The Mobile Wireless Classroom

An idea is born

In February 2003, Ian Siemer (a colleague in my office) and I were thinking of ways to make computers more accessible to students in classrooms here at Eastern Washington University. We wanted an alternative to laptops, not only because of cost, but because laptops often create a barrier between instructor and student and can become a distraction in the classroom. We wanted a system with similar functionality to a laptop-equipped classroom, but with less intrusive technology and at a lower cost.

We then began investigating the possibility of creating a classroom set of Pocket PCs as an alternative to a much more costly set of desktop or laptop computers. At the time, EWU already had several sets of wireless-capable laptops, but they were assigned to a single classroom, generally required installed infrastructure (wireless access points and mounted projector), and were cost-prohibitive for many colleges and departments on campus.

Based on my personal experience using Pocket PCs, and Ian's insistence that students would be excited to use them in class, we posited that a set of Pocket PCs and related accessories designed to travel with them from building to building and classroom to classroom would not only be an inexpensive alternative to laptops, but would be an attractive option for many departments and instructors on campus. Thus the Mobile Wireless Classroom was born.

Putting together the pieces

The Mobile Wireless Classroom (MWC) is a transportable, self-contained classroom set of handheld computers and a centralized server for electronic polling, quizzing, testing, assessment, and streaming audio & video, connected via an ad hoc wireless network. In a nutshell, the MWC is a set of 30 Pocket PCs stored in a custom built cart (complete with charging cradles, laptop server, projector, and wireless access points) that can be moved to any classroom on campus and used by any instructor in any subject.

For hardware, we chose the Dell Axim X5 (running Windows Mobile 2003) for student use and matched that with a Dell Latitude D600 (running Windows Server 2003) acting as both instructor laptop and server. We mounted 30 cradles and 30 spare batteries in a standard (read: ugly) wheeled cart, along with two Apple Airport wireless access points (Snow models, modified with external antennas), a BenQ PB7200 projector, and pre-wired everything to minimize setup time. Instructors have only to move the cart into their classroom, plug in a power cable to the wall, an optional network cable to the campus network, and the MWC is ready to go in about 90 seconds.

The network cable is optional because many applications of the MWC do not require an outside network connection, and simply not connecting to the campus network keeps students on task and away from Hotmail and eBay. Aside from network access, we did not otherwise limit the Pocket PCs because as a pilot project, we did not want to discount any possibility.

For software, we chose QuestionMark Perception 3 (http://www.questionmark.com/us/home.htm) to drive online assessments and tests, and TurningTechnologies TurningPoint vPad 2003 (http://www.turningtechnologies.com/) for interactive lectures and quizzing and polling. We use Sprite Clone (http://www.spritesoftware.com) for maintenance and cloning of the Pocket PCs, saving hours of configuration. Most navigation is done via an internal Web site and Pocket Internet Explorer, so development is all in HTML and can be easily updated.