Overview

Introduction

• Welcome, my background
• Dan Garcia
• MIT Undergrad. EECS GSI Level IV, two-time Outstanding GSI, been a GSI for 16 courses
• Was one of the first people to use the web for a class on the UC Campus
• Research interests: computer graphics, game theory, interactive teaching tools
• Graduate May 2000, Fall 2000 I join UCB EECS Faculty as Lecturer
• Why are you here?
• Technology can improve your communication and make you more efficient (thus making you a better teacher!)
• Name whip, where Undergrad, department, expectations
• Spectrum (students stand up and position themselves along a continuum whose boundaries are given below, one at a time):
• Teaching Experience: Lots / None
• How much do you currently use technology in your teaching: Completely wired / Luddite
• How much would you like to use technology in your teaching: Lots / None
• Talk overview
• What is technoloy? (in / out of class)
• Why use technology?
• Why not use technology?
• Technology tips
• Resources

What is instructional technology? (listed in increasing order)

In Class

• None (just speaking for the entire lecture / discussion, like they did in the middle ages)
• Writing on a board
• Blackboards
• Whiteboards
• Overheads
• Written in real time
• Pre-written by hand
• Output from computer (using Powerpoint, for example)
• Handouts (I strongly encourage this)
• Outline of your talk (or a copy of all the slides you use)
• Everything you say in full, glorious detail
• Computer projection (from either local machine or web)
• Local or network web page (can make it look like slides or outline)
• Powerpoint slides
• Run software, java applets
• Can reference any of the networked resources mentioned in next section
• Teaching an entire class in a computer lab
• Others?

Outside of Class

• Course web pages
• Use world wide web to publish announcements, corrections, lecture and discussion notes, homework problems and answers, old exams, and grades (encoded or password-enabled). If it's already been set up by last semester's class, all you need to do is change the information. You might even get away with not knowing HTML!
• Student web pages
• Useful for handing in assignments. They can feel pride in their work knowing that it can be seen by a larger audience, like parents. This may push them to a higher standard.
• Newsgroups
• Tremendous technology for group discussion. Very much like a bulletin board; when used with a threaded newsreader (such as Netscape), even with high traffic can allow very efficient organization of information. Wonderfully asynchronous.
• Mail aliases / email reflectors
• Sending mail to one address sends mail to everyone. Can generate a lot of traffic; helpful to have an email reader that allows automatic filing into separate folders, otherwise the sheer number of messages can overwhelm. Also asynchronous.
• Chat sessions
• Can schedule to have specific chat times, like "online office hours". Unfortunately, lots of "noise" and it's synchronous, so may not be the best use of your time. Make sure you can keep a log for archiving.
• Others?

Why use technology?

In Class

• Efficiency / reuse
• No chalk on clothing and hands
• Can type faster than you can write
• Handouts allow students to focus on material, not transcription
• Material is archived for future use
• No need to reinvent wheel every lecture
• Legibility / accuracy
• Many students may find handwriting hard to read
• Accurate diagrams, not just sketches
• Students often copy examples and diagrams incorrectly
• Effectiveness
• A picture is often worth 1k words
• An animation is often worth 1k pictures
• An interactive demonstration is often worth 1k animations
• If working in computer lab, entire class can experiment and try for themselves
• Resourcefulness
• Instead of guessing at facts, can verify with web reference
• Others?

Outside of Class

• Communication from you
• Can correct & clarify lecture / discussion / homework errors immediately
• Can announce changes in discussion times / locations
• Can have all resources online, saves paper shuffling & waste
• Students who miss class don't have to miss information
• Communication from them
• They can post their homework online
• They can ask questions about material & assignments
• They can answer each others' questions, saving you time
• Students who are shy may feel more comfortable in a safe, virtual setting.
• They can feel like a community
• Others?

Why NOT use technology?

• No time to prepare
• No time to learn to use it
• No time to keep up with email / newsgroup / chat traffic
• Not comfortable with computers / software
• Once material is digital, easier to copy / rip-off.
• Too easy for students to plagiarize.
• Not all students have access, creating haves and have-nots. (see Berkeley Neighborhood Computers for a program to put used computers in homes in West Berkeley)
• Students can hide behind anonymous virtual identity, avoiding face-to-face communication.
• Don't know what is available or where to start
• When I was young, we wrote on a cave wall with paint, and we liked it!
• Others?

Technology tips

In Class

• None (just speaking for the entire lecture / discussion, like they did in the middle ages)
• Drink water. Airline travel and public speaking are the two most dessicating actions. Get sport tops.
• Writing on a board
• Blackboards
• Bring your own chalk, buy colored chalk for emphasis / diagrams. Bring wet naps to clean your hands afterwards, and consider chalk "holders". Try not to touch your own clothes, and stay far away from cassette tapes; chalk dust is extremely damaging to tape heads. Write legibly, pay attention to your diagrams.
• Whiteboards
• Bring your own markers (make sure they're dry-erase!). They offer many different colors, not just the standard red / green / blue / black. Some colors are more difficult to see and erase than others, experiment.  Write legibly, pay attention to your diagrams.
• Overheads
• Written in real time
• Bring your own pens, get additional colors. Bring lots of blank transparencies, experiment with overlaying them for use in diagrams. Write legibly, don't block overhead when writing.
• Pre-written by hand
• Bring blank transparencies for overlaying so you don't need to write on your originals. Write legibly.
• Output from computer (using Powerpoint, for example)
• Print them with dark text on a white background; dark backgrounds are intended for projection. This also saves toner. Bring blank transparencies for overlaying so you don't need to write on your originals.
• Handouts
• Outline of your talk (or a copy of all the slides you use)
• Print them with dark text on a white background; dark backgrounds are intended for projection. This also saves toner. Some people find the text too small when you print 6 slides on a page. Powerpoint allows you to print the talk outline. If handwritten, write legibly. Photocopy double-sided.
• Everything you say in full, glorious detail
• This is helpful for students who miss class, but takes lots of time to create.
• Computer projection (from either local machine or from web)
• Local or network web page (can make it look like slides or outline)
• Use frames to make it look like slides.
• Powerpoint slides
• Create them with light text on dark background. See if your A/V resource has a remote control for advancing slides. EECS has one; contact Ferenc Kovac.
• Run software, java applets
• GSI teaching and resource center has course improvement grants which can be used to hire CS undergraduates to write interactive demonstration applets for your class. Search the web; many instructional applets have already been written and are available.
• Can reference any of the networked resources mentioned in next section
• Teaching an entire class in a computer lab
• Make efficient use of your time; have planned tasks already set up, and have realistic time estimates. Consider bringing a fellow instructor to handle problems and work the room.
• Others?

Outside of Class

• Course web pages
• Can be edited by a team, or can assign one person to be web guru. Can use GUI tools like Netscape's composer, Adobe Pagemill, Microsoft Frontpage, or good old text-editing tools like emacs and BBedit.
• Student web pages
• Need to be wary of plagiarism. Provide them with a template to get them started and an example page.
• Newsgroups
• Use as primary vehicle to post corrections / clarifications to discussions & homework. Can't assume everyone will read newsgroup in a timely fashion; if something is time-critical, consider an email-spam to entire class. Also, you can delete any inappropriate message from newsgroup using Netscape. Never post student ID numbers to list.
• Mail aliases
• Be sure to emphasize the difference between emailing a single person and the whole list. Can moderate list by having all student email go to certain account that instructional team can forward on to internal list. Can send mail to entire class but not show addresses by using BCC or DCC capability of email client.
• Chat sessions
• Set clear time boundaries; try to keep the discussion focused. Make the archived session (or at least the most salient points) available online.
• Others?

Resources

In Class

• Chalk, dry erase markers, transparencies, markers
• Look for "Sanford Expo Dry Erase" kits
• Often departments will supply these. Otherwise, try office supply stores (Alko on Shattuck near Bancroft, Officemax in Emeryville, online stores)
• Laptop computers
• Apple computer's iBook (discounts available at The Scholar's Workstation [TSW])
• TSW also sells Dell, IBM, Compaq and Toshiba laptops.
• Consider borrowing laptop from friend (that's what I did!)
• Software
• Bear bytes (in the Student Union) and TSW have scholastic discounts. In many cases (e.g., latest MacOS, Matlab), Berkeley has a license to use the software (read: free to you).
• Instructional computer labs (courtesy ES)
• General access and instructional computer labs are supported by Information Systems & Technology's Workstation Support Services. Macintosh and PC computers are available at several locations around campus. Reservations are required in advance. To contact the Instructional Scheduler, phone 643-6248, or send email.
• Others?

Outside of Class (courtesy ES)

• Email
• Accounts on uclink available
• Mailing lists on uclink
• Newsgroup
• Creating a newsgroup at UC Berkeley (ucb.class.*) -- URL looks like news:ucb.class.cs184
• Litsz, the mailing list directory
• Resources for moderators and facilitators of online discussion (Mauri Collins and Zane L. Berge)
• WWW
• UCB Faculty Internet Service Center (FISC) (check here for information about WebCT coursesite management tool and course site registry)
• UCB Teaching Library
• Chat sessions
• Cafe Moolano (MOO = Multi-user domain, object-oriented)
• Instructional Technology Resources at Berkeley
• CyberCentral : Center for Faculty Educational Development and Technology
• Instructional Technology Program which offers Demystifying WWW resources talks
• From: "Alice M. Agogino" (aagogino@socrates.berkeley.edu), Director, Instructional Technology Program
• This year the campus has launched a number of new initiatives in teaching and technology. There are more resources for faculty and GSIs I believe. Most are listed under CyberCentral so people can eventually get to them. Its important to note that SIMS provides additional assistance to large classes. At ITP we have found more and more interest in using learning mangagement tools that integrate many of the features you discuss in your talk on the webpage, such as discussions, chat rooms. on-line white boards, group web accounts for projects, etc. They also have a number of built-in features for grading and exams. We used to focus on WebCT, but our new faculty seem to prefer Course Info by Blackboard.
• Berkeley Multimedia Research Center which offers facilities to create multimedia content and offers excellent Multimedia events and talks.
• WSS computing resources
• Instructional Technology links with annotations
• Others?

Closing

• Questions / Comments
• Summary
• We learned reasons to use (and not to use) technology
• We learned about available tools and resources and heard some tips

WWW Maven: Dan Garcia (ddgarcia@cs.berkeley.edu) Send me feedback