Wireless Computing in the Classroom
Final Report

J. Griffioen

W. B. Seales
Computer Science Department
University of Kentucky,
Lexington, Kentucky 40506


J. Lumpp

Department of Electrical Engineering
University of Kentucky,
Lexington, Kentucky 40506

July 1998

Project Overview

The goal of this project is to investigate ways in which new and emerging technologies, such as multimedia laptop computers and wireless networking, can be used to improve teaching in the classroom. In particular, we are developing a wireless classroom environment in which each student is equipped with a laptop computer and a wireless network connection to the Internet. We are investigating the technical challenges of developing this environment. We are also exploring and developing new teaching techniques that use the environment to enhance the educational process.

Project Activities and Accomplishments

We are grateful for the support of the KIRM Commission for this project and feel the project has been extremely successful. The details of our findings are discussed in several documents that can be found on the web page we created for the wireless classroom at http://www.dcs.uky.edu/~wc . Briefly stated, the following is a partial list of our accomplishments during the grant period:

• Investigated wireless network technologies and the features offered by different types of wireless equipment
• Designed, purchased, and installed a wireless network in the College of Engineering that covers all classrooms and conference rooms in Anderson Hall, the Center for Robotics and Manufacturing Systems, and ASTeCC.
• Configured, deployed and maintained a portable cart of 20 laptop computers. The cart can be rolled to any classroom within range of the wireless netork, and the laptops can be booted by students so that they are fully functional and communicating on the network in less than 10 minutes.
• Designed and taught three Computer Science courses using the wireless classroom as the primary in-class teaching environment. These classes involved a total of over 100 students.
• Using the deployed environment, we studied and published two scholarly papers detailing our findings, which will be presented at the 1998 Frontiers in Education conference in Phoenix, Arizona.
• Have set up a web page with detailed information about the wireless classroom project and related projects. We have already received inquires from colleges nationwide and have been featured in an article put together by Lucent Technology.

Problems, Issues, and Actions

The progress of this project has required solutions to a number of challenging problems. The hardware configuration, software environment, and the modification of our teaching preparation and delivery have all presented challenges. Specifically, we have addressed the following issues during the course of this grant:

• positioned wireless network access points for complete classroom coverage and for access in the event of system failure and restart
• measured network performance and configuration in order to improve bandwidth constraints for various software environments and requirements
• developed an administrative system for storing, charging, and maintaining the software environment on the 20 laptop computers.
• prepared and tested new teaching materials within the WC environment which avoid harware and software weaknesses

The solutions to these and other problems are not categorical but consist of a set of tradeoffs within the environment. Our study and the publications we have generated provide the details regarding a number of tradeoffs that impact performance. For more details, please see the papers available on the wireless classroom web page.

Future Directions

Although the project has been quite successful and very promising, it is only the beginning and there are a variety of opportunities for follow-on research. Open questions and research directions include:

• What are the best new or adapted teaching methods for the WC environment?
• What is the impact of various limitations (screen real-estate, network bandwidth, software capabilities) on teaching techniques and effectiveness in the classroom?
• How well can the WC be made to function as a distance learning environment?
• What should the software environment provide as a collaborative tool for interaction during classroom presentations?

Changes in Direction

There were no significant changes in scope or direction.

Budget

For the most part, the budget was spent as proposed. The only significant deviation from the original budget was the purchase of substantially more equipment than originally expected because of lower-than-expected costs on several big-ticket items. In particular, with the help of the VP for Information systems, we arranged an purchase from Gateway computers which allowed us to obtain higher-end laptops than requested for less money than expected. In addition, with the help of UK Communication we were able to purchase the WAVELAN wireless network equipment at greatly reduced prices. These savings were used to purchase additional additional laptop and palmtop computers, a variety of peripherals, and camera equipment. The peripherals (scanners, printers, art pads, additional disk space) turned out to be critical to the task of preparing multimedia presentation materials for class and storing them. This was a major omission in the original budget, but fortunately we were able to fit them into the budget.

The details of how the monies were used is shown in the table below.

Computers 23 laptop and 4 palmtop computers $24,906 UK

Laptop Software MS Office, Flash 2-D, Linux drivers, etc. $1,964 UK,KIRM

Wireless Equipment 4 Access Points, 25 PCMCIA NIC cards $19,358 KIRM

Installation Wireless Network Installation $2,758 KIRM

Peripherals 4 printers, 2 scanners + scan cartridges $7,258 UK,KIRM 9 wacoms, 3 extern SCSI laptop disks

Cameras 6 Cameras, 3 video cards, 1 Digital Camera $3,239 UK,KIRM

Laptop Cart Special Purpose Laptop Cart $390 KIRM

Miscellaneous Ext. cords/surge protectors, cart keys, etc $127 UK,KIRM

Total $60,000