On 1 October, 2008, 120 representatives from more than 25 Australian Universities were treated to a preview of the future in teaching spaces. Delegates at the Next Generation Learning Spaces Colloquium inspected a massive installation of more than 100 Wacom pen displays which formed the centrepiece of a new A$2.5M teaching space at the University of Queensland.

The Advanced Concept Teaching Space (ACTS) has been funded from the Australian Commonwealth Government’s Learning and Performance Fund. Located in the new General Purpose North 4 building on Campbell Drive, ACTS is a three-level tiered lecture theatre with capacity for 101 students. It was conceived as a concept and technology demonstration space that would establish the University of Queensland at the forefront of research into Teaching and Learning infrastructure.

The concept of ACTS was devised by UQ manager of Teaching Technology Support Derek Powell and is squarely aimed at advancing the pedagogy of one-to-many teaching; lectures and seminars.

Although the 1500 m² ACTS has the look and feel of a traditional lecture theatre, it hosts futuristic systems designed to maximise communication between teacher and students.

The stage area accommodates two presentation lecterns in front of a display wall featuring main and side projection, interactive white boards and front of stage preview monitors allowing a wide range of presentation options for lecturers. A computer rack room is located to one side of the theatre, with glimpses into the inner workings of the technology provided via small slot windows. The ACTS also features two observation rooms, one of which is accessible from an external walkway, allowing easy and discreet entry and exit.

A major technology innovation has been to place an individual 15" Wacom DTI-520UB pen displays at each seat. The pen display functions both as a display and as a control and response system via its industry leading on-screen pen input capabilities. This allows a host of innovative services, which can be tailored to each teaching requirement:

• Look ahead and review
  
• Polling and voting responder
  
• Enable anonymous questions
  
• Download to disc
  
• eLearning system integration
  
• Automated language translation of PowerPoint slides
  
• Information capture for research

The PC technology in ACTS is based on Hewlett Packard’s Consolidated Client Infrastructure, a technology that combines server style reliability with high level desktop performance through the use of HP Remote Graphics software. The user interface which combines a HP Thin Client with the Wacom Tablet gives the user uniquely flexible control over the software.As there is no keyboard nor moving parts in the Thin Client devices, this also creates a silent environment for teaching. The detailed IT design brief was implemented by Luke Angel, Principal IT Officer of UQ Campus Technology Support, with the assistance of Hewlett Packard’s Remote Client Solutions team.

ACTS uses new the new technology to maximise the opportunities for interaction between teacher and students; amongst students and between students and the learning materials. A primary goal is to find ways to open new communication channels during teaching sessions. Crucially, this includes providing the most flexible student interface possible -- in the form of the Wacom pen displays. Via this interface, students can interact with the material in a variety of intuitive ways.

Teacher-Student Interaction

Clearly, there is still a role in teacher to student interactions for the use of a projection screen and consideration was made in the space design for this to be a prime element but attention was also given to ways of enabling a “back channel” from students to teacher. Activities in this axis included instant polling which enables students to instantaneously vote on questions, encouraging involvement and also providing teachers with immediate feedback on student understanding of key concepts. Other techniques identified as worthy of trial included anonymous interaction in the form of submitting questions via instant messaging which may allow teachers to better manage queries without interrupting the delivery of material. The touch screen interface is crucial in this regard, allowing a much wider variety of responses than the traditional “clicker” or even a keyboard. With the touch screen, students can write, draw graphs or diagrams or annotate over existing material, giving a wide scope in response to questions.

Student-Student Interaction

Academics consistently identified a need to allow students to break into small groups for short periods to discuss matters raised in the presentation and to become active in their participation. Sharing material is easy with the touch screen, which is mounted on a swivel so that students can share and discuss material with their neighbours in a small group mode.

Student interaction with Learning Materials

Consideration of this axis led to a number of possibilities for the touch screen interface. Students should ideally be able to record and annotate on the materials being presented and perhaps be able to access different “layers” of content which has been prepared in advance. This is positively enabled with the pen interface, along with other innovative facilities like translation and access for visually and hearing impaired students which also become more accessible and effective.

The Goals of ACTS

ACTS will be, in effect, a laboratory for teaching technology and is capable of rigorously evaluating each new practice. It will allow the best emerging technology to be tested and adopted into mainstream UQ teaching spaces far sooner than otherwise possible. This includes a number of specific directions for researching new ideas and infrastructure in the lecture setting.

Integration of Portable devices

Facilities allow students to use their own portable devices to review according to their own preferences.

• Using various software options, recordings of lectures may be made available to students’ players as they happen (complete with graphics)
  
• By capturing content from electronic whiteboards and graphics tablets we can record ‘worked examples’ (including handwritten formulae) as they happen to allow student review at a later date
• Other content such as readings, references and more can also be downloaded, saving time and resources and enriching the learning experience

Advanced Control Systems

The emphasis of the automated control system is its ease of use and a design philosophy that places the needs of the teachers first. Advanced features like RF identification tags are used to set individual preferences in the complete system so setup is fast and intuitive. The control system will ‘learn’ the individual preferences of each identified user and quickly set up to reflect their preferences.

Innovative Lighting Design

Lighting is used not only to direct attention and enable note taking, but as a deliberate artistic design element to inspire and motivate. The lighting is flexible enough to cater for a wide range of applications in the space from lectures to conference sessions to d-Cinema film exhibition and beyond. Accent lighting highlights architectural features to produce a series of very distinctive looks which can be varied according to the time of day and the nature of the functions in the space at that time.

Enabling Research

Integral to the space is an observation room which allows a technical aide to assist with smooth operation of the advanced systems and provides facilities for researchers to observe and gather data regarding patterns of interaction and educational outcomes.

Keeping the Space Current

An issue with any new space, especially one that contains leading edge technology, is that it can date very quickly. Thus the design and installation of ACTS anticipated the likelihood of advances in technology over the lifetime of the space, and made provision for updating the display systems as new technology emerges. In the same way, the systems that control and enable the space are able to be upgraded without the need for a major rebuild of the physical space.

Importantly, teachers will not have to embark on a massive learning curve to use the new facility. Teachers can choose which technologies to trial and do not have to come to terms with all of the new ideas at once.

(This paper is based on The University of Queensland Briefing Paper on the Advanced Concept Teaching Space.)

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About Wacom

Wacom Company Ltd., (Tokyo Stock Exchange 6727), is a global company based in Japan with subsidiaries in the United States (Wacom Technology Corporation), Germany (Wacom Europe GmbH), China (Wacom China Corporation), Korea (Wacom Korea Co., Ltd.), Australia (Wacom Australia Pty, Ltd), Singapore (Wacom Singapore Pte. Ltd.), and Taiwan (Wacom Taiwan Information Co., Ltd.). In addition to these subsidiaries, Wacom has affiliate offices around the world to support marketing and distribution in over 150 countries. Founded in 1983, Wacom's vision to bring people and technology closer together through natural interface technologies has made it the world's leading manufacturer of pen tablets, interactive pen displays, and digital interface solutions. The advanced technology of Wacom's intuitive input devices has been used to create some of the most exciting digital art, films, special effects, fashion and designs around the world and provides business and home users with their leading interface technology to express their personality. Millions of customers are using its cordless, battery-free, pressure-sensitive pen technology.

About The University of Queensland, St. Lucia

The University of Queensland (UQ) is one of Australia's premier learning and research institutions. It is the oldest university in Queensland and has produced generations of graduates who have gone on to become leaders in all areas of society and industry.
Website: http://www.uq.edu.au/

The Advanced Concept Teaching Space (ACTS) is located on level 1 of the General Purpose (North) number 4 building (GPN4), located on Campbell Road, the University of Queensland, St Lucia campus.

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