Post on 22-Apr-2015
description
Using Smartphones, Wikis and Games for Teaching
Jean-Claude Bradley
E-Learning Coordinator College of Arts and Sciences
Associate Professor of ChemistryDrexel University
November 12, 2010
Drexel Faculty Technology Showcase 2010
So many tools … so little time
blogs
free online textbooksrecorded lectures (e.g. podcasts, screencasts, videos)
wikis
CMS (e.g. Blackboard)
free course content (e.g. OpenCourseWare)
clickers
games virtual worlds (e.g. Second Life)
Smartphones: the new “thing”
Smartphones are becoming popular
Smartphone Demographics
Smartphone Advantages for Education
• Nearly ubiquitous access to the internet via 3G networks
• Affordable unlimited data plans encourage experimentation
• The most portable mobile device (pocket sized)
Smartphone Disadvantages for Education
• Not all students currently carry them
• Text-rich assignments are inconvenient
• Whether an application will work on a specific smartphone is unpredictable (i.e. Flash, Java, etc.) – even YouTube videos don’t always display
Examples of Smartphone Educational Applications
• Recorded Lectures
• ChemTiles Game
What is the best use of your time as a teacher?
• Lecturing?• Manual grading?• Discussion groups?• Posting to a blog?• Motivating?
What are your objectives?• Increasing the baseline understanding
of the average student?• Helping the best students actualize
their potential?
Screencasting: easy solution for recording lectures
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CHEM 24364 students
Student Response to Screencasting: Attendance
Student Response to Screencasting: Usage Patterns
•Some students get ahead and watch lectures several times•Some students wait for night before test and try to cram•Most students fall in between and appreciate a suggested timeline
•Podcasting/vodcasting an archived course not convenient•I recommend downloading a zip of all recordings safest•However with smartphones on demand Flash may be best
Best use of Class Time
Mainly repeating lectures
Mainly workshops
One-on-one mentoring
Doing problems
Games
WikisA wiki is a website that allows the easy creation and editing of any number of interlinked web pages via a web browser using a simplified markup language or a WYSIWYG text editor.
Educational Uses of Wikis
•Organizing course content
•Student assignments
•Student generated content
•Easy to make content public and rapidly indexed on Google
Example: Chemical Information Retrieval FA09 (CHEM367/767)
Use of Web2.0 Tools for Sharing Recorded Lectures
Technical Note for Camtasia 7 and Web2.0 Hosting
•For highest resolution and small file size select FLV – highest quality option at 3 fps (1 or 2 fps generates an error)
•Most video hosting services do not accept FLV but SciVee does
•For short recordings (<10 mins) other formats (m4v, AVI, etc.) are fine and can be uploaded to YouTube
Students participate to collect resources
Assignments
Article summaries on Web2.0 site
Student Research Logs: DMTStudent Research Logs: DMT
Green Tea ProjectGreen Tea Project
Chemistry of ChocolateChemistry of Chocolate
Students generate course content
SiteMeter to discover content use
Students curate data on ChemSpider
Five Sources for the solubility of EGCG
=2.3 g/L
Students expose unreliability of “trusted sources”
The Chemical Information Validation Sheet
The Chemical Information Validation Explorer
(Andrew Lang)
Student Response to Class Wikis
•Some students do extra credit assignments (ChemSpider curation, multimedia component, Acawiki) and add resources•Some students do only the minimum required of assignments•Most students fall in between
Most students kept research logs and used feedback(reported progress/asked questions)
Almost all students used their real names
Open Wikis in Laboratory Research
Motivation: Faster Science, Better Science
There are NO FACTS, only measurements embedded
within assumptions
Open Notebook Science maintains the integrity of data
provenance by making assumptions explicit
TRUST
PROOF
Crowdsourcing Solubility Data
ONS Submeta Award Winners
Teaching Lab: Brent Friesen (Dominican University)
The Log makes Assumptions Explicit
The Rationale of Findings Explicit
Raw Data Made Public
Splatter?
Some liquid
YouTube for demonstrating experimental YouTube for demonstrating experimental set-upset-up
Calculations Made Public on Google Spreadsheets
Revision History on Google Spreadsheets
Wiki Page History
Comparing Wiki Page Versions
Solubilities collected in a Google Spreadsheet
Rajarshi Guha’s Live Web Query using Google Viz API
Data provenance: From Wikipedia to…
…the lab notebook and raw data
Reaction Attempts Book
Reaction Attempts Book: Reactants listed Alphabetically
Lulu.com Data Disks
Student Response to Research Wikis
•Students appreciate rapid feedback via the wiki•Students learn to properly document experiments by using a research log•The use of Google Spreadsheet templates makes it easier for students to record data and others to verify calculations•For teaching lab based deployment sufficient structure must be given while still allowing students to think•Students appreciate being co-authors on a book and having a bio/pic included•Although interaction via wiki is invaluable, face to face meetings (or phone calls) are also very important
Games for Learning
•Technology?
•Learning Objectives?
•Rewards?
Wheel of Orgo
(Andy Lang, Tony Williams)
Open Data spectra from ChemSpider for education
(Jean-Claude Bradley, Andy Lang, Tony Williams, Robert Lancashire)
The game starts easy
Later in the game: time limit and more molecules
Database Curation via Game Playing
Over 100,000 spectrum views so far - worldwide
Link Spectral Game to Open Educational Content
EduFrag Unreal Tournament Maze (without weapons)
EduFrag Unreal Tournament (with weapons)
Quiz Obelisks in Second Life (Eloise Pasteur)
Spectral Game in Second Life (Andy Lang)
Student Created Exhibits on ACS Island
3D Periodic Table (ACS Freebie)
Conferences on Second Nature
Student assignment: networking in Second Life and FriendFeed
http://www.journal.chemistrycentral.com/content/3/1/14
ChemTiles Game on the Web/Smartphone
ChemTiles Rules
ChemTiles Play
Multimedia student project: the Beer Game
Student Response to Games
•Occasional rewards (textbook) can be helpful but don’t require mandatory participation•Especially in group games, make participation optional (allow skip turn)•Most students are shy and not tech savvy– use games as a content base for workshops•Keep technical requirements as low as possible•Encourage other uses of the game – i.e. student who hacked SpectralGame got prize
ClickTiles: Try it out!
(Andrew Lang)
ClickTiles Flickr Group
•Create 256 x 256 pixel images on Paint •Name them starting with true or false
(Andrew Lang)
Conclusions
•Think about your educational objectives
•Experiment with technology
•Talk to students
•Keep what works
•To make this efficient learn from others