Initiating Technology-Enhanced Learning at a PublicSector Institution in a Developing Country Muhammad F. Kaleem COMSATS Institute of Information Technology, Lahore, PAKISTAN [email protected]

Abstract. This paper describes the experience of the author in setting up a project for lecture delivery using electronic academic content with the aim of initiating technology-enhanced learning activities in a public-sector institution of higher learning in Pakistan. The project was aimed at undergraduate engineering students, and the author was the instructor of an engineering course. The paper will explain the background which influenced the scope of the project, and list out the objectives set for the project. The setup used for lecture delivery will be described, and the advantages and limitations of the approach will be highlighted. The paper will also present and categorize different problems faced during the project and highlight their impact on the project. Finally, the plans and work-in-progress to continue and enhance the scope of the project in the future will be presented.

1.

Introduction

This paper will describe a project to initiate technology-enhanced learning undertaken at the electrical engineering department of a public-sector institute in Pakistan. The institute is relatively new, established in 2002, and offers a four-years (8-semsters) bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering (the institute also offers degrees in other disciplines). The project was carried out by the author as an instructor to an introductory Electronics course taught to students in the third semester. Since the institution is new, it lacks a general infrastructure which could facilitate initiation of technology-enhanced learning. Resources (e.g. financial resources) which could be utilized for technology-enhanced learning are also lacking. Therefore, any effort at technology-enhanced learning, while aiming at improving the efficiency of learning, should have the ability to improvise innovative methods and approaches which are cost-effective, as well as remain non-intrusive to the existing learning methodology. In this context, the rest of the paper will be used to briefly describe details of the project. The background in which the project was initiated will be explained, and the main objectives of the project will be listed. The setup used for technology-enhanced learning will be described, and our observations with respect to the effort for technology-enhanced learning will be explained. Finally, some problems faced by us in the process will be mentioned, and some future plans will be highlighted.

2.

Background

Almost all of the teaching at the electrical engineering department is done using the classical approach [11]. Some instructors occasionally use computer-based, or electronic slides, which are projected in the classroom using a data projector. However, any writing during the lecture is done on the whiteboard, and electronic slides are mostly used for demonstrative purposes. At present no course is conducted by lectures which are delivered entirely using computer-based slides. One other aspect of teaching engineering courses, though not limited to them, is that these are very writing intensive. This means that preparing electronic slides for lecture delivery, containing equations and diagrams, requires much effort. This also means that during lecture delivery, the instructor may need to write equations, or draw diagrams [9]. Though there is in general awareness of technology-enhanced learning, mainly among those instructors who have in the recent past studied in Europe or the USA, there is no effort at any technology-enhanced learning initiative at the institute. The campus is networked through a LAN, and broadband internet access is available to all teachers, and also to students through computer pools, however none of the courses being offered at the electrical engineering department has its webpage. 2.1 Objectives of the Project Given the background as presented previously, the objectives of the project could be listed as the following individual points: 1. promote an efficient learning environment based on innovative use of inexpensive technology 2. enhance the teaching and classroom experience, providing flexibility in lecture delivery, as well as an effective interaction protocol between the instructor and students 3. allow active student involvement and interaction 4. supplement the classroom learning experience with the possibility of distance learning 5. allow adoption and gradual enhancement of e-learning activities on a sustainable basis 2.2 Lecture delivery setup description We used a setup that allowed us to use inexpensive technology innovatively, conformant to objective 1 as listed in section 2.1 . The lectures were delivered using electronic slides projected in the classroom using a data projector. To prepare the slides, digital ink was used to draw figures, circuit diagrams, and also to write text. For using digital ink, a cheap USB based tablet pen device was used. The author used his own laptop for lecture preparation and delivery. The data projector was placed on a moveable trolley during the lecture. Figure 1 shows the lecture delivery setup. The instructor’s position behind the trolley is depicted, which enables him to write on the tablet pen device while facing the students. The tablet pen device was also used during lecture delivery to write on the slides. For this purpose the tablet pen device was placed on the trolley along with the data projector. The height of the trolley was such that placing the tablet pen device allowed

the author to write comfortably on the device at a natural angle. The laptop computer containing the slides was placed at a chair placed adjacent to the trolley, so that its screen was visible to the author.

Fig. 1. Diagram showing the lecture delivery setup

The lectures were also recorded using a cordless microphone. Important here is that not only the voice of the instructor was recorded, but the screen of the laptop was captured simultaneously as well. Therefore it was possible to record the slides, the writing on the slides with digital ink during the lecture, as well as the voice of the instructor synchronised with the slides, and a freely downloadable software was used for this purpose. The recorded lectures were made available to the students after the lecture. For this purpose the lecture files were placed on a shared network folder.

3.

Observations

In this section we will describe some of our observations about important aspects of our project for technology-enhanced learning. We will focus on the classroom impact of the project, as well as its advantages and limitations. We will also refer back to the objectives of the project as appropriate. 3.1 Classroom impact In the context of classroom impact we are interested in evaluating whether the methodology used for lecture delivery contributed to teaching, as well as to student learning. − It was possible to eschew the use of the whiteboard (see section 3.2 for some exceptions to this). This made the use of electronic slides feasible, since the problems due to switching between slides and whiteboard could be avoided. Prepared electronic slides helped the instructor save time not having to write the lecture contents on the whiteboard during the lecture. In this context, 86 percent of the students found that the lecture delivery setup helped save time, whereas 74

percent of the students found using electronic slides and writing on them using digital ink during lecture more easy to view as compared to the whiteboard. − The use of digital ink helped the instructor to spontaneously adapt to the students. Concepts could be explained, and students’ questions answered by writing on the slides spontaneously, without causing any distraction to the students. 88 percent of the students felt that the lecture delivery setup enabled more interaction between the students and the instructor. Also, 83 percent of the students felt the lectures delivered using this setup to be better than those delivered using traditional techniques. − By following the best practices in the use of digital ink [3], it was possible for the instructor to adopt a simple interaction protocol with the students, as well as to increase student engagement. − Related to the previous point, the lecture delivery setup allowed the instructor to face the students at all times (91 percent of the students found this to be true). There was no disruption caused by the instructor having to turn towards the whiteboard to write. According to students’ feedback, this allowed them to better engage with the instructor. 88 percent of the students found that the setup allowed the instructor to deliver better lectures. − The methodology of lecture delivery also helped enhance the classroom experience. 89 percent of the students found that lectures delivered using this setup allowed them to take more interest in the lecture, whereas 83 percent of the students found the methodology to make the classroom experience more interesting. All of the points mentioned in this section can be related to objectives 1, 2 and 3 as listed in section 2.1 . 3.2 Advantages and limitations A big advantage of the project setup described in section 2.2 was its ease of use, and the fact that it allowed us to incorporate an effective method of lecture delivery using available and cheap resources. The whole setup did not take more than 10 minutes at the beginning of the lecture. The setup was meant to supplement the classroom experience, not replace it, hence avoiding the problems that can accrue due to lack of personal contact between the instructor and the student [4]. The recorded lectures were, however, available to the students for use outside the classroom, thus allowing a very basic form of distance learning [6]. Based on students’ feedback, it was ascertained that roughly 50 percent of the students were using the recorded lectures outside of the campus. We can relate this aspect to objective 4 of the list of the project’s objectives listed in section 2.1 . The lecture setup also had some limitations which are worth mentioning. Among these is that the use of the whiteboard could not be completely eschewed. The setup using the USB-based tablet pen device, and the laptop connected to the data projector through a cable meant a tethered setup. Therefore, the setup, though offering a simple interaction protocol between the instructor and students, allowed for only one-way slide annotation. Another limitation of the setup was related to only the instructor’s voice being recorded. Since the cordless microphone was attached to the instructor’s collar, any

answers by the students to the questions posed by the instructor were not recorded. In this case the author adopted the practice of repeating the student’s question before answering, so that the instructor’s speech in the lecture recording could be put in context. 3.3 Issues with lecture preparation and delivery For lecture preparation and delivery with digital ink we used the guidelines as

Fig. 2. A cluttered slide

provided in [3]. However, at times we did face the problem of slide clutter (see Fig. 2) and sometimes the electronic slide proved to be small to write. For the latter, one easy remedy was to keep a blank slide in the slide deck after a slide where much writing was anticipated, thus avoiding clutter and the need to erase digital ink. The author also felt a tendency to use too much attentional ink [10], which also required occasional erasure of digital ink from the slide. However, on analysis of the recorded lectures, the effect of erasing digital ink was not found to be significant, since the context of the inking, as well as erasure, was available in the recording.

4.

Future work

We have now run the project during a whole semester, and are using it again during the following semester. Presently work is underway to evaluate and deploy an opensource learning management system. As part of this step, a web-based learning management system has been installed at the electrical engineering department, and is being used initially by the author for the Electronics course. The recorded lectures of the new semester are being made available on this web-based platform, in contrast to the network drive-based approach used previously. We have also used the learning management system for student assignments, and have had very good response. We also plan to administer classroom quizzes online, which for the time being are paperbased. These efforts and plans are in accordance with objective number 5 listed in section 2.1 . The lectures recorded during the project have been shown to other instructors at the author’s institute, and also at another engineering university in the same city. One

other extension of the project we are planning goes in the direction of recording lectures at one institution, and making it available for students at the other, possibly using the institution’s local learning management system. Though more elaborate programs (in scope and in use of technology) of distance learning are being used [5], we consider this to be a cost-effective method of knowledge dispersion, while also giving students more freedom by learning from courses without enrolling in them or being present at another institution. Another application of the setup used in the project is to help improve the presentation and teaching skills of less experienced teachers, and plans are being made to effectively utilize the setup for this purpose.

5.

References

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