Teaching with Tablets at DePauw University: Using Pen-based Technology to Enhance Teaching and Learning
Dave Berque
Erin Faulk
Douglas Fellegy
Curlee Morrissette
Carol Smith
DePauw University
In May, 2006, DePauw University received an HP Technology for Teaching grant to encourage the transformation of teaching and learning using HP Tablet PCs and DyKnow software in Computer Science courses. In July, 2007, DePauw University received a follow-up HP Technology for Teaching Leadership grant. During the 2006-2007 and 2007-2008 academic years the granted equipment was used by 13 faculty members in 37 courses with a total enrollment of 616 students. A broad set of departments have used the equipment including Computer Science, Psychology, Education Studies, Arabic, Biology, Chemistry, Economics, Geosciences, Japanese Language, and Physics and Astronomy.
This video presents examples of the ways Tablet PCs are used to support teaching and learning at DePauw University. The highlighted courses include a chemistry course and a Japanese language course. Course activities are demonstrated through classroom footage which is supplemented by interviews with teachers and students. While the courses vary greatly in terms of instructional content they have several things in common. Each course deals with material that is difficult to enter with a traditional keyboard, explores content that requires students to follow a sequence of steps, and requires students to receive regular feedback on their understanding of the material. The Tablet PCs and supporting software help the teachers and students in each of these areas.
Innovative School Enhances Student Learning, Teacher Productivity with Digital Notes
John Phillips
Palie Cantu
Mike Tholfsen
Chris Pesce
Maritza Tavarez
Spring Street International School, Friday Harbor, WA
Forest Ridge School of the Sacred Heart is an all girls, grade 5-12 independent school in Bellevue, Washington. The school began a 1:1 laptop program in 1996. In 2004, the school introduced pen-enabled, tablet laptops, which revolutionized laptop use in all disciplines, but particularly in the less “keyboard friendly” disciplines of mathematics and science. The paper included in this monograph, “Three is not a Crowd: The Pedagogical Power of Tablet Laptops, Digital Organizers, and Digital Textbooks in Middle School Mathematics,” details the history of the school’s tablet implementation, and its impact on the teaching of middle school math.
In the spring of 2007, a group of middle and high school math and science teachers began experimenting with OneNote 2007, an integrated, pen-enabled, digital organizer that is part of the Microsoft Office 2007 suite. This experimentation laid the groundwork for a full implementation of OneNote 2007 and Office 2007 on all laptops at the school for the 2007-08 school year. Because of the immediate impact and success of this implementation in Forest Ridge classrooms, this video, produced by Microsoft, was shot in October, 2007, and shows examples of the use of tablet laptops and OneNote in math and science classes at both the middle and high school levels. It includes commentary by teachers and students.