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Information Systems Research & Development |
PocketPC Classroom Trials
updated August, 2004Note: As of November, 2002, the PocketClassroomTM software described here is being redistributed as ClassInHandTM
The Information Systems Research & Development team has been working with academic departments since the fall of 2001 to test the use of PocketPC devices in classrooms. We chose to distribute PocketPCs to students for an entire semester rather than using class sets. This enables students to become more familiar with the devices and to explore their use both in other classes and outside of class. It also saves several precious minutes of class time that would otherwise be consumed by distributing and collecting PocketPCs before and after class. Forty-six students and the professor in a Physics class used wirelessly-connected PocketPC for the last four weeks of the semester. The professor used the PocketClassroomTM software developed by the WFU R&D team to help determine whether students understood the material he was presenting, and to control his PowerPoint slides.
What we learned: The instructor considered the PocketPC and the PocketClassroomTM program a valuable tool. This four-week pilot proved too short to allow time for student interviews, so the only feedback available from students was limited survey data. However, our own observations told us that these devices should be distributed at the beginning of a semester before students become too busy to learn to use them. In addition, every student, rather than half of the students, should have a device in order to encourage participation. An unresolved question is how well DHCP is working on the PocketPCs, as some students were unable to connect to the campus network consistently.
Every student in one section of French 153 received a PocketPC. In another section of the class, students used their ThinkPads rather than PocketPCs for the French lab exercises.
What we learned: Because every student in the class received a PocketPC, the participation rate was 100%. Most students found that bringing just the PocketPC to lab--no books, notes, or other materials--was sufficient for full participation in the exercises. Students using the PocketPCs to work together on French conversational exercises were much more engaged in the activity and less likely to be doing other things (Instant Messaging, e-mail) than those in the ThinkPad class. The ThinkPad created a visual barrier between students working in pairs, while the PocketPC was held naturally in students’ hands. Students faced each other to converse in the PocketPC class; in the ThinkPad class they were much more likely to face their laptops than each other. Students are more willing to carry a small handheld computer to class than a laptop. On the "learning experience" side: Some students lost their wireless driver over Spring Break when they failed to leave the PocketPCs in the charger while they were away, and as a result, connecting to the campus network was a problem in the first lab after spring break. We continued to have some questions about DHCP, as the loss of the driver did not account for all connection difficulties. Because class time is limited and thus valuable, instructors have little tolerance for technology that doesn’t work immediately and quickly abandon it for traditional methods if any problem arises.
The instructor and all students in one section of Chemistry 111 were issued PocketPCs and keyboards. The instructor used the presentation and feedback features of the software. He also used a new feature, the Concept Test, to determine more definitively whether students understood and could apply concepts he presented.
What we learned: Students were much more willing to communicate with the professor or express a lack of understanding anonymously than via email or in person. No communications were inappropriate. We assigned every student an IP address rather than using DHCP this semester to avoid the connectivity problems we had experienced in the Physics and French classes last year. This was much more successful. We gave students a full 2 hours of training. Students consistenly brought the devices and keyboards to class and used them throughout the class period as instructed by the professor. The use of the PocketPC was thoroughly incorporated into each class session. In end-of-term surveys, these students rated the usefulness of the PocketPC higher than had either of the previous classes.
Fall, 2002: Health & Exercise Science
The instructor and all students in a Nutrition class had PocketPCs. Both the professor and the students used the presentation feature of PocketClassroom TM to control their PowerPoint presentations. The professor collected ratings on students’ presentations by their fellow students using the feedback features of PocketClassroomTM. He is working toward a paperless environment by using the PocketClassroom TM web server and other electronic methods as a means of distributing handouts to students. Students used PocketDiet software purchased for this class to record diet and exercise data for analysis.
What we learned: Distributing papers via the mobile web server is not particularly effective because of the limited feature set of Pocket Internet Explorer. However, collecting diet and exercise data through the PocketPC rather than by traditional paper methods is much more efficient.
Spring, 2003: Computer Science, Software Engineering
The instructor and all students had PocketPCs in this software engineering class. The instructor assigned a software project that included programming the PocketPC as one component. Students worked in teams to complete the project and found programming for the PocketPC to be quite challenging.
What we learned: We can't always expect to collect the PocketPCs from students before classes end for the semester. For this group, the PocketPCs were an essential part of the exam. This group reported no problems with the devices or connectivity.
Spring, 2003: Education: Educational Technology
The instructor and all students in this educational technology class had PocketPCs. Both the professor and the students used the presentation feature of ClassInHandTM to control their PowerPoint presentations. The professor also used the Quiz feature of the software to get responses from students. Her main goal was to begin making these future teachers familiar with handheld computers since they are now being used in K12 schools nationwide. The biggest hurdle in this class remained getting the PocketPCs connected to the Internet.
What we learned: Using the soft reset function when they first arrive at a new location increases the probability that students can connect to the wireless network without problems. Students who are somewhat technology-timid have far more problems with connectivity than those who aren't afraid to experiment with it.
Summer, 2003: Education: European Tour!
The instructor and all students in this education class took PocketPCs to Europe for first summer session. The purpose of this class is to teach students data collection and analysis skills, and they have traditionally done all their data collection in European cities on paper. Each student designs a survey that she administers to 30-35 European citizens and upon returning home at the end of the course, analyzes the data and writes a paper. The R&D team wrote some data collection software for the PocketPC, recently released as DataInHandTM, to enable students to build surveys on their laptops, synchronize them to their PocketPCs, and collect the survey data on the PocketPC. This was very successful for several reasons. Carrying the PocketPCs was much easier than carrying paper, and students were able to beam the collected data to the professor's PocketPC at the end of the term. On the train between cities, students wrote their reflections using the PocketPC and keyboard rather than a paper journal, and beamed the document immediately to the professor. He commented on each paper and beamed it back to the owner, providing immediate feedback that he had been unable to do before. Unlike the situation in previous Eurotour trips, he had a copy of the students' data and their reflections before him when he graded their final papers. The professor commented that the quality of the papers from students was higher than in any previous trip. In addition to classwork, students made good use of the city maps, public transporation information, and language dictionaries that the R&D team had loaded onto the PocketPCs for them. Student backed up their data frequently to SD cards and experienced no technical problems with the PocketPCs.
What we learned: Data collection is one of the simplest and most effective uses for PocketPCs. Since no wireless connectivity is required, this potentially troublesome issue is removed. The biggest problem turned out to be getting the PocketPCs back from students who wanted to keep them after the class was over!
Fall, 2003: Mathematics: Calculus
The instructor and all students in two sections of calculus had PocketPCs and keyboards. The professor used the quiz feature of ClassInHandTM as a formative assessment tool. He developed two quizzes that he used repeatedly: one questions was "Do you understand?" with yes/no choices. This allowed students to say honestly whether or not they understood the concept just explained without exposing their response to their classmates. The second quiz was simply a blank question with a, b, c, d responses. The professor would put a problem on the board with four plausible answers, and students just chose a, b, c, or d. This enabled him to determine whether or not students really did "get it" and to adjust his teaching accordingly.
Results: Our aging wireless network and the bulkiness of PocketPCs with sleeves holding PCMCIA wireless cards contributed to some lack of interest on the part of many of the students in the pilot. Some even stopped carrying it to class after the initial excitement wore off.
Summer, 2004 Eurotour classes: Education, Dance, Health & Exercise Science
The instructors and all students in three classes carried PocketPCs and keyboards to Europe for first summer session classes. In all three classes, the major activity is data collection. The Education and History of Dance Classes used our DataInHand TM software. The Health & Exercise Science class on Culture and Obesity used the PocketDiet software we purchased. The Education and Dance classes had wireless PocketPCs and had expected to connect in hot spots to get their email and access web resources as they traveled to different cities.
Results: The DataInHand software was again a great benefit for data collection. Students also reported uses we hadn't considered for the PocketPC, such as using it as their alarm clock! Finding few hotspots and almost none of them free was a major disappointment. At most hotspots that required payment and login, the PocketIE browser on the Toshiba e750s was unable to process the javascript required to enable login. For the Health & Exercise Science group, who were using older and bulkier PocketPCs, carrying them on hiking trips still proved to be a nuisance from both weight and power-supply standpoints.
Approximately 35 students and 6 instructors used wirelessly-enabled iPAQ h4150 PocketPCs in an effort to help us understand the organization and communication capabilities of such devices. The R&D team developed the DeaconAlerts notifications system to better enable instructors and student leaders to communicate with cadets after they'd left their rooms (and their Thinkpads!) for the day. Students also used the PocketPC as a digital assistant for IM, listening to music, calendaring, and generally keeping organized.
Results: As in past pilots, students are divided into three groups: those who love the PocketPC and carry it all the time, those who care nothing for it and leave it in the box, and those in the middle who carry it when needed. However, we are encouraged by the fact that the size of the first group is growing and the size of the third group is shrinking to only a couple of students now. We are seeing an increase in the number of students who use the calendar to keep themselves organized. This was rare when we started with PocketPCs in 2001. These PocketPCs and the newly upgraded wireless network on our campus greatly improved the communication capabilities of these devices. A combination of better battery life, smaller form factor, and improved wireless radios is making them much more usable.
Summer, 2005 Eurotour classes: Education and Theatre
The instructors and all students in these classes carried PocketPCs and keyboards to Europe for first summer session classes. As for prior Eurotour classes, the major activity is data collection. The The Education class used our DataInHand TM software. The Theatre class used the PocketPC as a reference device for materials prepared by the instructor in Word, html, or pdf files, as well as the travel information, language dictionaries and other such materials that were used by the Education class as well. These groups took the iPAQ h4150 wireless PocketPCs, and unlike the previous summer, were quite successful in connecting to wireless hot spots to get their email and access web resources as they traveled to different cities.
Results: As before, the DataInHandTM software performed well for data collection. Both instructors and students found the PocketPCs highly useful for reference materials. And having connectivity was a huge benefit for those who took the time to seek out the hotspots.