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IMPLEMENTATION OF A LAPTOP PROGRAM: 

IMPLEMENTATION OF A LAPTOP PROGRAM http://laptop.clemson.edu Dr. Bill Moss – bmoss@clemson.edu Mrs. Laurie Sherrod – laurie@clemson.edu

Preparation for a pilot: 

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: 

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.edu http://dcit.clemson.edu/train/studenttrain/smrtcls/classrm.htm

A common laptop!: 

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: 

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: 

Student notification Send letters to accepted students in the early spring Presentation at summer orientation Web page/ phone ordering

Student preparation: 

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: 

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?: 

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!: 

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?: 

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: 

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: 

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

Slide14: 

Clemson Laptop Program Faculty Perspective William F. Moss College of Engineering and Science Clemson University Clemson, South Carolina USA http://www.math.clemson.edu/~bmoss/laptop_pedagogy/

Why Laptops?To build a better product: 

Why Laptops? To build a better product Laptop students have better … Communication skills Technology skills Team building skills Life-long learning skills

Why Laptops?To enhance the classroom …: 

Why Laptops? To enhance the classroom … Laptop course characteristics Studio courses Integrated lab and lecture On-line quizzes and exams Hybrid exams

Why Laptops?To slow the growth of IT costs: 

Why Laptops? To slow the growth of IT costs Where are the IT dollars going? Keeping labs up-to-date Printing costs Storage costs Support of multiple platforms

Why Laptops?Convenience, professional practice: 

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: 

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: 

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: 

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: 

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 …: 

Laptops in Humanities, Engineering … History, Chemistry, English Composition MBA Program General Freshman Engineering Introduction to Computing Mathematical Sciences

Laptop Learning Activities: 

Laptop Learning Activities Individual Quizzes – online and paper Team Quizzes Polling Survey / Minute Paper Think-Pair-Share Courseware Sessions …

Faculty: FAQ: 

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: 

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: 

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: 

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: 

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: 

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.