Wolfgang EffelsbergUniversity of Mannheim1 WILD Wireless Interactive Learning Devices - Design, Implementation and Experience - Wolfgang Effelsberg, Nicolai Scheele, Anja Wessels University of Mannheim October 2002

Wolfgang EffelsbergUniversity of Mannheim2 Overview 1. Motivation 2. Architecture of the WILD system 3. The Quiz Tool 4. The Online-Feedback Tool 5. Experience 6. Outlook

Wolfgang EffelsbergUniversity of Mannheim3 1. Motivation The Virtual University today: Often, the didactic methods of the traditional learning scenarios are transferred to tele and multimedia, didactic innovations are rare. Educational psychology tells us: interaction, to be active oneself, is vital to learning success. High-capacity handheld PCs and pen-based tablet PCs with wireless Internet access constitute a new generation of learning devices. Goal of the WILD Project (Wireless Interactive Learning Devices):  to enable interactivity between students and the lecturer through the use of mobile devices in a wireless network  thus increasing motivation  and improving learning success

Wolfgang EffelsbergUniversity of Mannheim4 Approach Development of the WILD system with services/tools that allow interactivity In close cooperation with our Department of Education (educational psychologists) and international partners Extensive lecture hall testing of the prototype in Mannheim Additional testing with global learning teams (Stanford A/E/C course), joint development of new WILD services for PBL scenarios with Stanford

Wolfgang EffelsbergUniversity of Mannheim5 2. Architecture of the WILD System

Wolfgang EffelsbergUniversity of Mannheim6 Use of WILDs in Tele-Teaching server DSL / ISDN Internet server

Wolfgang EffelsbergUniversity of Mannheim7 Implementation The modular architecture of our WILD system facilitates the development of new tools. Server and the APIs for the service modules programmed in Java 2 (version 1.4.0) Server and client run under Windows, Linux, Solaris; additional client version available for PocketPC. Operational on PC, Notebook PC and the iPAQ PDA Code to be distributed under GNU Public License

Wolfgang EffelsbergUniversity of Mannheim8 3. The Quiz Tool How it works: The lecturer prepares brief quiz questions on the lesson material. He/She takes two to three quiz breaks during the lecture, sends the questions to the students‘ wireless devices. The students have about three minutes to respond to the questions and send their answers back to the lecturer‘s computer. There the answers are statistically evaluated and displayed immediately. The lecturer discusses the results with the students IMMEDIATELY. Advantages:  Immediate recognition of any lesson material not fully understood  Feedback for each student on his/her current performance  A high number of wrong answers indicates that the lesson material has not been presented clearly or that the lecturer has made an error.  Switching from one teaching medium to another livens up the lecture and increases the level of attention.

Wolfgang EffelsbergUniversity of Mannheim9 A Quiz Question

Wolfgang EffelsbergUniversity of Mannheim10 The Quiz Tool in the Lecture Hall

Wolfgang EffelsbergUniversity of Mannheim11 Displaying the Answer on the Projector

Wolfgang EffelsbergUniversity of Mannheim12 4. The Online Feedback Tool How it works: The lecturer defines the categories on which he/she would like to get feedback and activates the tool. Examples of categories are:  Am I going too fast or too slowly at the moment?  Is the material too difficult or too easy to understand?  How is your audio quality on the Internet? Students can enter their feedback AT ANY TIME by adjusting sliders or by clicking into numbered fields on their wireless devices. The server retrieves the data, accumulates it statistically and displays it on the lecturer‘s computer.

Wolfgang EffelsbergUniversity of Mannheim13 Online Feedback: The Lecturer‘s View

Wolfgang EffelsbergUniversity of Mannheim14 5. Experience Trials in the classroom in the Winter semester 2001/02 and the Summer semester 2002 How well do servers and clients work in practice (technical)? Are the WILD tools accepted by the students? Do the WILD tools improve learning?

Wolfgang EffelsbergUniversity of Mannheim15 Design of the Empirical Study in SS 2002 Scenario: a lecture for advanced students in computer science with a conventional and a WILD phase Six groups  N: 101 (92 male, 9 female; predominantly computer science students)  age: M: (SD: 2.51)  semester: M: 7.39 (SD: 2.96) Mobile computers: notebooks, PocketPCs Variables: acceptance of the tools, motivation in class, increase of knowledge

Wolfgang EffelsbergUniversity of Mannheim16 Groups (Interactive Phase) Note: NB: Notebook, PDA: PocketPC, Ø: no computer FR: Freiburg (remote location); NO: did not participate Date N Group A NB ØØØØ 25 B ØØØØNB 22 C PDA NB 5 D PDA 5 FR NB 10 NO ØØØØØØØØ 34

Wolfgang EffelsbergUniversity of Mannheim17 Summer Semester 2002: the Lecture Hall

Wolfgang EffelsbergUniversity of Mannheim18 Answering a Quiz on PDAs

Wolfgang EffelsbergUniversity of Mannheim19 Technical Results Reliable performance of the WILD server and clients Students handled the user interfaces well. The lecturer‘s interface is too complicated and needs to be simplified (“cognitive overload”).

Wolfgang EffelsbergUniversity of Mannheim20 Pedagogical Results: Acceptance Agreement on a scale of Conventional Interactive Conventional Lecture: M: 3.16, SD:.34p: <.005 Interactive Lecture: M: 3.40, SD:.26

Wolfgang EffelsbergUniversity of Mannheim21 Pedagogical Results: Increase in Knowledge Conventional Lecture Interactive Lecture Pre-test of knowledge Post-test of knowledge

Wolfgang EffelsbergUniversity of Mannheim22 6. Outlook Evaluation of the large field study in the classroom to be completed soon (by Anja) Testing planned in lectures in other disciplines than computer science Testing planned in a problem-based learning scenario with global teams (A/E/C course) in Winter 2003 Testing with pen-based tablet PCs planned Development of additional tools/services in preparation