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When many of us imagine an "old-fashioned" classroom, we imagine row after row
of fixed seats -- with a professor behind a lectern.
When many of us talk about classes with computers, we imagine row after
regimented row of fixed, networked computer terminals.
But pedagogy has changed in recent years, with more and more professors
preferring classrooms with moveable seats, so students can work in groups.
And some of those same professors ask their students to bring laptops to class,
and to use those computers not merely for word processing or computation, but
for communication.
For network connectivity, even laptops traditionally need to be physically
connected to a network -- and that usually means not only finding a connection
port, it means staying put.
For about a year now, campus network specialists have been working to reconcile
the preferences of faculty and the capacities of technology.
In other words, they've been working on wireless computer connections, on
enabling student laptops to tap into the campus network via short-range radio
or infrared signals instead of wires.
It's a big step, but it's more or less been taken. Last fall, Daniel Anderson
of English taught one of the first four pilot classes in which students used
wirelessly connected computers.
He was well pleased with the results.
In traditional group work in English composition, students pass each other's
marked drafts back and forth, reinforcing written comments with oral
critiques.
Anderson thinks this method has some drawbacks.
Face-to-face discussion, he notes, can rapidly become chaotic with more than
one person speaking at a time. Furthermore, a lot of students are shy about
speaking in class -- even in small groups.
If students can communicate electronically, both of those difficulties
disappear.
"More voices can enter a discussion electronically than would be possible in
face-to-face discussion," Anderson said.
"Instructors also find that students who might be less willing to contribute in
a traditional class provide valuable insights in electronic conversations that
would otherwise be overlooked."
Furthermore, some of the more advanced features of word processors make the
whole critique-and-revise process a little quicker and more readable. Students
can use the "insert comments" feature to put extended comments in papers.
"They are likely to focus more on larger organizational and argumentative
issues than they might circling mechanical errors with a pencil," Anderson
said.
They can also use the "track changes" feature to highlight revisions.
"The highlighted changes allow writers to see where they are making meaningful
revisions and where they are scratching the surface," Anderson said.
Furthermore, electronic communication means the students will actually be
writing in a writing class. They're actually practicing composition "in a forum
where their words have a direct impact on a live audience," Anderson said.
Kimberly Noonan taught a Math 31 (calculus) class last summer in a wireless
classroom.
She required her students to use their laptops to solve and graphically plot
the same types of calculus problems they had already solved with pencil and
paper.
Noonan says that the challenging of translating the problem-solving process to
a new environment was a useful test of how well her students had learned the
basic principles:
"Transferring the method of solution to another medium reinforced what they
were learning."
While the teachers and students appreciate the enhanced work environment, the
wireless classrooms were possible only after months of technical work and
logistical decisions.
Wireless connectivity is actually "wireless" only for the last ten or so feet
between a laptop and the infrared or radio transmitter connecting to a
network.
One of the first decisions that had to be made was whether to use infrared or
radio, said Jim Gogan, networking and communication director in Academic
Technology and Networks (ATN).
Carolina opted for radio, which has greater distance and bandwidth capacities
than infrared, said Gogan.
Another decision was where to place the transmitter. And it's actually an
ongoing decision that has to be made every time whenever another classroom is
outfitted of wireless connectivity.
It's a question of security: Transmitters need to be placed where they can't be
stolen.
"The preference is to install it in a wiring closet," according to Gogan.
"If that doesn't work, we look for secure locations nearby; if that doesn't
work, we try
mounting it in the ceiling as close to the classroom (if not actually in the
classroom) as possible."
Currently, 14 classrooms are outfitted with wireless connections, which means
that wireless laptops are useable in a slightly larger number of rooms,
according to Gogan.
"Access points in Greenlaw could cover some classrooms next door in Bingham,"
he said.
"Access points designed to cover classrooms on the 3rd floor of Greenlaw could
cover classrooms on the 2nd floor," he added.
Soon, Gogan said, ATN will post a web site with documentation wireless adapters
and a map indicating which classrooms are covered by the access points.
Within limits, wireless technology can be used in classrooms not covered by
access points.
In Chemistry 31, professors have been distributing wireless handsets, which can
be used independently of transmitters, to their students. During the lectures,
students respond to periodic yes/no or true/false questions. The professor's
handset displays the percentage of correct answers.
This use of handsets helps the professor track class comprehension of the
material.
Chemistry professors Holden Thorp and Roger Miller used the wireless handsets
last spring.
"We were pleased with the results," Thorp said.
In any case, the introduction to wireless connectivity has relevance beyond the
classroom walls -- literally.
Traditionally, learning takes place everywhere on the University campus:
professors and students meet over coffee, students read under trees in Polk
Place, friends have after-class discussions on building steps.
Now people e-mail or participate in discussion forums outside.
"There are two places on campus where you've got wireless connectivity
outside," said Metalab Director Paul Jones.
"One is the Mill Holland garden behind the journalism school.
"The journalism school library has a wireless transmitter that covers the
garden.
"The other place is the Daily Grind, which is wireless thanks to a transmitter
in the undergraduate library," Jones said.
"The Daily Grind is a really stimulating place, I can meet and talk with
students and with people all over campus there," he commented.
"As much as I need to work, I also like to be outside, and my students like to
be outside," Jones added.
"I probably get more good work done thanks to being able to work outside in
such a stimulating place," he said.
Sponsored by the Technology in Context Consortium
(http://www.unc.edu/faculty/tic)
Writer: Kevin O'Kelly
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