Tablet Pc Is It Worth It? A Preliminary Comparison Of Several Approaches To Using Tablet Pc In An Engineering Classroom

Tablet PCs are the latest technology in portable computing, but is it worth it for engineering faculty to make the investment of their time to change their course content development and delivery method to include a Tablet PC? In this paper, we will address a range of options that faculty have for course development and utilization of the Tablet PC. We will compare various lecture methods of using the Tablet PC including writing on it directly, using PowerPoint, and using Classroom Presenter. Student assessment of the various presentation methods will be shared as well. Faculty might have a range of motivations for moving to incorporating a Tablet PC in their classrooms from capturing content for faculty review, providing handouts for students, increasing active learning, and even distributed learning. Course content development can be a daunting and time consuming task for many engineering faculty. Making a gradual change from their current mode of delivery might be most comfortable and beneficial. The authors will discuss their experiences and lessons learned in moving from using a blackboard, transparencies made using WORD, and computer projection of PowerPoint to using a Tablet PC. We hope that this work will be helpful to other engineering educators as they strive to improve their teaching effectiveness. A Tablet PC is not a substitute for effective teaching. However, it might serve as a useful tool for our current students who are comfortable with technology and expect it to be part of their daily lives. Introduction Tablet PCs are the latest technology in portable computing. Featuring pen-based entry where the user writes “digital ink” directly on the computer screen, Tablet PCs typically offer the functionality of a laptop or notebook with less weight and added benefits. They are gaining acceptance in K-12 1,2 as well as college classrooms both for faculty presentations and student note-taking. 3,4 In this paper, we are interested in the use of the Tablet PC for instructors in their classroom lectures. Tablet PCs offer numerous attractive features for faculty such as capturing content for instructor review, providing handouts for students, ability to incorporate multimedia features such as simulations, websites, or images, generating excitement among students by using the latest technology, large-scale dynamic presentations, ability of instructor to face students and be mobile during lecture, increasing active learning, and even the possibility of distributed learning or ubiquitous computing. Engineering and computer science faculty have begun investigating their use in the classroom in a variety of ways. 5,6,7 However, is it worth it for faculty to make the investment of their time to change their course content development and delivery method to include a Tablet PC? Course content development can be a daunting and time consuming task for many engineering faculty. Making a gradual change from their current mode of delivery might be most comfortable and beneficial. In this paper, we will address the question of whether of not moving to a Tablet PC might be useful by presenting a range of options that engineering and computer science faculty have. First we will describe various “traditional” methods for presenting information in lecture including P ge 11190.2 blackboard, transparencies, and computer projection including possible shortcomings. Then we will describe a range of options for course development and utilization of the Tablet PC including writing on it directly, using PowerPoint, and using Classroom Presenter 8 . This is based largely on our experiences teaching engineering at a small private university, University of San Diego (USD), with typical class sizes of less than twenty students. We will discuss our experiences and lessons learned in moving from “traditional” methods such as blackboard, transparencies or PowerPoint on a laptop PC to digital ink on a Tablet PC. The following presentation methods will be discussed: 1. Blackboard/Whiteboard 2. Transparencies 3. PowerPoint on laptop 4. PowerPoint on Tablet PC 5. Classroom Presenter on Tablet PC Advantages and disadvantages of the various methods will be considered. Student comments on the various presentation methods will also be included. Various Presentation Methods A number of different methods are commonly used by engineering educators. In terms of format, these may be broadly separated into those that use handwriting and those that are digital. A comparison of these formats is presented in Table 1. Note that some of the advantages of the digital format must be used carefully. A lecturer must exercise caution not to fly through too much material since there is no time spent writing or erasing on the board. Anytime that notes are distributed in advance, there is the potential for poor class attendance if the students perceive that everything is in the notes. Leaving blanks on student handouts can address these problems. Answers can be handwritten by the instructor or animated in PowerPoint to engage the students and slow the pace of instruction.