Towards Collaborative Dynabooks

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Towards Collaborative Dynabooks

• In Alan Kays vision, the computers greatest
  purpose is to facilitate learning through
  creation and exploration of multimedia.
• In pursuit of the Dynabook, personal computers
  were created.

• Our take is that Dynabooks are more successful in
  a collaborative setting
• To provide an audience,
• To support creation of media

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Some Current Projects

• CoWebs/Swikis
• Facilitating collaborative multimedia in the
  classroom.
• Introduction to Media Computation
• Students learning programming as a medium and to
  learn about media.
• Digital Storybooks
• Making digital multimedia composition easier.

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CoWebCollaborative Websites

• Based on Ward Cunninghams WikiWiki Web
• Hence its other name Squeak Wiki -gt Swiki
• Simple system
• Its a website
• Where any user can edit any page (caveat locks)
• And any user can create new pages

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Using the CoWeb
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Does the CoWeb help with learning?

• Compared two composition classes (each taught by
  Lissa Holloway-Attaway)
• One used the CoWeb (n24)
• Other used existing tools (n25)
• Benefits in learning (statistically significant)
• CoWeb students wrote better final essays
• CoWeb students had better attitudes toward
  collaboration
• Next question Does it help with retention?

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Computer Science Classes Today

• CS1 is despised among many non-majors.
• CS retention rates lower in CS than other fields.
• 65 for 1995 cohort, vs. 73 for Engineering
• Drop-out rates near 50 at many institutions.
• Enrollment and completion rates are particularly
  low among certain minority groups and women.

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Why?

• Tedious, boring, lacking creativity,
  asocial
• CS culture seems to be most attractive to white
  males.

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Should We Care?

• In 1961, Alan Perlis argued that computer
  science is more important in a liberal
  education than calculus.
• Calculus is about rates, and thats important to
  many.
• Computer science is about process, which is
  important to everyone

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Particular Focus Introduction to Media
Computation

• 121 students in Spring 2003,with 309 in Fall 03
  and 400 planned for Spring 04
• 2/3 female in Spring 2003 MediaComp
• Focus Learning programming and CS concepts
  within the context of media manipulation and
  creation
• Converting images to greyscale and negatives,
  splicing and reversing sounds, writing programs
  to generate HTML, creating movies out of
  Web-accessed content.

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Motivating the Computing

• As professionals, these students will often the
  use the computer as a communications medium.
• All media are going digital,and digital media
  are manipulated with software.
• Knowing how to program, then, is a communications
  skill.

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Use a loop!Our first picture recipe
original
def decreaseRed(picture) for p in
getPixels(picture) valuegetRed(p)
setRed(p,value0.5)
Used like this gtgtgt file"/Users/guzdial/mediasour
ces/barbara.jpg" gtgtgt picturemakePicture(file) gtgtgt
show(picture) gtgtgt decreaseRed(picture) gtgtgt
repaint(picture)
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def clearRed(picture) for pixel in
getPixels(picture) setRed(pixel,0)
def greyscale(picture) for p in
getPixels(picture) rednessgetRed(p)
greennessgetGreen(p) bluenessgetBlue(p)
luminance(rednessbluenessgreenness)/3
setColor(p, makeColor(luminance,luminance,
luminance))
def negative(picture) for px in
getPixels(picture) redgetRed(px)
greengetGreen(px) bluegetBlue(px)
negColormakeColor(255-red,255-green,255-blue)
setColor(px,negColor)
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Using your personal pictures
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And messin with them
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Relevance through Data-first Computing

• Real users come to a user with data that they
  care about, then they (unwillingly) learn the
  computer to manipulate their data as they need.
• MediaComp works the same.
• We use pictures of students in class
  demonstrations.
• Students do use their own pictures as starting
  points for manipulations.
• Some students reversed sounds looking for hidden
  messages.
• They started doing this in the second week
• How often do students use their second week of
  CS1 on their own data?
• How does that change the students relationship
  to the material?

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Evaluating the Course

• Led by Andrea Forte
• Comparing CS1321, COE1361, and CS1315 in terms of
  learning and motivation.
• Withdrawal, F and D grade (WFD) rates
• Surveys (initial, midterm, and final)
• Common exam problems
• Observational study of student performance to
  understand problems and strategies.
• Conducted by Rachel Fithian
• Interview study of impact on women.
• Conducted by Lauren Rich

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Were Students Motivated and Engaged?
WFD Rate
AverageCS1(2000-2002) 27.8
CS 1321 42.9
COE 1361 18.7
Media Computation 11.5

• WFD rates suggest they were.
• 121 students, 3 drops.
• This semester, 309 students, 6 drops

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Were Students Motivated and Engaged?

• Homework assignments suggest they were.
• Some students reported writing programs outside
  of class for fun.

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Were Students Motivated and Engaged?
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Were Students Motivated and Engaged?
Q. What do you like best about this course? Q. What do you like best about this course? Q. What do you like best about this course? Q. What do you like best about this course?
Course Don't like it/Nothing Enjoy Content Content is Useful
CS 1321 18.2 12.1 0.0
COE 1361 12.9 16.1 25.8
Media Comp 0.0 21.3 12.4

• Survey responses suggest that students responded
  well to the context of media manipulation and
  creation.

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Unexpected Results...

• Only 6 of Media Computation students reported
  that they planned to take more CS...

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Unexpected Results...

• Only 6 of Media Computation students reported
  that they planned to take more CS...
• On the same survey Over 60 indicated an interest
  in taking an advanced media computation course if
  it were offered.

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Digital Storytelling with Digital Cameras

• Digital cameras are amazing devices for capturing
  media today.
• Video with sound, 360 degree panoramic shots
• And what do you do with them? How do you tell
  stories with them?
• HTML just doesnt cut it.
• How do you write a letter to your grandmother
  with these media?
• Hypothesis We will not have Hamlet on the
  Holodeck until creating digital media is as easy
  as using a quill was for Shakespeare.