Board of Trustees
Sabbatical Presentation
Introduction
The explosion of the Internet as a factor in popular culture has been one
of the "big surprises" of the last 10 years. This success can
be largely traced to the "hyper-linking" of the network via web
pages that make it accessible to the lay-user.
This ability to draw together information from disparate sources can also
prove to be a genuine boon in using the computer as a vehicle for supplementary
instruction. Whereas computer aided instruction has existed in some form
for the last twenty years, the web may prove to be a genuine breakthrough
due to its ability to deliver instruction with "live"
links to a huge variety of information and, perhaps most importantly from
an educational perspective, links to other software applications.
A Brief History of Computer Aided Instruction
The twenty years have witnessed a multitude of attempts to utilize computers
as either a supplement to instruction, or as a source of primary instruction.
The most ardent supporters of these efforts will readily admit that, to
date, success has been rather limited. The arguments for and against what
has been attempted thus far may be summarized as follows:
Historical Strengths of Computer Instruction
- Computers have an endless supply of patience--a virtue often lacking
in human instructors, especially when presented with particularly difficult
students.
- Computers can be made available to the student both at home and at
school for much longer periods of time than it would be possible to provide
a human instructor.
- Computers, when properly programmed, are much faster and more accurate
than a human instructor.
- At their best, computer instruction programs are capable of providing
an endlessly changing list of dynamic examples.
Historical Weaknesses of Computer Instruction
- Computer instruction programs are notoriously poor at anticipating
a students individual needs.
- Computer instruction programs are often little more than rote exercises
having scant educational value.
- The types of instruction provided by computer has usually been in
the form of self-contained instructional programs, failing to play to the
real strengths of the computer, i.e. its ability to run the multitude of
well written non-instructionally dedicated application programs
used daily by thousands of people to accomplish real work.
- Computer instruction programs have historically been very poor at
adapting to the students changing abilities, and have locked the
student into relatively rigid modes of instruction. (Indeed, it is here
that it appears that the human instructor will continue to have a massive
advantage for the foreseeable future.)
What the World Wide Web has Brought to Instruction
A Little Background
First let's take a miniature history lesson about the Internet and the Web.
The Internet existed long before the world wide web was implemented. It
was a enormously productive aid in the work of the specialized people for
whom it was created. It's failure to sweep the popular mindset, as we are
now witnessing, can be largely blamed on a few basic shortcomings:
- The physical infrastructure had not yet fully evolved. (In fact it
still hasn't!)
- Using the Internet involved mastering some fairly arcane protocols.
- The content that the Internet provided was almost 100% text based,
which failed to capture the imagination of "short-attention-span"
pop-culture. (This could largely be blamed on the fact that text
was the only real language that the massive variety of computers constituting
the Net had in common.)
Then, just a few years ago, physicists at the CERN
research laboratory in Switzerland created the Web as a means of sharing
information between themselves in a simple, consistent manner. Probably
none of them dreamed of how quickly their idea would sweep the Internet
and even change it's very nature.
The Web made it possible to view the same information regardless of the
type of computer you were using. That information no longer was restricted
to monospaced 12 point courier text.
- Now text could be styled: bold, italic, colored,
small, large, centered or justified,
etc.
- Now pictures could appear on a page along with the text. These
pictures might be technical diagrams, colorful icons, full-color photographs,
or simple devices to make the layout of the page more meaningful.
- Sounds could be included on a page.
- Even animated movies made it onto the page, ranging from instructional
to titillating (or maybe even both!)
- Most important of all, of all the Web was hyper-linked.
The user could jump from a web page discussing American History on a computer
at Stanford University to a discussion of the contributions of various ethnic
groups to American culture on a BYU newsgroup to a Harvard University archive
on the affects of the Irish potato famine on US immigration patterns to
a Kings College, Dublin web page introducing new students to campus offerings
to a special interest page on sightseeing in Ireland to the United Airlines
website to book a flight there next Spring Break--each leap around the world
being facilitated by the click of a mouse.
Internet veterans looked at this brainchild of CERN and knew immediately
that the Net would never be the same again. The Web would "bring the
Net to the people". But enough history--how is all this going to change
the way we teach?
Contributions that Web Technology can Make to
Computer Based Instruction
Using the Web Browser as an Instructional Backbone
The program that a user runs in order to browse the content of the World
Wide Web is called a web-browser. The most widely used browsers today are
Netscape Navigator, Mosaic (in several flavors), and Microsoft's Internet
Explorer.
The fact that a web browser must be capable of delivering a wide variety
of content to the user had a side benefit for those attempting to use the
Web for instructional purposes. Browser designers were well aware that there
would be a multitude of "content types" that they couldn't possibly
anticipate the end-user wanting to read. They could easily plan on the user
reading text, and looking at JPEG and GIF pictures, and most browsers have
built-in routines for displaying this kind of information, but they also
needed a mechanism for handling the vast array of other data types that
might arrive down the pipe. Browser writers decided that the best way to
handle such unanticipated data-types was through the use of helper applications.
Whenever a file arrived that the browser couldn't deal with internally,
it would check the type of data that the file contained, and promptly launch
a helper application which did know how to deal with the file. This
launching of the helper appears relatively seamless to the user, who is
simply presented with a movie playing on his screen, or a tune issuing through
her speakers.
For the educator the implication of helper applications was obvious. Files
could be sent to the browser intended for any computer program the instructor
desired. A Mathematica notebook could be sent across the Web, and the browser
would launch Mathematica as a helper application in order to read it! (Amusingly,
this is somewhat analogous to an ant calling on an elephant for help.)
Mathematics instructors could send files for Theorist, MathCAD, Maple, MatLab,
StatView, SPSS, Mathematica, etc. across the Web, and the browser would
launch the appropriate software to deal with the file once it arrived. Similar
uses could be envisaged for business instruction using spreadsheet files,
etc.
The question that obviously arises under this scenario is "Why the
browser? Why not just use the intended program directly?" The answer
comes in several parts:
- The student frequently gets lost when simply dropped into an unfamiliar
program, even when the program-notebook they have just opened has instructions
included with it. This is a simple observation that those who have tried
this technique will readily attest to.
- The browser can play the role of automated instructor. Instructions
can be fed to the student in a graduated form, e.g.
- "When you click on the button at the bottom of this page, you
will see a screen that looks like this:" . . . "here's what the
various parts mean."
- "Pull down the Graph menu, and choose the 3D
option, as shown in the picture on the left."
- "Clicking on the picture-button of a film-strip below will
run a short movie for you of the steps required to plot the data-set you
are working with."
- "Once you have absorbed this help screen, click on the Maple
icon on the right to try the exercise for real."
- Using the browser as a backbone, the instructor can integrate the
use of a variety of applications relatively seamlessly, utilizing whichever
tools she deems best suited for a particular task. e.g. In a mathematical
scenario one might use Differential Systems to quickly generate the slope
field of a particular system of differential equations, then flip to Mathematica
to solve the system analytically (or numerically.) For a final plot of the
solution, the instructor may ask the student to first plot the solution
as a surface in Mathematica, then export the resulting picture to a VRML
(Virtual Reality Markup Language) viewer to allow the student the option
of exploring the surface in virtual reality, zooming in on the surface,
and twisting and turning it in real time on the screen. (Stereoscopic goggles
will make this experience even more meaningful in the not too distant future.)
- Without the browser, distance learning techniques would necessitate
the student learning the ins and outs of file transfer protocols in order
to first retrieve the appropriate files from a remote server, then the student
would need to launch these files with the appropriate program, and in the
order intended by the instructor.
- The browser allows the instruction to be truly "platform independent",
at least up to the point where the files being viewed are of a type that
the student owns the appropriate helper applications. Without the browser,
format-conversion issues are more bothersome.
Potential Changes in the Way We Teach
The use of web technology has implications that go beyond a basic change
in the style of computer aided instruction that we use. It may even influence
the type of instruction we actually choose to provide, and the demands we
make of our students. Possible "new directions" include:
- The Ability to Use Real Data for Analysis: In the past mathematicians
have had a tendency to use "canned" data when assigning problems
to students. This was partly due to laziness on our part, partly due to
the fact that real data is often hard to analyze, and partly because of
the great inconvenience real data may pose for our students when it comes
to data entry.
With the availability of the Web students may be directed to a particular
data-base on the Internet and be asked to capture a set of data for further
analysis using the mathematical tools at his disposal. The type of analysis
may vary from class to class. A differential equations student might track
down population data from government census reports, and attempt to determine
which of the common population models best fits this data. A statistics
student might be asked to grab a data set at random from the Net and then
be told to determine what kind of distribution the data follows.
- Individual Projects: We've assigned these before, but with
Web access we can feel a lot less reticent about doing so. With the Web
at a student's disposal the ability to pursue a particular line of investigation
is amplified enormously. The necessity for digging through musty card catalogs
is drastically reduced.
As instructors we can start to actually take seriously some of the education
reform buzz-words we've bee conditioned to pay homage to over the years.
Open-ended questions and information synthesis take on a whole new flavor.
It would be overstating the case to claim that the Internet has become a
modern Library of Alexandria--a repository of all human knowledge. However,
with its distributed nature it stands a better chance of evolving towards
this goal than any single library could ever hope for. In its current state
the Net is a far cry from this lofty end. (At the moment, some might even
describe it as a repository of all human rubbish.) As intellectual property
issues are settled it looks like it might not be too long before the best
library a student could visit lies beyond her computer screen. Then we can
really give them some work to do!
- Class Administration Changes: As we reach the point where Net
access is a "given", whether through an academic laboratory, or
through a home connection, we can expect to change some of the ways we administer
our classes:
- Class Bulletin Boards: The Web could easily become a means
of providing quickly updated and maintained class announcements. A Class
Bulletin Board could contain such details as homework and laboratory assignments
and dates, examination schedules, special notes or hints on particular topics,
and possibly a password protected link to a summary of an individual students
current class standing.
- Instructor E-mail: Students with particular questions, comments,
or requests could click on an e-mail link to their instructor's e-mail box.
This would allow the student to "virtually" meet with the instructor
despite office hour conflicts, etc. The possibility also exists for e-mail
submission of assignments.
- Class Newsgroup Interaction: One of the earliest aspects
of the Net was USENET newsgroups. These are special interest discussion
areas containing topic-threaded conversations between users that may take
place over the course of hours, days, or even weeks. This type of threaded
discussion area could be created for a particular class, and then opened
up to the students for discussion of homework problems, group projects,
exam preparation, etc.
A virtue of this approach is that the conversations don't necessitate simultaneous
access, as required by "real time" discussions. This could be
especially helpful for students with very tight or conflicting schedules.
Experimentation would be necessary to determine how susceptible this newsgroup
discussion approach is to abuse. The option of running the newsgroup through
a moderator (the instructor or a teaching assistant) exists.
- Automatic Homework Grading and Record Keeping: Using a web
browser as a front-end we may envisage the possibility of a given textbook's
homework problems having a dedicated web-site into which the student may
submit her homework for immediate correction by a server based algorithmic
grading script.
The student would only be permitted access to the site if they are preregistered
in a class whose instructor has adopted the corresponding textbook, and
opted for this homework administration service. The student would log into
the site using a dedicated password. The answers given by the student to
a particular assignment would be corrected live, and the student's score
recorded for later submission to the course's instructor elecronically.
- Distance Learning: Predictions about our changing society have
envisaged a time when the traditional classroom approach to instruction
no longer exists. I personally hope that these predictions never come about,
but the Web points the direction towards one possible way that such changes
might be made. Two-way streaming video is already appearing upon many business
desktops in America, and with such technologies a shift from classroom to
Web might not be as drastic of a change as we might think.
The Web's current role in distance learning is primarily supplementary.
Students with Web access can work on their laboratory assignments from home,
or supplement their laboratory time with additional work from their home
computers. (Indeed, this is exactly what several of our Delta College students
are already doing with our calculus and differential equations labs.)
If we develop our laboratory curriculum carefully then evolving it into
a true distance learning model in the future should not be too difficult.
Future Trends
Most of what we've discussed so far has involved the use of aspects of the
Web that are already in place. However, Web technology is evolving so rapidly
that the broad strokes of where we'll be as far as instruction is concerned
in a year or two from now are already apparent.
Adapting the Interface to the Learner's Needs and Desires
Web-browsers, especially Netscape, have recently brought a new guest to
the Web-party--scriptability. This is primarily accomplished through a language
called Java Script, which functions independently from the user's computer
platform. Now a web-page can contain more than just data and links to other
files. Web-page designers can include instructions that control other aspects
of what the user experiences.
In the context of delivering instruction, scripting allows for the possibility
of tailoring the student's learning experience in a very individualized
manner. The student could be asked to set a few basic parameters describing
the way they like to study on an introductory page, and for the remainder
of the student's session the browser would obey these presentation rules.
These setting could even be saved by the student for future browsing. Robert
Curtis of Delta College has already prototyped a computer instruction system
that utilizes these ideas. (You can go and see his prototype
if you like.)
Plug-ins and Applets
Two other technologies that have been pioneered by Netscape are plug-ins
and applets.
A plug-in is a tiny piece of software that the web-browser loads
when it is first started up. The plug-in adds features to the browser, or
alters the way in which it behaves. Plug-ins are appearing very quickly
(almost daily) on the Internet for Netscape. The vast majority of them serve
the purpose of replacing the use of helper applications. With the right
plug-in Netscape no longer needs to load a helper application so that the
user can view a movie, or listen to some music. The plug-in allows Netscape
to handle these other data types entirely internally.
From the point of view of instruction, we may envisage plug-ins which can
lay-out mathematical equations in high quality within the browser's window.
Other plug-ins might allow for some of the functionality of a computer algebra
system to be incorporated into the browser, removing the need for a separate
application when doing basic calculations.
Since plug-ins modify the way that the browser behaves, we may even see
plug-ins specifically designed to fill purely instructional needs. One drawback
of plug-ins is the fact that they are not platform independent. A
version needs to be written for each type of computer being used. Also,
to my knowledge, only two browsers currently support them--Netscape and
Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Applets are miniature application programs that can be delivered
over the Web to a browser which is built to run them. Applets are
platform independent. The main language used for writing applets is Hot
Java, and more and more web-browser developers are stating their intention
of supporting this standard.
The purpose of an applet is similar in many ways to that of a plug-in or
script. The advantage of an applet, however, is obvious. No assumptions
need to be made by a web-page about what plug-ins the user has installed.
The code is delivered with the page itself. The disadvantage, of course,
is the extra time it takes for this code to come over the Net to the user.
Agent Technology
Another technology that has been announced is the idea of software agents
which can travel out into the Net to accomplish some goal that the user
would find tiresome to achieve by himself. One agent has already been demonstrated
which can be instructed to go to all of the on-line record stores on the
Internet and find which one has the cheapest price on a particular CD. (Though
it has recently been noted that some electronic stores are now actively
blocking agents from their sites.)
Agents could be used in the instructional context for students conducting
research. An agent might be instructed to "Search all United States
university based computers on the Internet for articles whose abstracts
contain the words Roosevelt, Pearl and Harbor" The educational implications
of agent technology are both exciting and unsettling. Potentially agents
may even be designed which are capable of constructing term papers replete
with references and bibliography.
A Rudimentary Example
As an attempt at implementing some of these ideas for the laboratory component
of my differential equations class I created a sequence of laboratory exercises
in which a web-browser, preferably Netscape, was used as the front-end,
and Mathematica was used as the primary calculation engine.
We'll now jump to the project itself, and
go through the steps involved in a typical laboratory.
This lab set has proved to be quite successful during the course of the
two semesters in which it has been used. Students have made the following
positive comments:
- They find the format of the labs to be readily understandable, (This
was a relief to hear! Some web-pages can be dreadfully overloaded with information--so
much so that the student can start to feel like they are drowning in a sea
of it!)
- They especially liked the "This is what you should have gotten!"
approach that I took in the introductory exercises to each new lab.
- They found that being deliberately led into making the common
mistakes that plague first time users was beneficial in the long run, though
a little disconcerting until they realized the reason for this approach.
- They appreciated the opportunity to learn what they describe as a
piece of "real software" as opposed to some poorly written rote
exercise program that came bundled with a textbook.
- They found the labs to be reliably stable. (Other work that they had
done in previous labs had frustrated them with frequent crashes causing
loss of work.)
I must admit that these lab exercises takes advantage of only a few of the
basic opportunities that the web learning model is capable of providing.
These labs have a wealth of opportunity for growth! (My main concern in
writing them initially was stability on some fairly antiquated laboratory
equipment, and simplicity of the interface.)
Conclusion
In one way or another, the World Wide Web will affect the way in which we
teach our classes. This statement is true whether we choose to integrate
Web technologies into our pedagogy or not. Even if we don't get "wired",
our students will, and it will have an affect on the work they do outside
our classrooms, and the way they study and think. As with most other technological
innovations, from printing to calculators to computers themselves, we'll
be better off if we embrace the inevitable and enjoy the ride.
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