IST-VPE PROJECT

Hewlett Packard Grant Funds Mobile Learning and Research Project

Technology Vision:

Mobility is a cornerstone of Penn State’s overall vision of the modern, well-connected campus. In an environment as diverse and broad as Penn State, the use of mobile technologies will empower new and engaging information sharing that will revolutionize learning, research and service. Within the School of Information Sciences and Technology (IST), we are currently taking steps to create a virtual pervasive learning environment for ultimate learning so as to achieve our vision of building leaders for the digital global economy. Our dream for the virtual environment includes (a) the mobile infrastructure, (b) a set of pervasive classrooms, and (c) a collaborative mobile learning environment.

Currently, IST is in the process of constructing a new state-of-the-art building that will provide a networked and mobilized infrastructure that is “always on” for the citizens of the space. Also, IST has undertaken several curricular initiatives and stands ready to integrate mobile technology into all of the School. It is our assessment that IST stands at a level 2 in its progress in terms of executing our mobile technology vision.

Mobile Technology Plans:

The School of IST is currently constructing a wireless computing environment that will enable mobile technology access within the new IST building. For pilot tests of the technologies, IST has installed several small wireless access points throughout its locations on campus. These access points are used to share Internet connections within the common working spaces of IST. In the future, it is the hope of IST to connect to not only Internet based services, but also to data acquisition tools, administrative applications, and other high level opportunities.

Mobile technology plays a major role in the development of IST’s students. It is the belief of IST that mobile technologies are integral technologies in the global economy of the 21st century. Curricular additions are being made that include several upper division courses that focus on the issues related to mobile technologies. These curricular initiatives are shaping the workforce being developed by IST. This move also illustrates IST’s commitment to research in the areas of mobile technologies. Building thought leadership in this area is of critical importance to IST if it is to succeed in the classroom.

Mobile Technology Implementation:

Penn. State was ranked No. 12 in Yahoo Internet Life's 100 Most Wired Colleges in the United States. (http://www.zdnet.com/zdsubs/yahoo/content/100mostwired/table_uni.html). Its campus has one of the most advanced Internet 2 connections. The advanced information technology group of Information Technology Services (ITS) has explored the use of wireless network for many years. Recently, it has started to deploy wireless LAN in the computer labs, residence hall study lounges, classrooms, and other places people gather to work or study. In an ITS wireless LAN, all Internet traffic exchanged between the user's laptop and server is encrypted via the university’s wireless VPN server (http://www.otc.psu.edu/Services/Staff/Data/lan/Wireless_LAN.html). The new IST building will be authenticated via ITS systems to ensure security and roaming compatibility with other part of the campus.

Problems and Opportunity:

Increasing network complexity, greater demand for Internet access, and an emphasis on mobility have created various opportunities but also induced a number of problems for organizations/universities. Security is one of the major concerns with mobile services. The restriction in pervasive devices such as screen size, operational memory, and limited input capability make usability another major issue. Team collaborative capability is essential to problem based and active learning; however, it is a major weakness in today’s e- or m- learning environment. Other concerns with mobile environment include interoperability, scalability, signal interference, standardization, integration with existing systems, health risks, legal, and privacy issues. The facility not only would provide IST a unique opportunity to experience and identify problems fac-ing in mobile environment, it particularly allow us to articulate and test the proposed solutions and developed innovative services in web scraping, personalization, dynamic data retrieval, voice activation, short message services, location based services, and others.

Impact on Teaching and Learning:

The proposed project will have a tremendous impact on our teaching and students’ learning effectiveness. The impacts are much easier be measured by the number of students trained or benefit from the project, but more difficult to assess how its impact on industry and society. First, the mobile learning system would extend our e-learning to collaborative m learning capability and is applicable to four IST core courses, which are currently used by 20 Penn. State campuses, several Colleges in PA, and the PA Governor’s School of IT. The pervasive classroom would allow us to deliver new curriculum to address issues facing in m learning environment. The facility can be used in almost every IST or Penn. State courses but is especially beneficial to major courses in IT and systems integration (IST 301, 302, 420, and 421) and emerging technologies courses (e.g., intelligent agents, data mining, mobile information services, information & cyber security, etc.). We estimated that more than 2000 students each semester would receive direct benefits from using the innovative environment.

The proposed learning environment is virtual in the sense that it is scalable and adaptive. The success of the project can be easily adapted by other colleges at the main campus, 24 other Penn. State campus locations, and other institutions and organizations as well.

Project Visibility:

Opened in 1999, the School of Information Sciences and Technology (IST) at the Penn. State is fresh and rapidly developing, driven by ongoing partnerships with business, education, and government. Our innovative spirit has been recognized by the Smithsonian Institution. Our newness has afforded us a chance to break ground and create a dynamic interdisciplinary research and teaching structure that provides for different and complementary academic strengths within our school, the kind of environment rarely found elsewhere. Our innovative curricula have attracted much attention in the US. The new building will become a landmark at Penn. State where modern information technologies will be demonstrated and benchmarked. Penn. State has a large volume of loyal alumni and has direct interactions with major medias in the nations. We will do our best to share this partnership project with others. The project team is also deeply committed to sharing re-search results through conference presentations and writing articles for both academic and professional audiences.