The lecturer's assistant

For many centuries the chalkboard has been the primary means of communication in the classroom, recently augmented by the overhead projector. These media provide one-way communication: from the lecturer to the students. We describe a prototype system, called the Lecturer's Assistant, which as its main feature enables graphic communication from the students to the lecturer and other students. This capability allows students to easily ask questions or present ideas without leaving their seats. The Lecturer's Assistant also provides the lecturer with a complete electronic environment for the preparation, presentation, and subsequent editing of classroom overheads. The system is designed to be portable and inexpensive to enable widespread usage in the nation's university classrooms.