Mid-South Instructional Technology Conference
Teaching, Learning, & Technology
The Connected Classroom
April 7-9, 2002
Going Wireless: Computer Classrooms at Maryville College
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By: Charles Nicolls, Gina Roberts, Karen Wentz |
Abstract
Join us in this session to learn how Maryville College is implementing innovative computer classrooms, which contain movable furniture, laptop computers, and wireless networking. We will share our process for planning, developing, and managing the rooms. Faculty and students using the rooms will share their experiences as well. We will end by sharing lessons we've learned and providing an opportunity for audience discussion.
Description
Since the fall of 1999, when the Department of Education awarded us a 5-year grant under Title III of the Higher Education Act, Maryville College has made great strides toward improving academic quality through the integration of technology into the teaching and learning process. Activities designed to support this endeavor include: the purchase of new computers and software for all faculty, improvements to the campus networking infrastructure, development of an instructional technology center, creation of technology-based smart classrooms and multimedia carts, the design of computer classrooms, the facilitation of faculty workshops; and the management of a faculty instructional technology fellowship program.
In the fall of 2001, Maryville College faculty and students began teaching and learning in the first of two innovative computer classrooms mentioned above. What makes this classroom novel is our departure from what one might think of as a typical computer classroom. Instead of horizontal rows of computers connected with miles of cabling, this room utilizes movable furniture, laptop computers, and wireless networking. Instead of faculty modifying their teaching to fit a room style, the room layout can be modified to fit teaching styles and the learning styles of students.
Students and faculty in the areas of economics, sociology, political science, management, history, and computer science are using the room to search for Internet resources (which serve as jumping off points for class discussion), participate in Web exercises, access discipline specific software, and interact with the computer and each other in simulations.
In this session we will share our process for choosing to develop a non-traditional computer classroom; designing the room; specifying equipment; operating the room during a typical class day; and troubleshooting and maintaining equipment in the room. We will also include a demonstration of how the wireless technology in the room works. Additionally, faculty and students who use the room will share their experiences with session participants. Finally, we will share lessons learned and our experiences thus far with the implementation of our second computer classroom, which will become operational in the spring of 2002.