This Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase II project aims to commercialize Lecturetools, an in-class integrated learning environment, to improve the quality of large, gateway higher education courses. Faced with the emerging online distance learning initiatives, traditional face-to-face oriented institutions are challenged to respond with innovative teaching approaches that validate their long established face-to-face teaching model. Many studies have shown poor student engagement and retention rates in traditional large-scale collegiate classrooms. At the same time, the model of using expensive, printed course textbooks is under great pressure - simply providing monolithic textbooks, printed or electronically, is not sufficient for successful student engagement or learning. An NSF panel considered the state of the college textbook and summarized that: The textbook of the future will be the organizing hub of an integrated learning environment where the student experience is key. The combination of advancements in web-based technology and the proliferation of laptops among students offer an opportunity to address both of these issues. LectureTools Inc. proposes to deliver an integrated learning environment that joins textbook materials with student response and inquiry, lecture delivery and student note-taking functionality.
The broader impact/commercial potential of this project results from the integration of multiple in-class learning tools strategically aimed at improving the educational opportunities in large gateway courses. These courses, with hundreds of students, too often offer few opportunities for active, engaging learning. Clicker companies offer multiple-choice student response systems, but few other question types, no direct access to textbook content and little, if any, functionality for student questioning or note taking. Course management systems (e.g. Blackboard, Moodle, Sakai) have been successful in organizing course assignments, grading and resource sharing that happen outside the classroom, but have not penetrated the in-class experience where LectureTools is uniquely targeted toward improving student engagement and learning. Publishing companies offer online access to textbooks, but not integrated with in-class activities. With the student response market projected to be $290M and the overall textbook market projected to be $6B by 2014, LectureTools is well positioned to capture a sizable proportion of these markets. The University of Michigan serves as a testbed and is offering a LectureTools to all courses starting in the fall, 2010. Contracts are already in place with major textbook publishers to supply the initial textbook content.
Intellectual Merit — In a few years it likely that most, if not all, college level students will have access to at least one Internet-enabled device. LectureTools (www.lecturetools.com) was developed anticipating that day with an eye to providing web-based applications that enable richer interactions between instructors and students to increase student engagement. LectureTools offers an advanced student response system designed to expand on or replace current ‘clicker’ technologies. LectureTools enables students to: 1) Type notes synchronized with the lecture slides; 2) Self-assess understanding; 3) Pose questions and view answers; 4) Draw on lecture slides; 5) Respond to wide range of instructor questions; 6) Listen to podcasts; and 7) Print lecture slides and notes for off-line review. Students respond to a wide range of question types including multiple choice, reorder list, association, free response and image-based. The instructor can display all responses immediately to foster discussion. Surveys of LectureTools users at the University of Michigan shows that students with a laptop are no more likely to increase their time on tasks unrelated to the conduct of the course. On the other hand, the studies have also ascertained that students feel more attentive, significantly more engaged, and able to learn more with the technology than in similar classes without. The technology also led to a dramatic increase in student inquiry during class. LectureTools offer the potential to expand participation in college courses offered both face-to-face and through distance learning approaches. Moreover it provides a platform through which all can participate regardless of background or level of confidence. Broader Impacts — The United States has identified the need for a larger portion of the population to be informed about science and technology in order to achieve goals for leadership in these fields. LectureTools offers in-class technologies that encourage participation and increase channels for communication between instructors and students. These tools have been shown to increase student engagement is virtually all classes to which it is introduced. LectureTools is a platform that will allow future exploration of how to mine student activities in class to provide personalized feedback to students, in effect expanding the capabilities of an instructor to guide students. As more and more students bring mobile technologies to class LectureTools will provide systems to enable more active learning even in large, survey-level courses.
