Hello, I'm Gene Lucas, I'm a semi-retired Engineer/Manager from Silicon
Valley. After I retired in 1987, I loafed for a while, and then
went back to school and got my Master's Degree in Instructional
Technology. Then I did several different things: wrote a book,
developed an off-campus learning program, and did some public service
announcements/programs for Public Television. And, I also started
working with Professor Robert Main in a non-profit, educational,
corporation "Public Service Media" (PSM), which is dedicated to
improving teacher efficiency and student learning outcomes.
I also kept my hand in at equipment design. And now, I'd like to
welcome you to this introduction to the "Super Smart Cart" - the SSC,
which I developed. The function of the SSC is to quickly and
easily turn any classroom into a "Super Smart" classroom - without
requiring any physical modifications at all. Just a few minutes
and the SSC can be up and running.
As you can see from the prototype above, the SSC is self-contained in a
lockable mobile file cabinet, with a framework attached to it, and
major components mounted in and on it. Testing is complete, and we are
ready to deliver hardware and software.
One of the "Super" features of the SSC is the ability to display video
from the digital camcorder, through the InFocus IN24 projector, onto
the screen. The digital camcorder features are the "Super" part of the
SSC. We'll talk more about other "Super" features of the SSC
shortly, but for right now I'd like to talk for a few minutes about the
features of the "Smart" part of the SSC.
At every symposium or seminar we go to we see PowerPoint2 slide shows,
Excel2 spread sheets, MS Word2 documents, photos, etc. displayed on the
large screen. We do not provide these computer programs as part of the
SSC because almost all school districts have software licensing
agreements with Microsoft. If they do not, the software configuration
of the Laptop can be modified to include them, by installing "Open
Office," a free program, whose applications mimic MS Office, from the
CD we provide. It is assumed that teachers already have training
in those computer applications they would be using.
But before we skip past PowerPoint2 too quickly, let's take a second to
discuss its possible use in a classroom setting. Let's look at
what teachers normally do. They spend an inordinate amount of
time writing-on and erasing blackboards or whiteboards. They
write some information on the board, discuss it, then erase the board
and write the next information to be presented, and so on and so
on. When the next class in the same course comes in, they have to
go through the same routine again; and again for each subsequent class.
Now let's examine the same process - using PowerPoint2. In my
opinion, the first slide should always be the learning objectives for
the class. I believe that learning objectives should be used in every
class, starting no later than grade four. Learning objectives organize
and focus the class, and define the learning expectations for the class
session. The second slide would be the first material that would
normally have been written on the board. Subsequent slides would
contain the next, and the next, set of information - and all done in
perfectly printed font - even in color if you want to be fancy.
Just think how much more time would be available for teaching. When the
next class section of the course starts, the same PowerPoint2 slide
sequence can be used. The PowerPoint2 slides, which would be stored on
CD, could be used for all the classes that day; and that same data
could be used in subsequent semesters, or even years. If the data
were stored as .PPT files, it could be easily updated and
modified. A single CD can hold over 30,000 slides; and a single
CD wallet could hold a career's worth of slides. This benefit occurs in
all classes - English, math, science, social science, etc.
Of course, there are many other things that the computer can be used
for. There are many, many, educational CDs available for use -
especially in math. There are English programs such as "Step Up
to Writing" which use color- coded sentence parts, Etc. These
could all be used with the SSC, but they are not supplied with it.
The computer we used in the prototype SSC was an HP Pavilion laptop
DV2000 series, which has a "QuickPlay2" capability. This allows CDs and
DVDs to be played without booting up the computer - just turn the
computer ON, and press PLAY. However, we would likely recommend the
Dell Inspiron 1501 for the production units, if the district did not
already have laptops.
Laptop computers now come with MS Vista2 installed, which allows
digital video to be edited in MovieMaker22 by a knowledgeable person.
The computer also has slots for memory chip input and processing.
The laptop is left free in the 2nd drawer of the cabinet so that the
teacher can move it to a desk or table to prepare class material, or to
connect it to some district-supplied service, such as the
Internet. The laptop is connected to the system by simply
attaching the VGA cable and the audio output cable, located in the top
drawer of the cabinet to it; and placing the audio switch, located on
the shelf, in the Source 1 position. The range of use of the "Smart"
capability of the SSC is limited only by the imagination of the
teacher. The "Smart" function of the SSC is equivalent to the
capability of most college "Smart" classrooms.
Now let's get back to the "Super" features of the SSC. In
addition to playing digital video tapes in the VCR mode, the digital
camcorder becomes a "Super" overhead projector when the camcorder is in
the RECORD mode - except that the user doesn't have to prepare
transparencies or spend the twenty or so minutes that are usually
required to do so, or buy expensive transparency film. Whatever
the camcorder sees in the viewfinder can be displayed on the screen
when the projector is in Video2. Small objects can be blown up to
near-full-screen size by using the zoom function. This is very valuable
in science classes. Pages of books can also be projected, but the
font size is usually too small for the whole page to be read.
When a normal page is zoomed-in on, the readable size of the viewed
area is about 4 inches by 3 inches.
The camcorder we provide is the Panasonic PV-GS series, which is a
3-CCD unit with a still camera capability. It stores images on memory
chips for importing into the computer for processing. A 100-watt
variable intensity lamp is also provided to illuminate the subject.
The value of these features is obvious, but now I would like to
describe what I consider to be the most valuable "Super" feature of the
SSC. But before I do that I would like to tell you about what
happened at the Concow School After School Program, a while back.
Helena, our assistant, was trying to read a book to the class.
First she would read a page that the students could not see. Then
she would go around the room, showing the illustration to the
children. Then she would go on to the next page, read it, and
then walk around the room showing the next illustration to the
children, and so on and so on. It was hard work for her, it was
minimally educational, it was boring for the kids, and it was minimally
interactive. Yet, this is the way most reading aloud is done in
classrooms today, and reading aloud to children is the main way they
learn to read - both at home and in school, according to the
government. Now, I want to explain how reading aloud is done with
the SSC.
To do this properly, a modified or special book is used, which has
large type and is in landscape orientation (81/2î high by
11î wide). The book is placed on the file cabinet top,
beneath the digital camcorder, which is placed in the RECORD mode. The
Camcorder output is selected on the DLP projector, and the text
displayed on the big screen. The text is large enough to be read by all
the students. The teacher then reads a page, and follows along the
printed line as s/he reads. This teaches the children 9 basic concepts
about written English. The illustrations are also on the screen,
and the teacher can discuss the pictures and the text with the
students. Reading aloud this way makes interaction between the reader
and the children being read to, very easy. It fulfills the
paramount requirement for teaching children to read - to have the
material being read, in front of the children, so they can see the
printed lines and the illustrations. The reader can use a finger,
or a pointer, to emphasize words, letters, phonemic phrases, or whole
sentences. And, by asking the children questions about the words
or the illustrations, S/he can create a dialog with them. This is the
basis of Dialogic Reading, which was developed at SUNY-Stonybrook by
Dr. Grover Whitehurst and his team in the 1980's. Dialogic reading is
well researched, and has been shown to improve reading learning
dramatically ñ months improvement in only weeks.
PSM can supply the modified, or original, books, or teachers could do
the modifications. It's just a matter of cutting out the page,
cutting off the text, and then pasting the illustration onto a sheet of
paper with the larger text already printed on it. We also can supply
what we call Book-LETs, which are specially formatted for use with the
SSC.
However, the main source of data for reading training, as described
above, is a CD we provide free with each system. This CD has more than
a hundred stories and poems on it - both in 12-point type and in
24-point, bold, Arial type - on pages in the landscape format. There's
even a set of stories on the CD for teaching primary reading, using the
traditional method. All the teacher has to do is to select a story,
print it out, and use it.
Of course, there are many other ways to use the SSC - flash cards,
spelling words, biological or mineralogical specimens, etc., etc.,
etc. Anything that can fit on an 8 1/2 by 11 inch page in the
landscape format can be displayed; and anything smaller can be
zoomed-in on, and displayed. The one weakness of the SSC in this area
is that it has trouble with glossy illustrations, and pictures, since
the light reflects from those surfaces back into the camera lens.
Are there any flaws in the system? The answer is no, if you consider an
overhead projector acceptable. But the teacher still has to reel
out the cord; and move the SSC around if it creates a blind spot in the
classroom that's not acceptable.
And now the best news of all - the cost of the Super Smart Cart is only
around $3500, primarily depending on the cost of the major components -
the laptop computer, the digital camcorder, and the digital projector
at the time of purchase. Prices of these items fluctuate, and
sometimes these items are on sale, and the cost can come down a little;
and sometimes schools already have compatible items. That cost is
less than it would cost to just wire up a smart classroom, not even
considering equipment cost or the time lost in doing that. There
is no time lost when activating the SSC - and there is almost no
instruction time required to learn how to use it - it's very intuitive.
If you'd like to talk to us about the SSC, we can be reached at (530)
891-5223, or you can write to us at PO Box 9201, Chico, CA 95927.
Our Email address is lucasent1@peoplepc.com. Thanks for dropping
by, Gene
