Learning Experimentation

Minister of Education admitted to the author a permission for Computer Aided Learning Experimentation in the years 1989-92 on request with supplement an article "Science Toolkit - The Program of Natural Scientist". This was an exercise work of didactics at the micro-computer courses by National Board of Education in the Completion Schooling Center of Jyvaskyla University 1988. At the article there is told about studying of among other things glass-room phenomenon during one week natural sciences course at grades 3-6 with help of above mentioned very many sided American simulation "Science Toolkit".

Contents

• About article
• Learning Experimentation
• Introduction
• The Classroom of Natural Sciences
• The Equipment and Furnishing needed
• Desk and chairs
• The Corner of PC-Wiever
• Science Toolkit workshop
• The Grouping of Equipment and Furnishing
• The Ground Plan of The Classroom
• About Equipment
• The Wall Sockets of Computer Desks
• Computer Desk to Catering-Board
• Electrification
• Wellfare
• Diskette Library
• Numbering
• At Lesson
• References
• Wellfare Diary

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Introduction

In August 1989 began my Computer Aided Learning Experimentation with Experimental Natural Sciences. It was supported by Developer Municipality of Poytya in South-West of Finland and its purpose was to examine, in which degree the use of computer has effect on integration and on the other hand on differentiation of compound-class teaching in 2-teachers school. This experimentation was the first of its kind in Finland. 3 teachers took part in it, and we hold 150 experimentation lessons during the first year.

The Classroom of Natural Sciences

Earlier, 8 years ago our school was 3-teachers seat of learning and therefore we have a third classroom. Into this room we then decided to place 8 Micro-Computers so, that at most 2 pupils are sitting by one computer. The greatest group is 15 children at a time. The area of the classroom is 56 square meters with in addition to 0.5 square meters cupboard under lock and key. The benefit-area of he classroom carries out considerably claims of ATLAS-report (Memorandum about computers, equipments and programs of senior high school, cleared by working team, Helsinki 1982) by National Board of Education. The room is large enough for most of experimentation lessons, enclosed with Natural Sciences Laboratory. I mean the desk-group in the middle of the classroom in sphere of influence with PC-Wiever and Natural Sciences Computer. Besides this the place has room for a big Rock-Collection for use in this experimentation, other equipments and Computer Aided Library for teachers and pupils. Assistants to this library working come from 6. Grade.

Moving around classroom during sessions is not difficult at all with right organization. Floor-covering of the classroom is general wall-to-wall carpet of plastic, and thus there have not been any problems about static electricity. As ceiling-light there are 6 general fluorescent lamps and over the board two separate lamps. The efficiency of the light is sufficient even all windows are covered with curtains. The cupboard under lock and key is available right in front of classroom and on its shelves are stored handily program-diskettes, -modules, equipments etc., which pupils got at the beginning of lesson. Teachers of experimentation school are able to loan a computer to study on their own for the weekend and holidays.

There were 2 wall sockets ready in classroom and they were without earthing. So in addition to that we let mount 4 earthed wall sockets. For modem we got one phone socket. The door was equipped with better lock. Lesson order for every week was shared between groups. Class-teacher and the head of the experimentation were responsible for order maintaining during lesson.

The Equipment and Furnishing needed

We have used the classroom earlier as a general class and its furnishing is usual equipments, like a board 5 meters long, an overhead projector and a screen. In addition to that we have got a PC-wiever, which is suitable for use of both computers we have. Projected images on the screen are visible for pupils sitting at last row. On the wall behind the glassroom is put wallpaper of textile for attaching of pictures etc.

For computers we have got a couple of tables 70 x 170 cm, and in the same way a couple of 80 x 160 cm ones. The moveableness and use of them have most effect on picking out the right model of the tables. For celebrations the tables have soon to be moved as sideboards or exhibition boards into another classroom on the other side of hall. The wall behind the board of the computer classroom lies a bellows-door, which can be opened and so we have a great drawing-room. This kind of tables are available both at equipment dealers of schools and at general furniture dealers. The computer table must be heavy enough and the top of the table must be steady enough, that computers could be safe. The tables are suitable just for Macintosh Plus computers. Computers are small enough, that the keyboards have room in front of computer and also room for filling in the workbook they can find too, if they only will move the keyboard by the computer for a moment. On the table is also an additional drive, a mouse pad, program-folders or other useful things.

For furnishing of classroom we have got 15 cheap support-chairs for youth adjustable by screws. The chairs have been screwed to upper position in order to get right ergonomic conditions and they also will give support to feet. The chairs are draped with textile, but they are not necissarily suitable for adult, because they are not big and high enough. We need not acquire any chairs for teachers, the former were quite good. This kind of learning environment needs no teachers table. So we have more room for moving equipments, building any models for learning natural sciences, both writing down memories from the board.

Being connected with normal overhead projector, the PC-wiever lies between teachers Macintosh equipped with hard disk, and Apple IIe used among other things during laboratory lessons of nature sciences. Pictures from both devices can be projected at screen in the corner of classroom. By this way you can make use of already a bit older computers, which often at present are about to get rapid withdrawing from use. In my mind, in case of bigger schools in the town, they could easily get to any classroom very useful computer of its own.

Apple ImageWriter II matrix-printer acts as a printer by teachers computer, doing almost imprint of laser-printer, with help of Adobe printing-program and 2.5 Megabites on hard disk. For communications there are available programs, by means of which you can simulate data transfer in computer-world of your own classroom. In addition to this you still will need two modems and two phones.

Desk and chairs

Photo by: E. Veijalainen

The Corner of PC-wiever

Photo by: E. Veijalainen

Science Toolkit workshop

Photo by: E. Veijalainen

The Grouping of Equipment and Furnishing

With small changes we succeeded in transforming a general classroom into an Information Technology Workshop as useful as possible. The Small Macintosh computers squating on the desk, did not cover wiev up to the board and screen, but pupils could easily without streching theirs neck see their teacher in front of the classroom. During working with LOGO pupil-groups (2 pupils) discerned without troubles projection of PC-wiever (AVS-400) from teachers computer on the screen, although it was 7 meters from the last row. The placing of the computer-desks was solved by mounting of wall-sockets for them and the use of desks for another purposes of course by the desk-group for nature sciences in the middle of the glassroom. Grouping of desks gave also for teachers a possibility to get closer to any pupil-group without obstacles.

Wide passages have been necessary, because in large part teachers work is rounding through working places and learning discussions at complicated conditions. Generally I carried out a traditional teacher-quided teaching in the beginning of session, when I declared topic of the lesson or directions of tool-program using board, PC-Wiever or overhead projector.

Pupils were able to see learning-programs sitting by desk either on the glassroom screen or right on the screen of Apple IIe computer. Because distance for looking was at greatest 3 meters, pupils could see big, moving measurement images of Science Tookit simulation without troubles. In addition to that we used PC-Wiever with Rock Doctor program. During session, when the windows were covered, the ceiling light did not reflect disturbingly on the screen.

The Ground Plan of The Classroom

About The Equipment

In order to save charges, it is maybe better to acquire into system of several computers like this, one swift Matrix-Printer, and connect other computers into it with Share-Network. The network is a simple device, which is quiding use of the printer according to the reserves. With devices there are available many kind of networks. I succeeded to get The Apple Talk network. It is possible with that device to reserve the printer from any computer. The output will begin at once, when printer is free, in other case computer stops and waits for its turn. After computer is free again, printing starts automatically. Most flexible output would be reached by computer with speed of at least 160 marks per second. The Laser-Printer would of course be the best of all. You are able to get almost laser-like printing by means of a program, as this text can display: We have put Apple ImageWriter to make better its appearance with help of Adobe TypeManager program. You can see the same fact about our Classroom News "Haverin Sanomat" (Haveri News) in references.

If it is no network available, you have better to reserve one computer for printing. Then if pupil get the work ready, he (she) would save it in diskette and go to printer to output it. By this way it would take more time to finish the work, but the legs would get important exercise, that they do not get during long sessions.

If the noise of printer is disturbing, you can of course try to remove it with sound-insulation.

I have no complaining with compatiblenes between different devices in Apple environment. Adjusting of printer needs generally more working and installations, but in our experimentation we have succeeded to avoid these troubles too. The printer has been very safe. Apple ImageWriter can also be changed into a very good scanner by means of ThunderScan program, and after scanning you can process the image on the screen as you wish.

The Wall Sockets of Computer Desks

Photo by: E. Veijalainen

Computer Desks to Catering-Boards

Photo by: E. Veijalainen

Electrification

We have got 8 Macintosh Plus micro-computers for the experimentation. We previously had one Apple IIe. Macintosh Plus with additional drive needs only one wall-socket, because it is fully compact with its screen and inner drive and the addition drive takes its electricity from computer itself.

The Teachers Macintosh differs from those of pupils with its 2.5 Mb memory and 20 Mb hard disk both with its printer, that it needs three wall-sockets altogether. Apple IIe then with its separate screen (11 inches) and two drives needs 2 wall-sockets. You will generally get by micro-computer instructions for fitting and using the devices and there have not been any difficulties. You can of course fit all above mentioned computers with a printer of its own, but then it needs one wall-socket more.

It will be better to plan very well the sharing of electricity for all computers, because there allways will be many electric wires in computer classroom. By recommendation in ATLAS-report of National Board of Education there must be 4 wall-sockets for each computers. It would be important to cover electric wires. If for instance all computers in our experimentation class were at the same time working, so you will need 7*1+1*4+1*4=15 wall-sockets, including wall-sockets for the printer, modem and PC-wiever both for the overhead projector. It needed not to do any bigger mountings in our classroom. Only 4 earthed sockets were put on the walls. There were screwed 2 sockets at the down surface of the top of table, one for each computer, both 4-shared models. And electric wire leaving from it could easily be able to loose from the wall-socket and fasten to the down surface of table, when the table were moved to other room and used as dining-table in the celebration of school. So it was able to change the classroom into assembly hall, and there were no wires hanging down from the ceiling or creeping taped on the floor disturbing our celebration atmosphere. Also cleaning of room was possible to do well, because there were no kind of holes for rubbishes on the floor. Experiences proves, that you have better to avoid buiding any jungle of wires into your computer-classroom. It maybe better to cover wires with some kind of channels made of plastic or aluminium.

For shield of computers you can acquaire a quard-converter, wich will cut off disturbing prickles in electric current and small breaks too. The coming of electric current into quard-converter and etc. to wall-sockets is installed with ADP-swither, which will cut off also the current at 0-wire. So many breakings will be avoided. During thunderstorm period it is safe to loosen wires from the wall-sockets, so at most only the quard-converter will be broken. Computers carrie out the temperature of classroom rising, because they will cause some heat during working and our session could become straining and unpleasand. So excessive warming up will be prevented by ventilation effective enough.

Installing on and off concerning wires, devices and computers must happend allways, when there is no current streaming in. Careless installing on and off will break sensitive circles inside the computers. The current into hard disk of Macintosh must be swithed on allways first and not until then into computer, in the opposite direction when switshed off.

Wellfare

Micro-computers are durable devices if you are using them by the right way. In principle no computer can not be breaked from keyboard alias by means of program. Still as we are working with computer it allways is a certain risk, that we will loose data for a technical fault. In order to decrease the risk, you have to observe and when needed take care of devices and programs.

During experimentation I noticed, that the use of computer system with high quality, safety, very easy to use and humanitarianism and the use of computer classroom planned with sufficient accuracy, built by former experiences, will give an opportunity for teacher, who is impatient in pressure of 2-teachers school to organize his working so, that he is not obliged to fret about disturbances and wellfare-problems. Let us even though think about a student, who has written an essay whole an hour and during saving the text, the computer will inform about saving error. The course of lesson has got an unpleasant disturbance.

The computer itself has not any other wearing parts as the inner drive, and it needs no regular wellfare. The screen also is careless and needs cleaning only very seldom.

Drives, both inner and the additional one, are well sheltered agaist dust, and safe, and they have not produced any kind of problems. Drives are rotating inside their interior well sheltered diskettes of 3.5 inches and the read/write head is looking for information determined by operation system. The rotation speed of diskette must be constant, otherwise system does not act. In some kind of drives they maybe need a cleaning diskette for cleaning of the read/write head. During experimentation well acting printer seemed to be safe and as well encapsulated also dust-tight. The printer did not produce any paper-garbage at all.

The diskettes were safe saving-devices, as we remembered to handle and store them in the right way. I did not observe in diskettes any wear caused by repeated saving and loading during experimentation. Diskettes were stored in cases sheltered against dust.

Devices must not connect with each other before switching off the current, because too high voltage prickles could easily break sensitive circuits inside the computer. Sometimes the static electricity coming undone from hand of user can break circuits of computer, although author during experimentation or never former have seen such a case.

You have better to keep some regular wellfare days, maybe once a month and then you could think about following steps:

• thorough cleaning in the classroom
• cleaning of read/write head in the drives
• testing of all computers
• cleaning of the printer
• adjusting of wall-sockets and wires
• cleaning of the screen
• making an inventory of devices and programs
• fixing of small faults
• organizing of program library
• catalog about acquirings

You could fill in a separate diary faults appearing in devices. In addition to that you also could fill in defects observed in the classroom. On this basis you could make fixings and completions during wellfare days.

It is delighfull to work with set of computer devices without troubles in any conditions. In spite of, that the computer set is safe, you are better to protect continuity of activities by device insurance, which will make good to damages caused as by possible fire, smoke or stealing as by outrage too. And you must remember, that the insurance company will presuppose a certain safe-level according the door locking.

I needed for better wellfare of computers only one hour (1 h) alltogether during experimentation (3 years). I needed not wellfare the enclosed devices at all. If charging per hour would be 180 Fmk, so I had no need to exceed money mentioned above. Any outrage at all against computers or programs did not appear during experimentation.

Diskette Library

Pupils made disk files of their own during many lessons in the experimentation. At lessons of mother tongue they wrote articles for Classroom News and hold their log, during mathematics lessons they made for instance constellations onto the screen by means of Logo-language, at lessons of biology and geography they made databases about animals or foreign countries etc. and all these products were saved on data disks.

Somehow I succeeded in getting more sense, and so I decided to number both computers and all diskettes belonging to them. Also diskettes of licenced programs were numbered computer by computer in the same way. So it was easy with addition disk drive for every pupil to find information they had saved and get them printed on paper. In my mind this addition disk drive system is good enough for needs of grades 3-6, because Macintosh disk drives are rapid and size of computer itshelf (1 Megabytes) is big enough to run even integrated programs, if you within the bounds of action possibilities will reduce them.

It is better to teach for every pupil maintaining manners of diskette, as copying and deleting of the file, making the copies and testing the condition of the diskette. At the same time pupil will get a wiev about modern management of information and he (she) is quided into system.

It is also better to remember backup copying. Products which need longer storing have to safe by this way, because you cannot know, when for sake of faulted diskette, device or the careless handling, the data will be lost from the floppy-disk. Macintosh computers, devices or floppy-disks have not caused this kind of problems during this experimentation year. Naming of logical data is important for the sake of teachers work, because sometimes he (she) have to take the disks home in order to observe them and by right naming he (she) will find the proper files.

Numbering

Photo by: E. Veijalainen

At Lesson

Photo by: Turun Sanomat

References

Kivinen Antti. 1985. Tietokoneluokan perustaminen ja yllapito (Computer-classroom, groundwork and maintenance.)
Jyvaskyla: Kasvatusopillinen tutkimuslaitos (Educational Research Institute). 21p. ISBN 951-679-424-6

Veijalainen Erkki: 1990. Lokikirja koulukokeilusta 1989-90 (Log about School Experimentation.)
Poytya: Haverin TAO-koulu (Computer Aided Learning Experimentation School of Haveri. 19p.)

Wellfare Diary

During experimentation the computers have been in moderate using. Merely experimentation lessons have been hold in different subjects over 190 hours alltogether. In addition to that the computers have been able to loan by teachers for home exercise weekly all the time, both used for management of the experimentation, for planning and reporting.

Whole the school year the computers have been used for schooling of teachers and at courses for adults over 40 hours alltogether.

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Datum                    Fault

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30. August 1989           -Keyboard of a computer

                           began to output nearby mark.