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Ocotillo Spotlight on Instructional Technology... is a monthly electronic newsletter that highlights an innovative use of technology at one of the Maricopa Community Colleges.

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Ocotillo Spotlight on Instructional Technology

Note: The Ocotillo Spotlight is no longer published, but all previous issues will remain on this site.

spotlight for March 2004
The March 2004 Ocotillo Spotlight reveals how faculty from the Physical Sciences Department at Scottsdale Community College are using wireless laptops in the Physical Sciences Building for laboratories, course-specific demonstrations, and research.

Snapshots of Technology in Scottsdale's Science Labs

compiled by Doug Sawyer, Physical Sciences Chair, Scottsdale Community College

Wireless Laptops and Collecting Data

The Physical Sciences Department at Scottsdale Community College is bustling with laboratory students using wireless laptops for data collection, data processing, report writing, and internet research. The laptops can be used for any class in the PS building.

Departments using this equipment include Chemistry, Physics, Astronomy, and Geology.

"Kae Robinson, our Physics Stockroom technician suggested using wireless technology when we were trying to estimate how many new computers we would need in our building. If each lab were to be equipped with stationary computers, then about 30 were needed. With wireless technology, 18 portable computers can fill the same need."
- Doug Sawyer, Physical Sciences Chair

Each PC in the lab is equipped with Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, Netscape, and specialized software for all four disciplines.

Automatic data collection is achieved using a LabPro interface from Vernier. The LabPro connects to the USB port of the PC.

A wide variety of probes can be attached to the LabPro to collect temperature, pressure, motion, pH, heart rate, light intensity, blood-oxygen, voltage, and many other types of data. Data can be collected automatically at assigned time intervals, can be manually collected with assigned labels, or can be monitored like a digital meter.

Students collect lab data with LabPro interfaces.

Data from the LabPro devices can be directly manipulated on the laptop computers.

The data is processed using LoggerPro software, again from Vernier. The software is good for producing professional quality graphs and data tables.

Example data generated by LoggerPro software

Accessing Data on the Internet

The computers are also used by the students to prepare their scientific reports, perform internet research, and send their work to their server space or to their personal email accounts.

"The Earthquake Demonstration site is one of the best I've seen."
Merry Nowicki, Scottsdale Geology Faculty

Students are able to access the Internet and view relevant images, such as this image of the Earth's magnetosphere.

Astronomy Software

"We use the computers regularly for day classes and cloudy nights"
Steven Mutz, Astronomy Professor

Screen shots from Redshift Astronomy Lab program.