LAS VEGAS, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- A technology meant to make large college lecture classes feel smaller and more interactive is being displayed at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.
LectureTools, developed by the University of Michigan, is a Web-based student response, note-taking and inquiry system that turns potentially distracting cellphones and laptops into learning aids, a university release said Thursday.
UM professors were at CES to provide "a sneak peek at the forthcoming LectureTools iPad application for students and demonstrate how instructors can use their iPad or tablet PC to present lectures wirelessly in class," said Perry Samson, a professor of atmospheric, oceanic and space sciences who developed LectureTools.
More than 4,000 UM undergraduate students in almost 20 classes used LectureTools on laptops or cellphones last semester, the university said.
The technology lets students rate their comprehension of a lecture presentation slide by slide and the instructor can see the feedback in real time.
Questions can be asked that teaching assistants can answer while the lecture continues, and the questions and answers become anonymously visible to the entire class.
Students can type notes in the system alongside the instructor's slides and can bookmark slides for later review, the UM release said.
