The Eclass is a paperless classroom tool that provides functions for managing
lecture materials and notes electronically on a server and broadcasting lecture
presentations over a network. Instructors use this tool to build lectures, to
keep track of student grades and attendance, and to present lectures via a network
of workstations. Students can view full lecture notes over the network, ask
questions, and take notes electronically in class using the terminals.
In addition to providing useful
functionality in class, the Eclass also allows its users to log onto the database
remotely and download lecture material and notes after class. This software
attempts to eliminate the usage of traditional chalkboard methods and makes
classroom teaching more efficient in this informative society today.
The general problems to be solved by the Eclass software are the following:
1. to provide a paperless classroom environment that offers a nearly unlimited data space, eliminating bulky binders and stacks of paper
2. to present lectures in a well organized manner via a computer network
3. to promote student-teacher interaction in class
4. to allow transfer of information outside of class
5. to offer after-class lecture review
While a number of commercially available
and public domain products have solved some of these problems, the Eclass provides
a solution with certain functional improvements over existing tools. For example,
the Eclass's audio and video recording functions greatly increase students'
learning ability by allowing them to review lectures after class. The instructor
can give students limited or unlimited access to the tool, controlling the their
level of attention. Although students can view lectures and notes over the server,
the Eclass tool itself is only available at Cal Poly. This limits the side effect
of most electronic teaching tool: losing human interaction.
The
personnel involved in the Eclass project are organized into the following groups:
a. end users
i. enrolled students
ii. instructor/ master administrator
iii. other users
b. system developers
c.
software engineering students
End users are the people who use the software on a regular basis during each class period. Enrolled students who login during lecture have access to a copy of the public lecture notes, their own whiteboard layer, chat capabilities, and a question and answer log. Outside of lecture they can view the audio and video copy of previous lectures. The instructor, who also acts as a master administrator, can limit the level of each student's control for this program. The instructor has access to the same features as the students, however, in place of the notepad, the instructor will have a 'class roster', which can be used to take roll and limit student control. Other users can use this software and its features to view the lectures and other class information without being enrolled in the class. All the general class information would be stored in an easily accessible public database.
Gene
Fisher is the main developer of Eclass. His software engineering students, particularly
Jill Chiang, Nazak Noorian, Brian Starnes, Frank Vasquez, and Steven Weston,
are responsible for the development process of this paperless classroom tool.
The
Eclass tool project directory is available at http://waldorf.calpoly.edu/~sweston/Eclass
Currently many lectures at Cal Poly are delivered in smart rooms that allow instructors to come in with their laptops, plug into the campus network and display their presentations on a large overhead using PowerPoint or another similar presentation tool. Instructors flip through their slides pausing occasionally to field questions or draw on the whiteboard. Oftentimes, the slide files are available online for download but a considerable amount of note taking still takes place using regular pen and paper. Handouts are provided although more and more course documents are being distributed solely through the web.
The Eclass application is designed
to run at Cal Poly inside a networked classroom with a large overhead and a
workstation for each student. Each computer workstation is equipped with a writing
tablet and a microphone in addition to the regular keyboard and display. Eclass
is accessible from any of the workstations in the classroom but administrative
capabilities are reserved for the instructor's machine. Students are able to
view the instructor's overhead presentation within a window on their screen.
This presentation window doubles as a virtual whiteboard allowing users to write
notes and sketch diagrams that can be kept private or shared with the rest of
the class at the instructor's discretion. Students can either ask questions
verbally or type them into a window with a chat-like interface moderated by
the instructor. Since presentation, class discussion and note taking all take
place within the confines of the Eclass application; an entire session can be
saved as a single file for convenient viewing outside of class.
The positive impacts of Eclass as a functioning system are: increased convenience and efficiency in both presenting and obtaining course material. Professors experience complete control over a classroom, and students are now privy to all information electrically that a professor deems necessary for the course. Lost course material and human error is minimized. Eclass makes class accessible even if a student is not physically capable of attending.
Potential negative impacts include
those common to any technological endeavor (i.e. hardware malfunction, power
outages, data corruption, viruses, etc.). Eclass needs to be adaptable to ever-advancing
technology. Other negative impacts lie on a more social level. Personal contact
with other people is severed when students elect to participate in lecture remotely.
This impact can be mitigated by the instructor requiring attendance. Hard copies
of documents for the class are not immediately available to students who would
prefer them, but this problem can be alleviated by simply printing copies out,
if printers are available.
Commercial and public systems that provide functionality comparable to the Eclass program are:
1. Blackboard - http://www.blackboard.com
2. E-College- http://www.ecollege.com
Each of these systems provides the user with personalized service in a variety of different mediums. In terms of functionality, the goal of the Eclass program is to provide the important core features found in the above tools, such as the electronic whiteboard feature and the student teacher question board, but also adds video and audio recording features, a class seating chart, and specialized teacher control features. This program must also be able to be maintained over a network-based system, providing more personal interaction to the users.
We will not, however, be implementing most of the course building and maintaining tools that are included in the above systems.