regarding laptop computers in the classroom. Thank = you.
Mike Nolan NOTE: Anyone can SUBSCRIBE to the Tomorrows-Professor Mailing List by = going to: https://mailman.stanford.edu/mailman/listinfo/tomorrows-professor Comments about this article: [1] There are a number of legitimate uses for laptops in the classroom. = First, laptops can be used occassionally to introduce freshmen to = WebCt/Vista software used in support of classes. Next, they can be used = to support specific writing exercises where several drafts are required. = Third, they are also helpful when demonstrating database research = technigues. And finally, they are useful when students are working in = teams researching topics online to prepare for debates. The above uses = are just a few valuable ways to use laptops in the classroom. Posted by: Susan/Gateway Community College on November 14, 2006 04:36 PM 727 Enhancing Learning with Laptops in the Classroom May 25, 2006 Folks: The posting below looks at a variety of learning activities that can be = done with laptops in the classroom. It is from Chapter 1: Laptops in the = Class: What Are They Good For? What Can You Do with Them?, Barbara E. = Weaver, Linda B. Nilson in New Directions for Teaching and Learning no. = 101: Enhancing Learning with Laptops in the Classroom, Linda B. Nilson, = at Barbara E. Weaver, editors. Copyright =A9 2005 by John Wiley & Sons, = Inc. All rights reserved. Published by Jossey-Bass, A Wiley Imprint, 989 = Market Street, San Francisco, CA 94103-1741 [www.josseybass.com]. = Reprinted with permission. Regards, Rick Reis [EMAIL PROTECTED] UP NEXT: Are You a 21st Century Library-Ready Instructor? Tomorrow's Teaching and Learning -------------------------------------------- 2,037 Words = ------------------------------------------- What Can We Do with Laptops in Class? The real question requires more elaboration: What can we do with laptops = in class that (1) has genuine learning value for students (is = interactive, participatory, experiential, or hands-on) and (2) cannot be = done as well or at all without a laptop, at least not in class? In fact, = many of the laptop activities suggested here could be done as homework = on any kind of Internet linked computer. So why not just assign computer = activities to be done out of class and forget about laptops? According to Walvoord and Anderson (1998), one guaranteed way to enhance = students' understanding is to use homework as their first exposure to = new material, typically in a reading assignment, and then focus class = time on the interactive-processing part of the learning, during which = students apply, analyze, synthesize, and evaluate the material. Laptops = lend themselves well to such activities. In-class computing activities = bring other learning opportunities as well: students working under the = instructor's guidance; small groups working under controlled conditions; = synchronous, whole-class activities (for example, a simulation); = active-learning experiences that would be impossible in reality = (dangerous or costly labs); and immediate exchange of and feedback on = answers, solutions, and information. Eight categories of in-class laptop activities meet both the conditions = we have set. Where appropriate, we mention which chapter(s) in this = volume illustrate the application. Many of the proposed activities are = just obvious possibilities that reflect general best practices in = teaching. Student-Data Collection. Laptops make it easier to collect information = and responses from students in a variety of ways, and to display them to = the class if desired. The survey tool on any of the leading course = management systems (CMS) allows anonymous collection. If students = identity is useful or relevant, an instructor can choose from e-mail; a = CMS testing or assignment collecting tool; or, to make student postings = public, a CMS discussion board. What data might be worth gathering? * Virtual first-day index cards with personal information, major, career = aspiration, reason for taking the course, expectations of the course, and so on * Class survey of opinions, attitudes, beliefs, experiences, reactions = to the readings, and so forth * Classroom assessment data, such as ungraded quizzes, the Muddiest = Point, the One-Minute Paper, and the like * Reactions or questions as they arise during a video, demonstration, = lecture, guest speaker, or class activity * Student feedback on peer presentations * Midsemester feedback on the course or teaching methods The many institutions that have placed forms for student assessment of = instructor online (Sorenson and Johnson, 2003) also stand to benefit. = Laptops in the classroom promise to restore the high student response = rate found with paper forms. Student Assessment. Objective in-class tests given on laptops encourage = electronic cheating unless we can monitor students judiciously. This = means having plenty of proctors or a network computer environment with = sophisticated security software. However, it is safe and convenient to = administer some online forms of student assessment in class (practice = test, low-stakes quiz, open-book or open-note test, collaborative group = quiz, nonformulaic essay test). Low-stakes quizzes, especially if given = daily, help ensure the students do the assigned reading for the day. For = such accountability purposes, an "essay test" can mean just a short = paragraph summarizing, reacting to, or answering a question on the = readings. Group quizzes not only assess but also make students think and = talk about the material. These forms of assessment render cheating = unnecessary, too difficult, or not worth the effort. Student Self-Assessment. The Web offers a variety of instruments = measuring personal characteristics, abilities, and preferences, not all = of which are fanciful time-wasters. Some may actually increase student = self-understanding and complement the subject matter of the course. Here = are just a few respectable instruments that are free (unless otherwise = indicated): * Learning styles and preferences (go to = http://www.clemson.edu/OTEI/links/styles.htm for links to a variety of such instruments) * Personality and temperament, using the Keirsey Temperament Sorter (http://www.advisorteam.com/user/ktsintrol.asp) * Career-relevant aptitudes http://www.careerkey.org/english) * IQ (http://web.tickle.com/tests/uiq) * Political ideology = (http://www.digitalronin.f2s.com/politicalcompass/index.html) * Leadership = (http://connect.tickle.com/search/websearch.html?query=3Dleadership has = links to several such instruments, most of which involve an expense) Student Research. With the resources of the Internet at the fingers-tips = students can conduct documentary, experimental, and survey analysis and = even do field research using laptops in class; a number of Clemson = University faculty have used laptops this way. History professor James = Burns breaks his western Civilization classes into small groups that = research topics on the Web and report their major findings to the rest = of the class. He defines the topics and, for the sake of efficiency, = suggests high-quality scholarly Web sites for the students to explore. = In their General Engineering course (see Chapter Eight in the volume), = Matthew W. Ohland and Elizabeth A. Stephan send their students to the = Web to research physical parameters and the effect of problem = constraints. Their students also use motion sensors to collect data on = vibration, pH response, force versus displacement, and other phenomena = in real time; they then use Microsoft Excel to analyze the data. In his Advanced Experimental Psychology course (see Chapter Two), = Benjamin R. Stephens has his students use customized online systems to = design and execute their own experimental research projects, using = themselves as subjects. They then write up their results and = electronically exchange papers, serving as reviewers for on another. In = Ellen Granberg's Introductory Sociology (see Chapter Six), students = access and analyze General Social Survey data, made available in the Web = by the National Opinion Research Corporation (NORC) at = www.icpsr.umich.edu/gss. The site even offers statistical applets for = easy analysis. Finally, biology professor William M. Surver and his = colleagues are redesigning several courses so that students will = research solutions to complex real-world problems on their laptops, as = well as collect and analyze data from laboratories broadcast live from = remote locations. Faculty in any discipline will find scholarly research resources in the = collections as these sites: http://www.merlot.org/Home.po, = http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/CIE/AOP/LO_collections.html, and = http://www.clemson.edu/OTEI/links/subject.htm. Before seeking their own web resources for in-class or out-of-class = research, students may do well to learn first how to evaluate them. A = site that links to ways to assess Web sites for scientific value and = validity is http://www.clemson.edu/OTEI/links/evaluating.htm. Field research is yet another activity that laptops make easier, more = efficient, and more immediate. This volume has chapters on two such = examples. Glenn Birrenkott, Jean A. Bertrand, and Brian Bolt pride = themselves in giving their Animal and Veterinary Sciences students a = hands-on education, so they conduct many of their classes at various = university farms. It has been a challenge to figure out how to carry and = use a laptop in such dusty, wet, and remote locations, but they have = succeeded, allowing their students to measure and evaluate the growth, = milk production, economic value, and income-production points of various = animals, all on location (see Chapter Seven). Although normally in the = classroom, Barbara E. Weaver ahs taken her English classes to the South = Carolina Botanical Garden; students identify and chronicle locations = where nature and technology collide (see Chapter Nine). Finally, in = Applied Economics and Statistics Rose Martinez-Dawson has sent her = students into local supermarkets to conduct price-comparison research. Simulated Experiences. Laptops make it easy to give students a virtual = learning experience under the instructor's guidance. An example featured = in this volume is Paul Hyden's application of Excel simulations and = demonstrations to illustrate abstract concepts in his business = statistics class (see Chapter Four). Instructors can find elaborate computer simulators on CD-ROM or the Web = in many disciplines: the Business Strategy Game, Decide, Marketplace, = the Global Supply Chain Management Lab (developed by Clemson University = professor Larry LaForge; http://people.clemson.edu/~rllafg/mmlhome.htm), = all for business; SimCity for urban planning; Whose Mummy Is It? for = ancient history; Unnatural Selection for biology and environmental = studies; and SimIls and SimWorld for political science and environmental = studies, to name just a few. Virtual science laboratories are also available on CD-ROM and the Web = (for example, http://www.abdn.ac.uk/diss/ltu/pmarston/v-lab/ for biology = and geography; and = http://dsd.lbl.gov/~deba/ALS.DCEE/TALKS/CHEP-meeting9-18-95/CHEP.pres.fm.= html for physics, with advice on developing labs for one's own course). Analysis of Digitized Performances. Although other technologies can be = used to play music and to view dance, dramatic, acrobatic, and athletic = performances, digital technologies offer a definite advantage for the = instructor-most prominently, precise control over exactly what is played = or shown when-and for the students, especially regarding the quality of = the recording. In his music appreciation course, Andrew Levin adds some = distinct learning advantages to going digital with laptops (see his = coauthored Chapter Three). Small student groups listen to selected = compositions played on laptops with an ear toward answering several = interpretive and analytical questions. The students discuss the music, = replaying it as needed, and discover its distinctive qualities on their = own. Using customized software, they upload their responses to the Web; = then Levine projects all their answers to the entire class. During the = discussion that follows, he can correct any faculty responses before = storing them for students' future reference. Student Collaboration. Laptops allow students to collaborate in class on = assignments and problems that require them to use the Web or special = software, such as an HTML/Web editor, Microsoft Word, Publisher, = PowerPoint, Excel, Access, SAS, AutoCAD, Matlab, and Maple. We have = already seen examples under "student research": Burns's Western Civ = students conducting Web research in small groups; Stephens's Advanced = Experimental Psychology students reviewing and improving each other's = research papers; and Ohland and Stephan's General Engineering students = working in pairs to collect and analyze data. One more Clemson example = is William Moss's Advance Calculus and Differential Equations course. He = runs it as a "studio" course in which student groups spend all but the = first fifteen minutes class time solving problems in Maple. Moreover, = laptops allow students to exchange and collaborate on all manner of = multimedia presentations, portfolios, and other projects. Learning Exercises. When students have laptops, the instructor is free = to design or find online exercises (individual or small-group) that = reinforce and apply the material. Perhaps the pervious seven categories = of activities qualify as valuable online exercises as well, but we have = something more specific in mind here: a form of interactive practice by = which students can learn on their own both during and outside of class. = The clearest example in this volume comes from Roy P. Pargas's course in = computer data structures. Laptops have allowed him and colleague Kenneth = A. Weaver to redesign it to approximate the master-apprentice model (see = Chapter Five). Pargas has his students download and manipulate applets = of various data structures so they can observe and test each structure's = dynamic behavior-a far better way to learn than watching the professor = sketch static segments of the process on the board. Being a computer = scientist, Pargas can program whatever applets he deems helpful to his = students' learning. What about the rest of us? In fact, hundreds and perhaps thousands of these learning exercises are = available free on the Web. They are usually called learning objects = (LO), a relatively new term for a variety of online learning tools and = aids. They are formally defined as digital instructional resources that = are reusable in a number of learning contexts. Most definitions also = include the criteria that a learning contexts. Most definitions also = include the criteria that a learning object present a discrete, = self-contained lesson that requires three to fifteen minutes to complete = and that it contain its own learning objectives, directions, author, and = date of creation (Ip, Morrison, and Currie, 2001; Beck, 2002). The most = discriminating standards also require that the object be interactive = (Wisconsin Online Resource Center, n.d.), a criterion that Pargas's = applets meet. Within there parameters, a learning object may be = quantitative or qualitative; text-based, auditory, or graphic (static or = animated); or any combination thereof. Learning objects for just about every discipline can be found in = designated LO repositories. Perhaps the most famous ones are MERLOT = (Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching) at = http://www.merlot.org and the Wisconsin Online Resource Center at = http://www.wisc-online.com/index.htm. Project Interactive offers a rich = variety of learning objects for the sciences and mathematics; it is at = http://shodor.org/interactivate. Information Technology Services at = Brock University in Ontario, Canada, displays its in-house-created = learning objects at http://www.brocku.ca/learningobjects/flash_content/index.html. There are = repositories of repositories, hosted by the University of Texas at San = Antonio at http://elearning.utsa.edu/guides/LO-repositories.htm and the = University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee at = http://www.uwm.edu/Dept/CIE/OP/LO_collections.html. Learning objects are also scattered around the Web for specialized = topics, such as biology, nursing, and bioengineering, at = http://www.cellsalive.com and optics at = http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10/index.h= tml. ---------- If we are on another line or away from the phone, please leave your = number, best time to return your call and/or your e-mail address. =20 After hours and weekend phone appointments are available upon request. Sincerely, J. Michael Nolan, Director =20 Rainforest and Reef 501 (c)(3) non-profit *************************************************************************= ************************* "Outstanding-Affordable Field Courses in Rainforest & Marine Ecology" "Spanish/Cultural Immersion Programs: Spain, Mexico, Central and South = America" Rainforest and Reef 501 (c)(3) non-profit P.O. 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