Emphases and Avoidances
Recommended by an Experienced
Laptop Campus
By David G. Brown, Wake Forest University
with the Engineering Faculty
at the University of Moncton
on September 25, 2000 3:00 PM
How the Laptop Program Has
Changed Wake Forest
THE WAKE FOREST PLAN
F96: IBM 365XD, 16RAM, 100Mhz, 810MB, CD-ROM, 14.4 modem
F97: IBM 380D, 32 RAM, 130Mhz, 1.35GB, CD-ROM, 33.6 modem
F98: IBM 380XD, 64 RAM, 233 Mhz, 4.1GB, CD-ROM, 56 modem
F99: IBM 390, 128 RAM, 333 Mhz, 6GB, CD-ROM, 56 modem
F00: IBM A20m, 500 Mhz, 11GB, 15”ActMatrix, CD-ROM, 90 modem
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Thinkpads for all
New Every 2 Years
Own @ Graduation
Printers for all
Wire Everything
Standard Software
Full Admin Systems
IGN for Faculty
Keep Old Computers
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40+30 New People
75% Faculty Trained
85% CEI Users
99% E-Mail
+15% Tuition
~$1500/Yr/Student
4 Year Phase In
Pilot Year
Order at--Plan for 2000
http://iccel.wfu.edu
ICCEL -- Wake Forest University, 2000
Brown’s First Year Seminar
• Before Class
– Students Find URLs &
Identify Criteria
– Interactive exercises
– Lecture Notes
– E-mail dialogue
– Cybershows
• During Class
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One Minute Quiz
Computer Tip Talk
Class Polls
Team Projects
• After Class
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Edit Drafts by Team
Guest Editors
Hyperlinks & Pictures
Access Previous Papers
• Other
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Daily Announcements
Team Web Page
Personal Web Pages
Exams include Computer
Materials Forever
ICCEL -- Wake Forest University, 1999
Computers Enhance My
Teaching and/or Learning Via-Presentations
Better--20%
More Opportunities to
Practice & Analyze--35%
More Access to Source
Materials via Internet--43%
More Communication with Faculty Colleagues, Classmates,
and Between Faculty and Students--87%
Computers allow people---• to belong to more communities
• to be more actively engaged in each
community
• with more people
• over more miles
• for more months and years
• TO BE MORE COLLABORATIVE
ICCEL -- Wake Forest University, 2000
With Ubiquity--The Culture Changes
• Mentality shifts-- like from public phone to personal phone.
• Teaching Assumptions shift-- like from books in the
public library to everyone owns a copy of his/her own.
• Timelines shift-- like from “our class meets MWF” to “we
see each other all the time and MWF we meet together”
• Students’ sense of access shifts-- like from “maybe I
can get that book in the library” to “I have that book in my library.”
• Relationships shift-- like from a family living in many
different states to all family members living in the same town
Wake Forest University
Chemistry-- Dartmouth, Millsaps,
Reed, Wake Forest, Worchester Tech
Physics-- Vassar, Arizona, Washington and
Lee, Michigan State, , Whitman
Business and Economics--- Vanderbilt,
Kansas State, Wake Forest, Middlebury
Fine Arts-- Tufts, Reed, Connecticut,
Williams, East Carolina
Writing and Literature--Johns Hopkins,
Northwestern, Missouri-Rolla,
Language--- MIT, Smith, California-Davis,
Texas-Austin, Northwestern
Biology and Medicine---Oberlin, Virginia,
Johns Hopkins, Texas-Austin, Hendrix
International and Politics---Tufts, Oregon
Computer Science and Math---Harvard, NYU,
American, Washington State
93 Essays
36 Universities
26 Disciplines
WHY COMPUTERS?
…the faculty answer
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Interactive Learning
Learn by Doing
Collaborative Learning
Integration of Theory and Practice
Visualization
Communication
Different Strokes for Different Folks
The Big Five
#1. Repetition
#2. Continuous Communication
#3. Controversy and Debate
#4. Different Strokes, Different Folks
#5. Outsider Involvement
The Low Hanging Six
 Email & Listservs
 URL addresses (in syllabus)
 Annotations within word processed documents
 Powerpoint “lecture outlines”
 Mini-movies that show successive computer screens
 Practice quizzing prior-to-class (via WebCT)
LESSONS LEARNED
• Early investment in extensive multimedia
may be more fun than useful
• Chat sessions are rarely productive
• Threaded discussions work only when the
topic is narrowly defined, controversial,
and the response is time limited and graded
• Powerpoint is often abused and overused
Lessons Learned
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First Focus Upon Communication
Undertake achievable goals
Contact becomes Continuous.
Students expect messages between classes
Team assignments increase
Papers & Talks often include visuals
Departmental clubs thrive
Student Portfolios Emerge
Students teach faculty
ICCEL -- Wake Forest University, 2000
Lessons Learned
• Computer challenged students learn basic
skills quickly, without special classes
• Disciplines use computers differently
• The Internet is the place to put electronic
class materials (WebCT)
• Start with Learning Objectives, Not
Technology
• If Email is always up, everyone will be
happy
ICCEL -- Wake Forest University, 2000
Lessons Learned
• Greatest benefits are what happens
between classes, not during classes.
• Greatest gains from computing come from
some of the simplest applications
• Standardization speeds faculty adoption
and eases the pressure upon support staff.
• Standardization saves class time.
• Student groups are larger and more active.
ICCEL -- Wake Forest University, 2000