An old dog needs assistance to learn new tricks. In this case, CDTL staff very patiently and ably rendered assistance. After 19 years of traditional teaching at NUS, I was able to exploit and enjoy the use of multimedia techniques in developing a course on ‘Electrical Circuits’ to 433 Electrical Engineering freshmen. It took me about 600 hours, but finally a comprehensive course consisting of about 450 PowerPoint slides was published on the Integrated Virtual Learning Environment (IVLE). This is how it all came about.

In July 1998 the Global Campus Project was launched to provide students with an environment for enhanced IT utilisation. Staff were urged to develop suitable courseware to encourage the widespread use of notebook computers. So I set out to develop a course at a time when no one could offer definite directions and opinions as to what was to be done and what software was to be used. I participated in numerous useful CDTL seminars that helped demonstrate the schemes that were available. The IVLE was not fully developed and as user-friendly then as it is today. I tried out various methods, including ScreenCam for speech recording and PowerPoint-animated slides. But I discovered that speech recording and animation (with/without sound) were not entirely compatible. Each courseware packet (chapter) also had to be small enough (i.e. 1 Megabyte, or less, per packet) to permit easy downloading by students in their homes.

Finally, a textware course was developed which allowed students to study directly from a PC screen. In a way it was like blackboard teaching with the beneficial difference that a student was able to control the pace of study at will to match his/her absorption rate. It was not a case of converting ‘old’ lecture transparencies into a PowerPoint presentation, exploiting the special effects available, or animating textual presentation in the form that secretaries might prepare for their bosses. In animating block diagrams and electrical circuit diagrams, I had to develop my own methods through trial and error to achieve exactly what I wanted; good judgement was required to achieve a balance of techniques that preserved academic and professional standards. As an experiment on developing confidence in students, one of the main topics in my course was prepared for self-study by students (no lectures). This part of the presentation, therefore, had to be designed with more care. I was also able to incorporate an interactive video clip from the Internet into my lectures.

Towards the end of the course I realised that some of the sound effects incorporated in my presentation might be distracting to students rather than arresting their attention, similar perhaps to the disturbance created by pagers and mobile phones. I have to consider reducing or even eliminating sound effects from future presentations of the course.

Some staff may not be aware that PowerPoint allows one to draw on a slide using a mouse in much the same way as one draws on a transparency with a pen. This requires practice and I managed with difficulty, as a mouse is not as good as a pen. Later with the assistance of the Centre for Instructional Technology (CIT), I was able to loan out a ‘pen and tablet’ apparatus (WACOM Pen Partner) from a vendor for a short time. This was more effective. More advanced equipment, in the form of a duplicate screen on which one could write directly, was available but too expensive. So I am looking forward to the provision of such equipment in the coming semester.

My main concern initially was the perceived difficulty in changing the ‘mind-sets’ of students. Despite the fact that the textware ought to have been used for individual study, mass-produced copies of slides were being replicated and distributed, undoubtedly increasing the ‘peer pressure’ on students. I have constantly advised students to make their own notes according to individual needs whilst studying directly from a PC, and also to develop the habit of referring to other texts. At first, it appeared that old habits would die hard. Later on, I discovered that there were more than 10,000 hits on the IVLE for my course. Although the number of hits may not be the best indicator of IVLE usage, it appears to be the only indicator presently. Therefore, I would like to think that I have achieved a reasonable measure of success in providing a learning environment consistent with the university’s expectations.