MIT Department of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science

E E C S

The Virtual Classroom: At the Cutting Edge of Higher Education

Burks Oakley II
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Monday, February 26, 1996
4:00 PM (3:30 refreshments)
Edgerton Hall, Room 34-101
EECS Colloquium
CAES Seminar

Abstract

At the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, we are using networked computers to implement innovative teaching and learning environments. With support from the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, we have established the Sloan Center for Asynchronous Learning Environments (SCALE). Sloan Center faculty are teaching more than fifty courses that have been restructured so that they take advantage of the ability of networked computers to provide access to learning materials; more than 4000 students are currently involved in SCALE courses.

Many SCALE courses have learning materials, including as reference documents, images, and interactive tutorials, as well as audio and video files, available on the World-Wide Web. These materials are available "on-demand," at the students' convenience. In addition, several SCALE faculty have developed interactive, web-based learning environments for their courses, which include homework and quizzes that can be submitted for electronic grading at all times of the day and night. We believe that the rapid feedback provided by these highly-interactive environments is improving learning in many areas, especially in science and engineering.

We are using FirstClass bulletin board software on Macintosh and PC-Windows computers to promote asynchronous interactions between students, faculty, and teaching assistants in SCALE classes. Using this software, which can be accessed from anywhere on the Internet, it is possible to post messages containing text (in various fonts, sizes, and colors), graphics, and any type of file. The importance of this conferencing system is that students and faculty can be brought "face-to-face" over a computer network for virtual discussions in nearly real-time, which is improving student learning. The rich content of the messages makes for very personalized interactions. Student interactions with faculty outside of class and office hours have increased significantly in this environment. Students also can interact with each other, which provides new opportunities for peer-peer learning. Asynchronous conferencing also is proving to be useful in organizing and managing group projects in several of our new courses.

Overall, our goal is to use computers and computer networks to improve the teaching and learning process in higher education. We hope to make learning better, more efficient, and more enjoyable for the students, and also to improve faculty productivity. The seminar will include a demonstration of much of the software used by Sloan Center faculty to implement the "virtual classroom."

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Created: Feb 12, 1996 | Modified: Jun 25, 1997
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