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Essential to the redesign of this course was the integration of laptop technology. Since 2005, the college has required incoming first-year students to purchase wireless-enabled laptops for use both inside and outside of the classroom. The challenge has been how to effectively integrate and use this new technology to improve teaching and learning. While some professors have argued that wireless laptops distract students from learning, this re-design consciously included specific strategies to incorporate and use wireless laptops as essential to the course content, activities, assessment and communication. The idea was that by making laptops central to the course design, students would see them as part of the course and essential to their success in the course.

The design for technology integration began with the concept of online lectures to replace traditional face to face lectures. This decision was based on the fact of increasing student use of the Internet, especially for streaming video and audio content. Each learning module in the course included Web-based streaming lectures using Adobe Captivate.® Essentially, this software took Powerpoint slides and synchronized them with produced audio lectures using an Apple iPod® as a recording device and outputted them as Adobe Flash Movie files Click here for sample. Must have Adobe Flash player plug-in). The decision to use online streaming lectures was simple: if students viewed lectures online outside of class, more time would be availble during our limited face-to-face classes to discuss historical concepts, themes and ideas raised during the lectures. In addition, more time would be available to engage teaching and learning objectives through discussion, in-class e-activities and student presentations. In short, Internet-based technology would improve the time effeciencies of the course and allow more time for valuable face-to-face instructor-student interaction.

A second aspect of the design for technology integration was the use of e-activities using laptops in the classroom. (See section on "Content Learning Modules" for specific e-activities associated with the course. ) Activities were designed to meet specific student learning goals and objectives while simulataneously increasing student "IT fluency" by using laptops to increase student concepts, skills and capabilities in the IT. These e-activities included using pre-screened Web sites to reseach class structure of 19th c. societies, using primary documents availabe in archives on the Web (war letters) to explore the social dimensions of WWI, a video gaming simulation to experience decision-making and diplomacy in the years leading up to WWII, and finally, using primary and secondary sources available in the Web to research a debate on the U.S. decision to drop an atomic bomb on Japan in 1945. These activities were conducted in class with the students and instructor using laptops and wireless access to the Internet.

Finally, all assessments, including quizzes, exams, essay submission and survey were conducted online. Again, the thinking behind this decision was based on effecient time management and maximizing the face-to-face interaction between the instructor and the students.

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