From Colored Chalk to Mouseovers
In the Spotlight: Raymond E. White
A few years ago, Astronomy Professor Emeritus Ray White talked enthusiastically as he described his working relationship with the LTC's lead graphic designer, Mike Martelle. He used words like "collaboration," "creative" and "partnership" to describe the process of moving from colored chalk to mouseovers.
What the late Dr. White (he passed away October 12, 2004) was referring to is an interactive lesson on Celestial Coordinate Systems that the two of them had conceived and created. The lesson was incorporated into the larger VALA (Virtual Adaptive Learning Architecture) project created at the LTC. A lesson that in the past was most efficiently handled with the use of colored chalk on a blackboard is now available in a creatively built, dynamic vehicle. This lesson presents the fundamental properties of coordinate systems as well as providing information on how they are formed and related in an easy-to-grasp, interesting format.
The iterative process began with Dr. White drawing black and white sketches of the various coordinates and then using color to differentiate each one and represent their relationships to each other. Together he and Mike brainstormed ideas of how the lesson could become interactive to more clearly show students both the linear progression of building the coordinates systems, as well as to allow them to access the information in a random manner while still maintaining a clear understanding of the sequencing. One of the resulting techniques used to achieve this was "mouseovers," also known as "rollovers."
"Not only is the learning experience much more interactive and dynamic, but the concept is quick to grasp. It's now easy to understand, almost viscerally, where the coordinate systems come from," said Dr. White. By moving their computer mouse across each fundamental property of a coordinate system, students can clearly identify, by interaction and the use of different colors, how each coordinate system is derived.
Many would have already considered Ray White technologically savvy, with a strong desire to use technology in teaching. He was involved in programming ILIAC I computers back in 1955 and said he'd been "wanting to do stuff like this for half a century!" The benefits of exploring technology are diverse and plentiful but he also believed that some faculty face barriers in incorporating it into their teaching, not necessarily because they are afraid in some way of technology, but more often because they are not even aware what the possibilities are. This is where the staff at the LTC can be so crucial to the process.
View examples of the collaboration on this project:
Building the Coordinate Systems:
Essential properties
Equatorial
Galactic
Combined Coordinate Systems:
Dr. White is one of the many faculty members who have taken advantage of the personnel, the resources and the advanced equipment at the LTC. In addition to working with Mike Martelle on this project, he also found himself collaborating with numerous other staff members on database programming, video production and more.
When asked to name the major benefit of working with the LTC: its people, the training, the equipment or the support, Dr. White quickly answered, "all of the above."
To learn more about the possibilities of using technology in your instruction, contact Leaning Technology Services. Our people will be pleased to collaborate.
