What to do (regarding EdTech) in the financial downturn

The Caltech endowment has dropped significantly since Melany Hunt first thought about setting up an EdTech committee. Substantial increases in expenditure on classroom technology at Caltech over the coming two years is improbable. Our committee is, of course, concerned with the long term. This note, however, only addresses the coming two years.

Caltech should utilize the NewMedia Classroom. It has excellent features and support. I think it's unlikely that Caltech can purchase the same sort of equipment for another classroom in the short term.

When I brought up the idea of acquiring funds for a NewMedia Classroom for our new IST (Information Science and Technology) building with the faculty responsible for the building, the reaction was cold. This reaction was primarily because of the cost of maintainance. The discussions of our committee have also highlighted the problems and costs of mantainance. The NewMedia Classroom is, however, maintained well. So despite its limitations (small size, no restrooms, no ramp) we should use it over the coming two years, report our experiences, and analyze its technology. This will prepare us for getting appropriate classroom technology when the endowment does get back to its earlier peak.

   -- Mani

A Unique Caltech Opportunity: Apprentice-Based Learning

Caltech has two characteristics that allow us to offer a different kind of education to undergraduates:

1. Caltech has perhaps the highest ratio of PhDs (faculty members and postdoctoral fellows) to undergraduates among the top 20 universities. The ratio of faculty + postdocs + graduate students to undergraduates is over 1.5.
2. Caltech has among the brightest and motivated undergraduates in the country.

These characteristics allow us to offer a learning experience in which undergraduates learn by doing. They can learn by solving problems and doing reseach with a community of faculty members, postdocs, graduate students and fellow undergraduates. The Caltech culture today is already a learning-by-doing culture. Students live from problem set to problem set. We have an opportunity to make the student experience more valuable.

Though our culture is one of learning-by-doing, students complain of limited faculty interaction. Some undergraduates complain of limited interaction with everybody in the community except fellow undergraduates and TAs. We can change that. We can offer students a community-based learning experience in which undergraduates work closely with a community including faculty members, postdocs and grad students.

Let's explore the possibility of turning lectures into joint problem-solving sessions and research discussion sessions. We could provide all the material - notes, presentations, video, homework sets, research ideas - on the Web (e.g., Moodle). Students would be expected to read the material before coming to an interactive problem-solving session.

We could also set up research groups of faculty, postdocs, graduate students and undergraduates who interact synchronously in research sessions and asynchronously through chat rooms and blogs.

We should start exploring apprentice-based learning by first running an experiment with moderate sized (say 20 - 30) students. The experiment is to convert one or two courses into problem-solving or research sessions which may only meet formally for an hour a week and in which there are continuing asynchronous interactions through chat rooms. Let's try this out in 2009 and then report the results of the experiments to the faculty.

We could use Moodle as is, or ideally use the New Media Classroom to develop courses for the experiment.

  -- Mani Chandy

Educational Technology and the Context of Learning

Below is a link to the opening keynote address at this year's NMC Summer Conference at Princeton University. It presents a very relevant and, I think, very important discussion of educational technology and the larger context of learning. I think you will find it valuable.

When you go to the site below you will find multiple viewing options listed. If possible, I suggest you view it using the first option, i.e., the Sonic Foundry Mediasite link. Once the presentation begins, you will need to fast-forward a bit using the play-head controller <the small white dot beneath the video window> to approximately 24:45.

http://www.nmc.org/vodcast/technology-and-global-commons


Wayne