MIT Steven R. Lerman Class of ’22 Professor and Director, MIT Center for Educational Computing Initiatives Information Technology in Education Lessons from Computing in a Large Research University

The Singapore-MIT Alliance Description of alliance Major IT issues Lessons

SMA History - Phase 1 ( ) Educational & research venture between MIT, National University of Singapore (NUS) and Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Engineering research and education done collaboratively Began in 1998; first classes in 1999 Students from SE Asia – mostly India, China and Singapore 1 year Masters Program/with PhD option 2-3 week immersion period 2 semesters synchronous video conferencing ~50% SMA courses cross-listed w/ MIT

8.7 DE Classroom - MIT

DE Classrooms - Singapore

SMA History – Phase 2 (2005- present Shift from Singapore-only degrees to dual Masters degree Students must be admitted to both MIT and a Singaporean partner university Students come to MIT for at least one semester All degree requirements of both universities satisfied PhD programs still from Singaporean universities with MIT advisors and MIT certificate

Moving from SMA-1 to SMA-2 Shift in program areas to reflect changed priorities in Singapore and MIT with open competition Shift to dual degree programs at Masters level Shift from single PI research to flagship research initiatives Shift from pure distance education to hybrid of local and distance teaching SMA admissions, appointments and program administrations mainstreamed into regular MIT policies and procedures

SMA Goals create new graduate subjects and curricula; develop new and innovative research; contribute, through activities and endowment, to MIT’s strength in certain strategic areas; establish a greater MIT connection in Asia, and, through this connection, bring new resources to MIT; permit MIT to experiment with a variety of different distance interaction technologies and modalities for both teaching and research; generate the necessary physical infrastructure and human resources upon which to build a permanent “distance presence”; identify the kinds of individual and institutional distance collaborations in both teaching and research consistent with MIT’s core values and aspirations.

Major Lessons from SMA Alignment of programs with institutional priorities is key Reliable, technology-enabled distance learning requires sustained work Cross-cultural governance can be complex Having very senior level support is crucial even when their actual involvement is small High quality distance education at MIT standards can be done, but it isn’t cheap Faculty time is scarce resource and has an “opportunity cost” Long stays by MIT faculty are difficult

Research Interaction Room - MIT

Uses:LecturesRecitations Research Team Meetings Qualifying Exams Collaboration & Advising Program Administratio n Need for different technologies Venues: DE Lecture Rooms (Level 5 Classrooms) Research Interaction Rooms (conference rooms) Desktop / home set-ups

Analysis & Comparison detractions benefits detractions benefits DE Classrooms Research Interaction Rms PC-based Systems for Home/Office Costly Technician Advance Planning Reliable High Quality Inexpensive Self-Service No Advance Planning Less Reliable Varying Quality

Xmas – A video annotation system Video is often copyrighted and in DVD format that is protected Faculty want students to be able to “quote” video and comment on it, as in: “A seen in the video where Hamlet sees a ghost …”

iMoat – Writing tests online MIT administers writing test to all incoming freshman Old version had students take the test in artificial environment – timed test that didn’t provide good evaluation Shift to online testing for placement in courses using online testing Less expensive and more effective

Presentation of iMoat on web htm

For More Information Professor Steven R. Lerman, Director Center for Educational Computing Initiatives 9-317MIT Cambridge, MA USA web: MIT