1 David Keathly UNT Computer Science and Engineering and the Convergence Technology Center Working Connections My Students are Glued to Their Phones – What do I do??

2 Motivation Goal: Improve education by integrating computing devices into classroom. Do in low-cost, sustainable way. One way, leverage devices students carry! They are going to use them anyway!!! 2

3 Before We go too far…  Who has a laptop or Tablet PC with them?  Who has a cell phone or PDA with them? College Students: 86.1% Cell Phone 12.0% Smart Phone 11.9% PDA 56.3% Digital Gaming Device 73.7% Laptop Source: The ECAR Study of Undergraduate Students and Information Technology, 2007

Potential Benefits of Using Cell Phones in Learning According to PARENTS!  43% Increases student engagement 41% Prepares students for world of work 38% Extends school day learning 37% Provides access to online textbooks 35% Improves teacher-parent- student communications 32% Students can review class materials 31% Personalizes instruction 27% Provides way to help struggling students 4

More Cell Phone Access Stats 98% of high school students have a cell phone (31% with mobile Internet) 83% of middle school students have a cell phone (25% with mobile Internet) 43% of 3rd through 5th graders have a cell phone (15% with mobile Internet) 28% of K-2nd graders have a cell phone (12% with mobile Internet) 5

Student Suggestions on Use  Look up information on Internet  Record or take notes  Work on projects with classmates  Access digital textbooks  Take videos of class presentations or experiments  Play educational games  Communicate with classmates  Receive reminders and alerts  Organize schoolwork  Communicate with teacher  Learn about school activities  Access social networks  Create and share documents/media  Upload assignments and work to portals  Coordinate calendars  Share/edit bookmarks 6

Cells Phones vs. Laptops  “Cell phones, not laptop computers hold the most promise for the spread of one- to-one computing, particularly students with limited resources and especially for students from under-developing nations” – Bill Gates 7

8 Part I: Background Active Learning Classroom Responses Systems (CRSs) Different CRS activities

9 Active Learning  Active Learning = teaching pedagogy were best way to teach students is to have them be active in the learning process  Abrahamson’s “Socratic teaching” method  Student needs to: Build on existing mental framework Incorporate existing knowledge and ideas 9 Abrahamson A. L. “Teaching with Classroom Communication System – What it Involves and Why it Works”. Mini-Course presented at the VII Taller Internacional "Nuevas Tendencias en la Ensenanza de la Fisica". Puebla, Mexico, May 27-30, 1999.

10 Quantitative Evidence  Hake’s study 62 physics courses >6000 students Set taught interactively Set taught traditionally (lecture focus)  Students in interactive courses had learning gains 2 std. dev. greater than traditional courses Hake R. “Interactive-engagement Versus Traditional Methods: A Six-thousand-student Survey of Mechanics Test Data for Introductory Physics Courses”. American Journal of Physics, 66 (1), Jan

11 Classroom Network 11 Public Display Instructor Students A A A B B C D Classroom Network

12 Public Display Instructor Students Classroom Network Classroom Technology Cooperative Note- taking e.g. LiveNotes PowerPoint Slides Digital Whiteboards Digital Ink Presentation Tools Digital Whiteboards Classroom Response Systems Classroom Feedback Systems

13 Public Display Instructor Students Classroom Network Activity Classroom Response System (CRS): Learning Cycle Activity B

14 Multiple-Choice Example Clickers

15 Multiple-Choice Example 2 Classtalk

16 Textual Example 16

17 Diagrammatic Example

18 Diagrammatic Example

19 Image Example

20 Brainstorming Example

21 Part II: Vendor Tools and Software

22 Tablet PC CRSs  General Properties: Support many types of exercises  Examples: Classroom Presenter Ubiquitous Presenter DyKnow GroupScribbles 22

23 Classroom Presenter Devices: Tablet PC Laptop Activities: Whole Slide, Ink/Text Features: Anonymous Submissions Push Model Limits: Cost Anderson R. J., Anderson R., Simon B., Wolfman S. A., VanDeGrift T., Yasuhara K. “Experiences with a Tablet PC Based Lecture Presentation System in Computer Science Courses”. SIGCSE '04, pp , Site:

24 Ubiquitous Presenter Devices: Web-browser Activities: Whole Slide, Text Multiple-choice Features: Same as Classroom Presenter Limits: Requires Web Server Wilkerson M, Griswold W. G., Simon B. “Ubiquitous Presenter: Increasing Student Access and Control in a Digital Learning Environment”. SIGCSE ’ Site:

25 GroupScribbles Devices: Tablet PC Laptop Activities: Post-It Note, Ink/Text Features: Multi-part Activities Multiple Subs. Editing/Moving Sub. Limits: Cost Brecht J., DiGiano C., Patton C., Tatar D., Chaudhury R., Roschelle J., & Davis K. “Coordinating networked learning activities with a general-purpose Interface”. To appear in the International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning.

26 Handheld CRSs  General Properties: Many types of small devices Activities more limited  Examples: Clickers Classtalk Pebbles ActiveClass PLS TXT UR Thoughts Ubiquitous Presenter (Mobile) 26

27 Clickers Devices: Custom Activities: Multiple-choice Features: Small and Affordable Scales to 100s Limits: Limited Utility HW Used for Wrong Reasons? Duncan D. “Clickers: A New Teaching Aid with Exceptional Promise”. Astronomy Education Review, 5(1), 2006.

28 Part III: Using the Tools You Already Have! Cell Phones Web Browsers

Interacting in Class  Wifitti Demo  PollEverywhere Demo  Mobiode polls and surveys Demo wc2010.mobiode.mobi  Use informal discussion to engage students  Use polls and surveys to get feedback and opinions 29

Remember the clicker?  Enter eClicker!  mobile/eclicker mobile/eclicker  iPhone Host  iPhone or Browser client Demo Editor.eclicker.com 30

Give them a try yourself! 31

Communicating in and out of class  SendGM Demo  Twitter More later…  Send reminders of homework, tests and events  Send interesting supplementary materials and links  Communicate other important information 32

Study Tools  Study Cell Demo  Readthewords.com Demo  Mobile Study Demo  Make Flashcards  Reading for comprehension  Quizzes 33

Other Study Tools  MyNoteIT  NoteCentric 

Try them yourself! 35

Discussion  How can these tools be used in your classroom?  Have you had experience using any of these tools?  Are there other tools you have used effectively? 36

Session II 37

So you want to create a mobile website?  Question 1 – Platform dependent or independent?  Question 2 – Which Platform(s)?  Question 3 – Are you a programmer?  Question 4 – Are you good with HTML/XML?  Question 5 – How much time do you have? 38

Some Simple Options  Winksite Demo winksite.mobi/dkeathly/demo  Zinadoo Demo  Ubik Demo:

Discussion  What could you use mobile web sites for in your class?  Would the add value?  What types of features do you need? 40

Want to Build one? – Give it a try! 41

Cross-Platform  PhoneGap – open source HTML and CSS  Java Supports Android and many other platforms Mini-Discussion How important is cross-platform for your classes? 42

A little more difficult…  MoSync – ○ Cross platform and open source ○ Not iPhone ○ C/C++ codebase  Appcelerator Titanium Free community edition HTML, Javascript, CSS 43

Discussion  How much effort are you wiling to put in for mobile applications development?  What skill sets do you have or are willing to learn? 44

Demos and Experimentation  Demos of some of these tools  Try it on your own! 45

iPhone Specific  iWebKit Iwebkit.net HTML and CSS3  Webkit Open source project Webkit.org Requires Xcode and Apple Developer registration  iUI Framework with Javascript, CSS and images Code.google.com/p/iui/ 46

Demos and Experimentation 47

Getting Fancy  Augmented Reality Existing downloads and developer tools iPhone (3GS) and Android 48

Wrap up  Questions?  Discussion  What do you think? Consider adding a comment to the Wiki! 49