Effectiveness Of Shared Tablet Pc Use On Facilitating Student Interactions

The objective of this study is to examine how Tablet PCs affect the interaction between students when working in pairs on in-class assignments, and to study the effects of shared Tablet PC use on learning. Prior studies have demonstrated that engaging students in the learning process through active discussion and/or problem-solving with their peers improves learning. Tablet PCs allow students to engage in learning activities while using unique digital Inking and sharing capabilities. In this pilot study, significant differences were observed between students working on paper and Tablet PCs (“Paper” and “Tablet,” respectively) in terms of the frequency of observations that students were working in pairs (36% for Paper vs. 50% for Tablet) and working by themselves (43% for Paper versus 24% for Tablet). The predominant activity for both groups was talking, followed by writing, reading and listening; no significant differences were observed for frequency of these actions. Scores on relevant test questions and in-class assignments were not significantly different between the two groups, nor were significant differences observed between these groups on motivation survey constructs. Students in the Tablet group agreed more strongly with the statements, “Collaborating with a partner on problems helps me understand concepts in this class,” and “I paid attention most of the time,” compared to students in the Paper group. Tablet PCs effectively increased interaction between students working in pairs, and appear to promote positive interdependence for the students in this study. More long-term studies are being conducted to assess effects on learning and student attitudes over time, and to improve the inter-observer reliability statistics.