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CS 502 Nomadic Computing Experiment |
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CS 502 Nomadic Computing Experiment |
Intel Corporation has provided Cornell with an equipment grant to study the use of laptop computers and wireless networks in education. CS 502 is one of two courses that will be using that equipment during Spring 2000. (The other is COMM 440 taught by Professor Geraldine Gay.) We hope that all students in CS 502 will join in the experiment, but the course can be taken without joining.
If you join the experiment, you will be issued with a Dell laptop computer equipped with a wireless modem. You are encouraged to bring the computers to all classes. This course is based around reading materials that are available on the web. By carrying the computer with you to all classes it combines that function of text book and library.
For a description of the research in applications of nomadic computing, see the Nomad web site. The web site contains the following information:
In CS 502 you will be using digital libraries as well as learning about the computing methods behind them. we are interested in studying two factors about how the ready available of online information changes the way that you study. The first is what is the impact of having access to the Internet actually during class. The second is to compare the reading that you do with the recommendations made.
At several points during the semester, you will be asked to fill out a short questionnaire about your use of libraries and specifically online information. In addition, we will log the URLs that you access during the semester. Software has been installed on your computer that makes your connection to the web through a proxy that monitors the URLs that you access. This proxy can be turned off at any time, but we ask that you use the proxy for all work related to this course.
The information gathered during the course will be used for one purpose only: to understand how you use online information in your study. Hopefully, this information will enable us to understand how you study and improve future courses for you and other students.
The research is designed to protect your privacy. All information gathered as part of this research will be anonymous. At no time will any of the analyses identify individuals. You have the option of withdrawing from the experiment at any time. Please read the following:
William Y. Arms
(wya@cs.cornell.edu)
Last changed: January 12, 2000