Teaching and Learning as Multimedia Authoring: The Classroom 2000 Project

We view college classroom teaching and learning as a multimedia authoring activity. The classroom provides a rich setting in which a number of different forms of communication co-exist, such as speech, writing and projected images. Much of the information in a lecture is poorly recorded or lost currently. Our hypothesis is that tools to aid in the capture and subsequent access of classroom information will enhance both the learning and teaching experience. To test that hypothesis, we initiated the Classroom 2000 project at Georgia Tech. The purpose of the project is to apply ubiquitous computing technology to facilitate automatic capture, integration and access of multimedia information in the educational setting of the university classroom. In this paper, we discuss various prototype tools we have created and used in a variety of courses and provide an initial evaluation of the acceptance and effectiveness of the technology. We also share some lessons learned in applying ubiquitous computing technology in a real setting.