Wireless Instructional Initiatives Project Outlines

The Office for Research and Information Technology's Innovative Technology Center (ITC) is currently sponsoring the 2002 Wireless Instructional Initiatives Strategies for Engineering (WISE) and Biology projects, the second year of wireless instructional initiatives sponsored by the ITC.

Reflections on the 2001 WISH Pilot Project
The first wireless instructional initiative was the 2001 WISH (Wireless Instructional Strategies for the Humanities) Pilot Project conducted during the Fall 01 semester. The focus of the WISH project was to develop and implement instructional strategies using wireless computing and serve as a pilot program for future instructional initiatives using wireless computing.

Several 2001 WISH participants continue to utilize the project equipment. The participants' final reports reflect enthusiasm and excitement resulting from their experiences in addition to the reality of time dedicated to rethinking teaching to more collaborative instructional opportunities for their students. Some of ITC's "lessons learned" from the WISH project include a clearer picture of how to support faculty through ongoing consultation and hands on training as well as the technical support needed to maintain the laptops, network, and configure software applications.

2002 WISE Project Focus
The focus of the WISE project is to develop and implement strategies to foster student-centered collaborative learning communities using wireless computing. Different from the approach used in the WISH project, these laptops will be distributed to students to foster the development of learning communities inherent in the project-focused problem based learning found in the Engineering curriculum. There will also be the challenge of how to support students 24 x 7 (24 hrs. day x 7 days week) the College of Engineering will face in their forthcoming Fall 03 student laptop requirement. The WISH lessons learned in areas of technical support will be used to meet this challenge.

2002 Biology Project Focus
The Biology project will use the "WebQuest" model of inquiry learning in a subset of the Biology 101/02 laboratory sections. This model involves students exploring and researching a particular topic and preparing a web site to present the results of their inquiries, and it will be used to compare the performance of the 8 WII sections with those of the traditional laboratory approach used by the other 8 sections. The project is intended to provide data to stimulate wider thinking about changes that the Division of Biology might wish to introduce to all of its general education biology courses.

Pedagogical Investigation
Our research agenda for this project centers on the following questions:

• How do collaborative learning communities exist in traditional teaching environments?
• How they are fostered through wireless computing?
• Does CL contribute to content mastery?

In addition, we will continue investigating the laptop, software, and network support issues surrounding wireless computing.

Current Participants and Implementation Plans

• Prof. A.J. Baker, Engineering Science Program (proposal)
• Dr. Stan Guffey, Division of Biology (proposal)
• Prof. Jack Wasserman, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (proposal)
• Prof. Fred Weber, Chemical Engineering (proposal)

Commitment and Requirements
The commitment and requirements on the behalf of participants include:

• Conduct student assessment at the end of each term. ITC will provide the basic assessment tools.
• Participate in a WISE Faculty post-project assessment.
• Submit a reflective final report.

Project Support
ITC provides ongoing training and consultation throughout the project. Participants receive a $3500.00 to support the purchase of instructional hardware/software. In addition, participants will also receive a proposal specified number of wireless-enabled laptops and requisite software for student distribution (for a total of 52) and access to a mobile storage carts for inter-semester transportation and security.

• Hardware:
  • Dell C810 P3 1.13 GHz or iBook laptops
  • Orinoco PCMCIA or Airport wireless cards
  • Three mobile carts (inter-semester storage, transportation, and security)
  • Extra batteries
  • PS2 USB mouse for each laptop
  
  
• Software:
  
  • Win2000 OS
  • MatLab 6.0 (WISE only)
  • Office 2001 Professional (Word, PowerPoint, Excel, Access, Publisher)
  • Norton AntiVirus
  • Adobe Acrobat Reader
  • UT Communications Suite (Netscape, Internet Explorer, Ewan, WsFTP)
  • Desktop Collaboration software (Netmeeting)
  • GHOST 7.0 (for desktop backup and rebuild)

Project Timeline

• Spring 02 Testbed (Baker, Wasserman)
• Summer 02 (Wasserman, Weber)
• Fall 02 (Baker, Guffey, Wasserman, Weber)
• Spring 03 (Baker, Wasserman, Weber)

Each semester will include faculty and student assessments conducted by the ITC.

Resources
For more information about teaching with wireless technology, check out the ITC Wireless Instructional Resources page.

Contacts For More Information
For additional information or questions, please contact a member of the WII Implementation Team:

Dr. Michael Burke Technology Integration Specialist mburke@utk.edu 974-8893

Mr. Shane Colter Program Coordinator scolter@itc.utk.edu 974-9616