U N I V E R S I T Y  O F  P I T T S B U R G H

 Volume VIII, Number 1

September 2002

 

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Instructional Technology Update: From Chalk to Bits
By Nick Laudato
CIDDE Associate Director, Instructional Technology JANUS

Did you ever wish you had a copy of what you had written on the blackboard during your class? Would saving every “page” you wrote be helpful to you or to your students?

The University has been steadily deploying a new technology that could change the way we interact with our students in the classroom. The technology, called “Janus,” is not an off-the-shelf product, but rather a combination of existing hardware and software technologies. Janus gets its name from the Roman god of portals, who can see in opposite directions simultaneously.
Janus can be described as an “electronic blackboard on steroids.” It allows you to sit or stand, facing the class, while making drawings and annotations using a touch-sensitive graphics pad. Students view your writings by means of a data/video projector. Janus offers many advantages over a blackboard. With Janus, you can:

  • Annotate over the slides of a PowerPoint presentation during class with the pen, highlighting important information or making ad hoc drawings to illustrate a concept.

  • Use Janus as a virtual whiteboard, creating an effectively unlimited chalkboard space. It is easy to move back-and-forth between whiteboard pages and nothing needs to be erased to make room for a new page.

  • Display and save classroom annotations, and post them to the Web or embed them into Blackboard for later review by both students and instructors.

  • Prepare illustrations and notes in advance and then modify or supplement them in the classroom. For example, a math instructor may prepare some pages of the Cartesian coordinate system to make it easier to graph spontaneous examples in the classroom.

  • Capture whatever is displayed on the computer screen on a “transparency” layer, make annotations on it using the pen, and save it as a graphic image.

One subtle, but important, benefit of Janus is the way it allows us to interact with students. From the long tradition of writing notes on a blackboard in class, we become accustomed to turning our backs on our students and often talking to the blackboard. Janus changes this model, allowing us to face our students while still using all of the capabilities of a blackboard, and more. This seemingly small change can make the class more intimate, allowing a greater degree of eye contact with students. Consequently, we can better gauge students’ understanding and improve communication. Once you’ve used this technology, turning your back to your class to write on a blackboard feels awkward and unnatural.

Janus overcomes many of the traditional presentation problems we have faced in classrooms, such as those faced by faculty in wheelchairs who cannot reach the blackboard (the need for which Janus was was originally conceived). Janus is also especially attractive in larger lecture halls where viewing distances make chalkboard use impractical. It literally revolutionizes instructional technology opportunities in the classroom environment. With the development of Janus, the Provost’s Classroom Management Team has upgraded its minimum installation standards to include this technology in all future renovation plans. As of June 2002, 13 classrooms have been equipped and another dozen are planned for the remainder of 2002. Most of these rooms have built-in computers and also will be configured to accept a portable PC.
Because it will take several years to deploy Janus into all of Pitt’s renovated classrooms, Instructional Media Services (IMS) allows faculty to request daily delivery and setup in classrooms. IMS gives special priority to faculty in wheelchairs.

Janus is available in two formats. The standard format couples a 15-inch diagonal touch sensitive Hitachi panel (manufactured by Wacom) with a microcomputer. The panel is electrostatic, requiring a special stylus, but allowing you to rest your hand on the surface as you draw. The second format uses a Fujitsu Lifebook laptop computer with a 10-inch diagonal pressure sensitive surface. Although not as large and flexible as the Hitachi panel, the Fujitsu can be easily moved and quickly set up in the classroom, and is appropriate for simpler annotations.

Touch sensitive computing options are evolving at a rapid pace and promise to dramatically change the way we make classroom presentations and interact with our students.

Instructional Media Services can deliver Janus to any classroom and CIDDE provides a short training session in its use.

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