At the beginning of class, students file into lecture halls across Grounds, find their seats, take off their coats and prepare to take notes. Some pull out weathered spiral notebooks, others color-coded binders and as of this fall, some pull out electronic contraptions that look like laptops but can function like a pad of paper.
What are these nifty little devices? And what can explain their new presence on the laps of note-taking students?
The devices, called Tablet PCs, are actually part of a series of "pilot programs" being conducted by a partnership of Thomson, Inc., Hewlett Packard and Microsoft. The programs' aim is to create PCs for the next generation, said Patricia E. Sabosii, vice president and general manager of Thomson, Inc. learning labs and head of the current programs. The Tablet's definition is simple but bold: potential textbooks of the future.
There is more to this project, though, than just the Tablet PC distribution, Sabosii said. The process of developing a PC that can also serve as a "digital textbook" will include conducting a series of labs, both digital and print-based, to be conducted with potential academic customers. In this case, the potential customers, and lab participants, are University students and professors.
There are two aspects to the Thomson, Inc. program: the Online Thomson, Inc. platform and the actual Tablet PC. Thomson, Inc. provides online resources such as graphs, charts and activities relating to the students' coursework. The Tablet PCs and online course information come together to form a new type of education that is meant to reach students of various learning styles, and classes of larger size.
"We looked at U.Va. to see how we might illustrate a working prototype of a digital textbook," Sabosii said.
The University became a strong partner in the project in hopes of showing students how to learn differently and showing professors how to teach differently.
"We repackage content with activity-based approaches and attempt to reach each student, whether an audio, visual or practical learner," Sabosii said.
Organic Chemistry Prof. Charles Grisham, who is also a chief technical author for the Tablet PC project, contributed many ideas to the developmental program. His Organic Chemistry class, and two other University professors' classes, agreed to involve their classes in this learning experiment.
Four hundred Tablets were distributed altogether to three classes at the University, each in a different area of study. The classes involved are Introduction to Perception (the largest of the three), Introduction to Statistical Analysis and Grisham's Biological Chemistry class.
"The Tablet is ideal for bringing information together from the book and the lecture notes," Psychology Prof. Dennis Proffitt said. "I would like to see the evolving of everything together in notes."
Proffitt's psychology class emphasizes note taking, a situation in which reinforcement is key, he said. The Tablet PC can provide that reinforcement. It gives students access to images, charts and graphs that are crucial in image-based classes. Students can then write notes around the digital images, thereby creating a system of notes that better integrates supplementary class material.
In the future, new software could be developed to create Internet textbooks, creating the potential for professors to create their own Web pages with demos and links, to replace textbooks altogether, Proffitt said.
"One day, I would like to see the Tablet be just as popular as a laptop around Grounds," Proffitt said.
An example of the ways the Internet can be used in conjunction with textbook and course information can be seen in the Tablet PC programs utilized by Grisham's Biological Chemistry class. For the class, Thomson, Inc. created a resource bank consisting of exercises, images of chemical structures and activities with both charts and text. Thomson, Inc. then provided links that give students a way to practice writing and combining chemical formulas.
Ashley Sisti, a first-year College student taking Introduction to Perception, said the Tablet PC and online resources that come with it are a positive addition to many of her class experiences.
"I utilize all its features and take images from online notes or slides during class for my notes," she said.
Thomson, Inc. is eager to get feedback from students using the new Tablet PCs, Sabosii said. After all, much of the Tablet PC project's success depends on the willingness of classes to use the technology and provide input during and after the project. Students have been asked to participate in voluntary evaluations. If they agree, each student fills out a series of questionnaires. Some will even be invited to participate in one of two focus groups in which the quality of the tablets will be discussed, Sabosii said.
In addition to student contribution, faculty members will also be interviewed and the grades of the class will be considered.
With a combination of students' responses, and help from a research firm, Thomson, Inc. hopes to find three key results, Sabosii said. One, the impact of the Tablet PC's on faculty course preparation, in other words: How the new technology influences how teachers teach, and prepare their courses. Two, the impact of this project on student learning, and three, how student learning can be further improved?
As far as a down side to the Tablet PCs, Sisti said she believes that their novelty might take some getting used to.
"It is a distraction in some classes where not everyone has one because everyone watches you use it!" she said.
These sleek little contraptions, though, will most likely remain present in lectures next semester, and if all goes as planned, more and more will show up in years to come. So get used to seeing -- and maybe even using -- these electronic Tablet PCs in the quest for the textbook of the future.
Read More
It’s okay not to be okay
By Mai Hukuoka | 2 days agoWhether talking to a friend, a loved one or a professional, it is so necessary, and human, to need more than you can provide for yourself.
Taking a break at Tangerines Kitchen
By Charley Thomas | 4 days agoWhat the restaurant somewhat lacks in ambiance, it compensates for in tasty dishes and prompt service.
Virginia Policy Lab — a hub for student-led policy action
By Katherine Haden | December 9, 2024Students propose their own projects and collaborate with other members to research their issues of interest, brainstorm solutions and write policy proposals.
