Faculty Innovators Program to Explore the Use of Tablet PCs in Education

As the Faculty Innovators Program enters its 6th year in the College of Education and Human Services at Western Illinois University, a new technology is introduced.  Four Faculty Innovators including: Betsy Hommel (Curriculum and Instruction), John Closen (Educational Leadership), Holly Nikels (Counselor Education), and Therese Kiley (Curriculum and Instruction), will pioneer the use of Tablet PCs in teaching and learning in the College of Education and Human Services at Western Illinois University. As part of their participation in the Faculty Innovators program, each of these individuals will receive a Gateway M285 Tablet PC. Participants will spend 24 months learning to integrate the personable and mobile nature of the Tablet PC into their teaching, classroom administration, and curriculum.  The remainder of this article is dedicated to both, a further explanation of some of the features and capabilities that the group will explore, as well as an introduction to this exciting new technology.

A Tablet PC is an ultra-portable, fully-functional notebook computer equipped with additional features that allow the user to comfortably and easily input text via a touch-sensitive screen and a stylus. Newer Tablet PCs come equipped with the additional functionality of voice command, which allows a user to control his/her computing experience via his/her own voice.

Sometimes, words and pictures can’t express the true beauty of a concept such as this! Watch this online video produced by Microsoft® to see exactly what these features can provide.

http://go.microsoft.com/?LinkID=1675515

Gateway® also provides a nice overview of what you can do with convertible notebooks at: http://www.gateway.com/programs/convertible/get_the_edge.shtml

Now that you have had a chance to see for yourself what a Tablet PC can do, you still might find yourself wondering how all of these features apply to education. Here are some thoughts and ideas on how Tablet PCs can be used in education.

• Deliver “dynamic” classroom presentations that incorporate both, computer generated content and handwritten notes or illustrations.
• Add content to pre-designed presentations via handwritten notes or illustrations in real-time during class.  Save the handwritten notes or illustrations and disseminate the completed presentation at the end of a class or meeting.
• Grade papers and student projects electronically with digital ink.
• Take notes digitally and share them with students and/or colleagues.
• Mark-up, save, print, and share annotations on research articles, websites, multimedia projects, and e-textbooks using the Tablet PCs note-taking and journaling capabilities.
• Design, input (data and signatures), and share electronic forms.
• Pair the Tablet PC with a digital projector and use it as an electronic whiteboard.
• Provide a natural working space for collaboration.
• Reinforce learning with added capabilities to capture and distribute classroom lectures, discussions, and collaborative projects.
• Extend access to students with special educational needs.

References:

http://www.engr.psu.edu/ae/cic/projects/tablet_pc.aspx?p=24

The following list of Tablet PC software is essential to carrying out the educational ideas listed above.

Classroom Presenter – This product, developed by faculty at the University of Washington, provides instructors with increased flexibility for presentation delivery and facilitation of interaction among students. Classroom Presenter is a “distributed presentation system”, which means synchronized versions of the presentation can be shared across instructor, student, and public computers. This program is geared for use in both face-to-face and distance learning situations.

In a distance learning situation, teachers can lecture from a Tablet PC that is networked to a computer at a remote location that displays all slides and writing. In a large face-to-face classroom, the instructor can connect his/her Tablet PC to a projection unit either directly through another computer or over a wireless network and broadcast a copy of his or her presentation to students who can follow it and add their own ink.

Classroom Presenter is fairly simple to use.  First, the instructor prepares his or her presentation in Microsoft PowerPoint. The slides are then converted into another format using DeckBuilder which comes with the Classroom Presenter download. When the class or presentation begins, the Classroom Presenter application is started on the instructor’s machine and student machines. Next, the instructor machine or classroom computer is connected to a data projector. Finally, the instructor chooses to broadcast the slides and his or her slides and ink are projected onto the screens of the students’ Tablet PCs. Students can ink their copies of the slides as the presentation progresses, they can also send their inked copies back to their instructor if the instructor enables the student submissions feature on Classroom Presenter. To learn more about Classroom Presenter, or to download a trial version visit the following website:
http://www.cs.washington.edu/education/dl/presenter/

Review a short video that demonstrates the process of using Classroom Presenter at: http://www.cs.washington.edu/info/videos/asx/Presenter_1M.asx.

Microsoft OneNote – This application allows you and your students to input, organize, and reuse your notes.  OneNote allows you to capture all types of information in one place.  You can capture information by typing notes, recording audio, copying graphics from the web or other applications, handwriting notes, and illustrating concepts. The organization abilities of OneNote allow you to categorize your notes by project, meeting, course, etc. OneNote’s unique searching capability allows you and your students the ability to quickly search all of your notes to find key information such as a phone number or an important reminder. You can easily highlight information for follow-up. One Note also adds a new dimension of interaction to the classroom or meeting room. You can easily share notes via e-mail, publish them as web pages, or copy and paste them to Microsoft Word or PowerPoint files. Learn more about Microsoft OneNote at: http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX010858031033.aspx.

LiveNotes – LiveNotes allows students to engage in cooperative note-taking, which means that students can collaboratively take notes in real-time as part of a group effort that every group member can see simultaneously.  This type of note-taking allows students to create a more accurate and comprehensive account of a classroom lecture or discussion.  It also adds additional capabilities that allow them to correct each other’s interpretations of what was delivered. Additionally, through LiveNote’s ability to allow shared electronic whiteboards specifically for collaborative note taking, hearing impaired and deaf students can be integrated into mainstream classroom contexts. Visit http://www.cs.berkeley.edu/~mattkam/livenotes/ to learn more about LiveNotes.

Windows Journal – Windows Journal is a basic note taking application. It can be used to capture handwritten notes and drawings, convert handwritten notes to text, import graphics files, and share notes with others.  Additionally, you can convert file formats such as Word, PDF, and HTML into Windows Journal documents allowing you to take notes much as you would on paper copy with a pen and/or highlighter.  You can even share your notes with non-tablet PC users by saving them out in HTML format which can be viewed in Internet Explorer.  To learn more about Windows Journal visit: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/tabletpc/russel_03january20.mspx .

ActiveInk Software – ActiveInk Software allows you to convert ordinary file formats such as Microsoft Word, Excel, or Adobe PDF into ActiveInk forms.  ActiveInk forms allow users to “ink” data into specified information fields.  ActiveInk is a great solution under any circumstance requiring remote observation, including but not limited to classroom observations, district evaluations, and health inspections. Learn more about ActiveInk Software online at: http://www.activeinksoftware.com/ .

Microsoft Office 2003- The 2003 version of Microsoft Office comes equipped with several options for the Tablet PC user. Ink has been integrated directly into all programs in the suite. Users can add handwritten notes and drawings to all of their documents. Furthermore, using the Reviewing Toolbar, users can show and hide their ink markups in the same manner they would show or hide comments. Instructors can use these features to mark-up student work.  This method for grading papers has a significant advantage over the use of track changes, in that it forces the students to actually go back through the document, read the comments, and make the corrections, rather than simply pressing the accept all button and re-submitting the assignment. Students also enjoy the fact that they can easily remove the comments, annotations, and drawings form their document in order to possess a clean final product in the end.  To learn more about the Tablet PC enhanced inking features in Microsoft Office 2003 visit: http://www.microsoft.com/office/editions/prodinfo/tabletpc.mspx .

Wireless Data Projection- With the LiteShow wireless adapter from InFocus you can transform certain models of InFocus data projectors into wireless data projectors.  Wireless data projection allows the instructor to move about the classroom without boundaries. It also allows for collaboration by providing the ability for the Tablet to be passed around the room for input without losing projection capabilities.  To learn more about LiteShow visit: http://www.infocus.com/service/liteshow/liteshow.asp?site_lang=1&site_region=1& .

If you have an interest in learning more about what the Tablet PC can offer you and your students, contact the Interactive Multimedia Lab (IMM) via phone (309) 298-3076 or e-mail imm@wiu.edu to set up a one-on-one appointment to receive a live Tablet PC demonstration or to discuss the uses of Tablet PCs in education.

For further information on the thoughts and ideas discussed in this article refer to the following references:

Alvarado, C., Anderson, R., Anderson, R. Prey, J., Simon, B., Tront, J., and Wolfman, S.
            (n.d.).  Tablet pc and computing curriculum . Microsoft Research University
            Relations Program.  Accessed online on August 17, 2006 at:
            http://cs.washington.edu/homes/anderson/tpc/tpwhitepaper.doc .

Amierian, S. (2004). Putting tablet pcs to the test. T H E Journal, 32, 28-30.

Becta (2004). Technical papers: Tablet pc. Becta: Coventry. Accessed online on August21, 2006 at:
            http://www.becta.org/uk/subsections/foi/documents/technology_and_education_research/tablet_pc.pdf.

Becta (2005). Tablet pcs in schools: A review of the literature and selected projects.
            Becta: Coventry. Accessed online on August 21, 2006 at:
            http://www.becta.org.uk/corporate/publications/publications_detail.cfm?currentbrand=all&pubid=244

Kam, M., Jingato, W., Alastair, I., Tse, E., Chiu, J., Glaser, D., Tarshish, O., and Canny,
            J. (2005). Livenotes: A system for cooperative and augmented note-taking in
            lectures. Accessed online on August 21, 2006 at:
            http://guir.berkeley.edu/pubs/chi2005/p515-kam.pdf.

Twining, P. and Evans, D. (2005). Should there be a future for tablet pcs in schools?
            Journal of Interactive Media in Education, 20, 1-13. Accessed online on August
            17, 2006 at: http://jime.open.ac.uk/2005/20/twining-2005-20-paper.html.

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