Rensselaer To Develop High-Tech "Mobile Studio" for Engineering Students

Rensselaer's Academy of Electronic Media is developing the first-of-its kind "mobile studio" for engineering students. Using wireless technology, the studio will allow combined lecture time and lab work anywhere on or off campus.

"With the latest mobile technologies, such as wireless networking, ultraportable computers, and interactive software, our students will be able to, at any time and anywhere, explore engineering principles, devices, and systems that have historically been restricted to specific laboratories or classrooms," said Don Millard, director of the Academy. "The idea is take the untethered world of technology and apply it to engineering education so that we no longer have to be dedicated to a particular facility to provide engaging, interactive learning."

Rensselaer's new teaching model will be developed utilizing the support from a Hewlett Packard (HP) Technology for Teaching grant of $65,819 in computing equipment and funding. The equipment includes 20 high-performance Tablet PCs, which have ultralight portable touch screen computing pads that allow users to draw, type, and access the Internet, and serve as personal digital assistants. A wireless network, digital camera, printer, and specially designed cart for the tablets also is part of the HP grant.

The mobile studio, being tested this fall to be in use by early next year, will serve as a pilot program for a circuits course designed for college sophomores and juniors.

Millard also will use the grant to develop hardware and software that integrates a scope, multimeter (a device that measures electrical currents and resistance), and function generator (a device that produces electrical signals) - turning the Tablet PC into a mobile laboratory instrumentation suite.

"Using the PC to provide similar functionality to that of typical engineering equipment will no longer require us to dedicate bench space that we currently use for housing the many individual units," Millard said.

Rensselaer is taking the university's studio learning model to the next level, Millard said. Pioneered by Rensselaer in the late 1990s and increasingly adopted by universities around the country, the studio class format replaces large lecture halls with smaller classes that integrate lecture and "hands-on" laboratory experiences for actively involved, team-based learning. Studio-based learning is enhanced by state-of-the-art educational technology that includes award-winning interactive courseware as well as wired facilities for computer and high-tech network access.

"Our objective is to expand the studio model so that students can use technology to learn in physical environments that offer greater flexibility for student learning. Those environments may include residence halls, library conferencing areas, the Union, and other non-classroom environments that are no longer restricted by locations with wired network access or specialized equipment," Millard said.