Configuration and Use of Lightboard System in Online Environment: Lessons Learned During COVID 19 Pandemic

George Okere

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Conference: 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition
Location: Minneapolis, MN
Publication Date: August 23, 2022
Start Date: June 26, 2022
End Date: June 29, 2022
Conference Session: Construction Engineering Division Technical Session 2
Page Count: 13
DOI: 10.18260/1-2--40596
Permanent URL: https://peer.asee.org/40596
Download Count: 413

Paper Authors

biography

George Okere University of Cincinnati

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George is an associate professor educator, and heavy highway chair (endowed position) in the Civil and Architectural Engineering and Construction Management Department in the College of Engineering and Applied Science at the University of Cincinnati (UC). George has over 23 years of construction industry work experience, and 11.5 years of which was with Kiewit, where he worked on various heavy civil projects. He received his PhD in Technology Management from Indiana State University with specialization in Construction Management. His research focus is in the area of contract administration on heavy civil projects. His teaching areas include 1. introduction to the built environment and construction management, 2. construction materials and methods, 3. construction equipment, 4. building construction cost estimating, 5. heavy civil construction cost estimating, 6. project planning, scheduling, and control, 7. temporary structures, and 8. contract changes and claims.

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Abstract

Teaching and learning environments include two basic modes – face-to-face and online environments. It is a known fact that most students prefer a face-to-face environment to an online environment for one main reason – engagement. Within the context of learning, engagement relates to how well students’ senses are engaged and stimulated for learning. The design of course delivery and instructional technologies aim to engage students for effective learning. Teaching online has its advantages, but it also falls short of effective student engagements. Due to the COVID 19 pandemic, educators were forced to teach online and to find creative ways to deliver the courses in an engaging format. One of those course delivery and instructional technology is the use of the lightboard (glass board) system. Lightboard is a writing board with clear glass as the writing surface and special neon markers for writing. The instructor faces the camera/students when he/she writes, and the writing on the board glows from the light beam on the glass. Lightboard is set up in a low-light space with only the focus light directed at the glass board and the instructor writing on the glass board. In addition, a dark drop cloth hug behind the instructor is used to enhance the background and help to make the writing on the glass board crisp and clear. Lightboard setup allows instructors to write, diagram, illustrate, gesture, demonstrate, or explain a formula without blocking the board with their body and without turning their back to the camera/students. Because the writing on the glass board is backward in the direct view of a recording camera, the writing must be flipped in the video streaming system, and what the students see in real-time is a horizontally flipped video streaming from the online video-conferencing application. In this research, lightboard system as a tool is evaluated from the point of student engagement and the ability to reduce the transactional distance that may exist between the students and the instructors. This research follows a qualitative research method. The research examined the design, configuration, setup, and use of lightboard system for teaching synchronous online courses from home during the COVID 19 pandemic. The research evaluated students’ perception of lightboard system as an effective course delivery and instructional technology. The research findings indicate that there are a few easy to find, affordable components, and open-source video recording and live streaming software that can be configured to create a lightboard system. The research findings also show that majority of the students found the use of the lightboard system as engaging. The research strongly recommends the use of lightboard system for online course lectures requiring drawing details, writing formulas, showing step-by-step computations on the board. In addition, the research recommends lightboard system for flipped classroom in cases where video capture of lectures entail diagrams, formulas, and computations.

Citation
Format

Okere, G. (2022, August), Configuration and Use of Lightboard System in Online Environment: Lessons Learned During COVID 19 Pandemic Paper presented at 2022 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Minneapolis, MN. 10.18260/1-2--40596

TY - CPAPER
AB - Teaching and learning environments include two basic modes – face-to-face and online environments. It is a known fact that most students prefer a face-to-face environment to an online environment for one main reason – engagement. Within the context of learning, engagement relates to how well students’ senses are engaged and stimulated for learning. The design of course delivery and instructional technologies aim to engage students for effective learning. Teaching online has its advantages, but it also falls short of effective student engagements. Due to the COVID 19 pandemic, educators were forced to teach online and to find creative ways to deliver the courses in an engaging format. One of those course delivery and instructional technology is the use of the lightboard (glass board) system. Lightboard is a writing board with clear glass as the writing surface and special neon markers for writing. The instructor faces the camera/students when he/she writes, and the writing on the board glows from the light beam on the glass. Lightboard is set up in a low-light space with only the focus light directed at the glass board and the instructor writing on the glass board. In addition, a dark drop cloth hug behind the instructor is used to enhance the background and help to make the writing on the glass board crisp and clear. Lightboard setup allows instructors to write, diagram, illustrate, gesture, demonstrate, or explain a formula without blocking the board with their body and without turning their back to the camera/students. Because the writing on the glass board is backward in the direct view of a recording camera, the writing must be flipped in the video streaming system, and what the students see in real-time is a horizontally flipped video streaming from the online video-conferencing application. In this research, lightboard system as a tool is evaluated from the point of student engagement and the ability to reduce the transactional distance that may exist between the students and the instructors. This research follows a qualitative research method. The research examined the design, configuration, setup, and use of lightboard system for teaching synchronous online courses from home during the COVID 19 pandemic. The research evaluated students’ perception of lightboard system as an effective course delivery and instructional technology. The research findings indicate that there are a few easy to find, affordable components, and open-source video recording and live streaming software that can be configured to create a lightboard system. The research findings also show that majority of the students found the use of the lightboard system as engaging. The research strongly recommends the use of lightboard system for online course lectures requiring drawing details, writing formulas, showing step-by-step computations on the board. In addition, the research recommends lightboard system for flipped classroom in cases where video capture of lectures entail diagrams, formulas, and computations.
AU - George Okere
CY - Minneapolis, MN
DA - 2022/08/23
PB - ASEE Conferences
TI - Configuration and Use of Lightboard System in Online Environment: Lessons Learned During COVID 19 Pandemic
UR - https://peer.asee.org/40596
DO - 10.18260/1-2--40596
ER -