{"id":308267,"date":"2006-05-25T05:00:14","date_gmt":"2006-05-25T12:00:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/?p=308267"},"modified":"2016-10-19T08:41:38","modified_gmt":"2016-10-19T15:41:38","slug":"multimouse-makes-computer-learning-communal-experience","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.microsoft.com\/en-us\/research\/blog\/multimouse-makes-computer-learning-communal-experience\/","title":{"rendered":"Multimouse Makes Computer Learning a Communal Experience"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Rob Knies, Managing Editor, Microsoft Research<\/p>\n

It was just past dusk when we ventured into the heart of the Nakalabande slum in the Jayanagar area of south-central Bangalore. We were seven in number\u2014Kentaro, Udai, Vidya, Indrani, and me, accompanied by a reporter and a cameraman from Aaj Tak, one of India\u2019s leading Hindi news channels. A skinny dog ambled listlessly by as we headed up an alley, then turned left into a warren of narrow walkways, feeling our way in the cool November night. A turn here, a turn there, and we arrived at our destination, a tiny house with a roof of corrugated steel. Inside the door was a small room, 8 feet wide and 10 feet long, with dingy green paint on the walls, overflowing with children, more than a dozen of them, ranging in age from 8 to 15. We came bearing a gift: an opportunity to gain entry into the IT revolution. A few of us were beckoned inside.<\/em><\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

Udai Singh Pawar is one of those lucky persons able to match a particular goal with the training, the motivation, and the wherewithal to achieve it. In his case, the goal is to improve the quality of education in his native India.<\/p>\n

Pawar, an assistant researcher for Microsoft Research\u2019s India lab (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a>, located in Bangalore, had taken note of a challenge endemic to schools in his part of the world: not enough computers to go around. In such a scenario, what typically happens is that one child sits in front of a PC, hand on mouse, while others gather round. The result is no surprise: The mouse-manipulating student learns computer skills and masters the subject at hand, and the others grow bored and disengaged.<\/p>\n

To help share the learning among a larger pool of students, Pawar developed a solution called Multimouse, with which as many as 10 students at once can use, and therefore learn from, a PC.<\/p>\n

In a paper entitled Multiple Mice for Computers in Education in Developing Countries<\/em> (opens in new tab)<\/span><\/a>\u2014to be presented during ICTD 2006, the International Conference on Information and Communication Technologies and Development, co-sponsored by Microsoft Research India and to be held at the University of California Berkeley on May 25-26\u2014co-authors Pawar, University of California Berkeley Ph.D. student Joyojeet Pal, and Kentaro Toyama, assistant managing director of Microsoft Research India, state, \u201cThe obvious technical solution is to provide each child with a mouse and cursor on screen, thus effectively multiplying the amount of interaction per student per PC for the cost of a few extra mice.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn countries like India and China,\u201d Pawar says, \u201cthere\u2019s a lot of interest in using computers in rural villages, but because of financial reasons, you can\u2019t have enough of them. This was the model for the whole program. There are so many children and not enough computers, so computers are shared, and children fight for the mouse.\u201d<\/p>\n

The multiple-input technique, termed Single Display Groupware, has been around for a while, but, to Pawar\u2019s surprise, it had not been applied to an educational setting for poor communities. Sensing a unique opportunity, he set about changing that.<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

It was a tight squeeze inside the house. Kentaro and Udai began to connect a laptop computer. The children stared quizzically at their sudden, strange visitors. A cameraman? An American? \u201cWhat\u2019s your name?\u201d inquired one raven-haired beauty, about 10. When told, she paused, then repeated: \u201cRob?\u201d She began to giggle, and the others followed in suit. Here, 21 travel hours and 10,000 miles removed from home, why wouldn\u2019t my presence have prompted a temporary, odd diversion? But that didn\u2019t last long. Udai clicked an icon on the laptop, and the children pushed forward for a better look.<\/em><\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

Pawar, with assistance from Toyama and Sushma Uppala, a research intern at that lab, developed software that enables multi-colored cursors to co-exist on a single computer monitor and devised a couple of sample games to serve as a proof of concept. They also had to write a mouse driver that would enable Windows\u00ae<\/sup> to allow use of multiple mice and cursors on one monitor simultaneously.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe feel Multimouse is a really good, new, interactive technology,\u201d Pawar says, \u201cfor any educational application. But if we want people to buy into the model, we need to allow them to use it for themselves.\u201d<\/p>\n

To that end, the team is building a software-development kit, to be distributed online this summer. Included in that kit will be a simple application, being developed by Uppala, that will enable schools, teachers, and even students to build their own Multimouse content.<\/p>\n

But just as valuable to ultimate users is providing a glimpse of the potential for such technology.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019m doing right now,\u201d Pawar says, \u201cis making sure it\u2019s robust, making sure that other people can use it, so that I can give it to folks, they can make their own applications, and they can run it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Such applications can vary in nature. Some could be competitive. Some might involve learning by sharing. Some figure to be collaborative; those could become particularly education-rich. And some might even be teacher-directed. But all must be created anew; single-user programs are inadequate for use with Multimouse.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy aim,\u201d Pawar states, \u201cis to build an application along all these different areas to show how Multimouse can be used.\u201d<\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

The TV cameraman shot video as one child at a time used a mouse to operate the laptop\u2014nothing too compelling. Then Udai opened his project software and connected five mice to the laptop, and five children began answering questions posed by the software, murmuring delightedly when their responses were accurate, laughing when an incorrect answer elicited a mild reprimand. My new, giggly friend sat on the floor next to me, clutching my left knee, enraptured by the demonstration. The mice changed hands; other kids took a turn. One laptop, a room full of engaged learners.<\/em><\/p>\n

* * *<\/p>\n

Initial experiments with Multimouse proved promising. Pawar and associates took the technology to three schools in Bangalore, two of them located in urban slums, the third a residential school run by a private foundation. From these trials, the team gained four key observations:<\/p>\n