May 2, 2007

To: David Wicks

From: Sharon Young and Russ Killingsworth

Re: Progress Report on SPU Technology Grant –

Learning and Teaching Mathematics Using an Interactive Whiteboard

Purchases:

An Activboard+2 Complete system, Activstudio software, and Activprimary software have been purchased using all of the $5000 of the grant money and an additional amount from the School of Education to cover the taxes and charges by Facilities for reconfiguration of an existing screen and whiteboard in OMH Room 222. Four hours of training has also been purchased using designated training funds from the College of Arts and Sciences, leaving additional training funds in the amount of $480.

Installation:

We ran into major delays for the installation of the Activboard because the “Complete system” that includes the super short-throw projector was out of stock. The board was finally installed April 5^th. There were some issues with proper projection onto the board, and it was eventually determined that the board was warped. A replacement board was ordered and installed April 26^th.

At the time of installation, the vender installed their copy of Activstudio software on the computer in OMH222 until the brand new version of the software was released. The new versions of both software packages was received April 25th and will be installed on the computer in OMH222 Thursday May 3rd. The software needs to be installed on the computers in the offices of the grant recipients and on some designated computers in the open computer lab in OMH222. This is planned to be completed by May 12^th.

Training:

The grant recipients (Sharon Young and Russ Killingsworth) completed four hours of initial training on the software on April 5^th. We plan to take three hours of training in May and three hours in June. Using the Activboard and its software is an extremely complicated process, so it is best to receive training in small doses, with time to try out what we have learned before receiving more training.

Implementation:

Sharon has implemented the use of the Activboard in three classes on a limited basis. She has determined that it will take an incredible amount of time and practice to use the system fluently and knowledgeably. Consequently, she has decided to identify a set of presentations and activities that will be relatively easy to implement, as it will take more than a year to fully switch everything to Activboard “charts”. Originally she was only going to implement the board use in only one class, but feels that using it in more classes this quarter will give her more needed practice. Russ will use the board in one of his courses in the fall quarter.

Positive aspects of implementation: In informal conversations with students, Sharon has noted that they are enthusiastic about having the Activboard in the class and they are excited about the prospect of learning how to use it over the sequence of math courses they will be taking.

Implementation problems: As noted above in the notes on “Installation,” there have been problems with implementation of the technology because it was not installed until April. We still need to connect speakers and a microphone in order to video-record and audio-record presentations or activities for uploading to Blackboard. We are so overwhelmed in learning the basics, we are not ready for the Activboard’s more sophisticated uses, so will postpone installation and implementation of those items. Another difficulty that was not anticipated is the fact that there is nobody on campus for troubleshooting any problems. Fortunately, the vendor has been very receptive to urgent phone calls and has made a special trip to campus to determine why the board wasn’t working properly. Luckily it ended up being a “user” error rather than a problem with the board.

Timeline:

The following is a proposed timeline for the remainder of the grant period.

May (late in the month) – Three hours of training

May 15 – website – this had to be delayed due to the late installation

June (mid-month) – Three hours of training

Summer –

--Work on converting mathematical explorations/presentations to Activeboard charts.

--Develop attitude questionnaires to assess pre- and post-attitude of students regarding the use of this technology in learning and teaching math

Fall

--Implement use of the Activboard and software fully in at least one of Sharon’s content courses and in a more limited way in one of Russ’ course.

Late Fall

-- Presentation to faculty on the use of the Activboard.