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Tablet PCs are lightweight, highly mobile computers the size of
a legal pad. Users interact with them by tapping, writing, or drawing
on a touch screen with a stylus, and they are capable of wireless
access to the Internet or the ca mpus network. Tablet PCs are full-blown
computers with plenty of memory and lots of storage space. They
run Windows XP and all the usual applications.
From August
2003 through May 2004, the Kaneb
Center for Teaching and Learning and the Office
of Information Technologies at the University of Notre
Dame conducted a collaborative one-year initiative to explore
the potential impact of Tablet PCs as a teaching tool. |
Fourteen faculty members
received a Tablet PC with productivity software and initial training
on its use. Staff from the OIT and the Kaneb Center worked with
them on strategies for using the tablet in the classroom.
The participants agreed to
make the Tablet PC the primary computer for their teaching role, using
it regularly in at least one undergraduate course. They also
agreed to undergo class observation and share a journal on their
use of the tablet.
Initial funding was provided by the Kaneb Center and OIT, but in
spring 2004 the initiative received a $10,000 grant from the Microsoft
Accelerated Desktop Deployment program.
Further information (PDF):
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