| One-to-One That Works: Considering Tablet PCs |
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 Tablet PC’s are growing in popularity for teaching and learning. But why would a school start a one-to-one program with tablets or scrap a laptop program for this more costly hardware? We spoke about this with Dr. Dave Berque, professor and Chair of Computer Science at DePauw University. Berque, who is also designer of the pen-based groupware system for annotating onscreen content which became the commercially available product DyKnow. Berque offers reasons why a school might think handwriting on a screen is the way to go – and a few things to watch out for if tablets are in your future. Q. What does a tablet offer to today's classroom?Tablet PCs offer teachers and students a natural way to deal with a wide range of academic possibilities. While traditional laptops are great for textual content, they don’t allow free-hand input of content. For example, practicing cursive handwriting, drawing graphs, annotating maps, sketching molecules, highlighting texts, and diagramming sentences can fluidly occur when using a pen. Since Tablet PCs are full-fledged laptops (in fact, many Tablet PCs are called “convertibles” because they convert from laptop mode to Tablet model with a simple twist of the screen), they provide all of the functionality of these traditional devices in addition to the ability to work naturally with a wide variety of academic content. However, the real educational power of a Tablet PC is leveraged by software systems that exploit the power of the pen. For instance, Microsoft Word allows teachers and students to make natural digital ink annotations on top of typed text. This can be useful when students are engaged in peer reviews or when a teacher is providing feedback on a student’s writing. Discipline specific Tablet PC applications such as Physics Illustrator allow students and teachers to sketch physical scenarios including standard objects such as inclined planes. These objects are then recognized by the software and are used to drive an animation that brings the scenario to life. Additionally, cross discipline Tablet PC software systems can be used to enhance the classroom dynamic in settings where the teacher and students have computers (ideally Tablet PCs) during class. For example, DyKnow software supports text and ink based note taking, group work, computer monitoring, polling, and sharing of typed and free-hand student work during class as well as after class note review and replay. While the software can be used with traditional laptops, the inking capability of a Tablet PC maximizes the software’s value.Q. Moving from traditional laptops to tablets is a large expense, yet we are seeing some schools do this. Can you give any examples of this happening, along with some of the why's and how's and logistical issues that were solved?Many schools are finding that the incremental expenses of adding pen-functionality by upgrading from old fashioned laptops to Tablet PCs is helpful in terms of maximizing overall return on investment from computers. To see how this can be true, imagine building a school gymnasium without bleachers along the walls. The resulting facility would be useful for physical education class and team practices but would not be of much value for competitions that attract crowds. The initial extra expense associated with the bleachers makes the facility much more useful in the long run. The logic is similar when considering the added expense of a Tablet PC over a laptop. Paying a little more up front can increase the overall usefulness of the hardware investment.In recognition of this, a number of schools with successful laptop programs have converted to (or in the process of converting to) Tablet PC programs. Examples include the American School of Bombay, St. Ursula Academy, Hunterdon Central Regional High School, and King’s Ridge Christian School. King’s Ridge is actually using Tablet PCs with students as young as Kindergarten! While the process of moving from laptops to Tablet PCs varies from school to school, most implementations start by providing Tablet PCs to teachers. After the teachers have had a few months to get used to the new devices, Tablet PCs are provided to students as well. Most schools find that standard laptop deployment issues such as the importance of considering battery life and of having a solid wireless infrastructure in place apply equally well to Tablet PC deployments. The most common additional Tablet PC issue relates to occasional loss and breakage of the Tablet’s electronic pen. Most schools tether the pens to the Tablet PC in order to avoid loss and keep a few extra pens in each classroom in case of breakage. This minor issue aside, teachers who have made the switch to Tablets tend to be very happy with the new approach. Want to learn more about tablets? ISTE has a new book out with Dr. Berque’s input titled “Tablet PC’s in K-12 Education” - and Dr. Berque has written a chapter for the second edition of “1-to-1 Learning: Laptop Programs That Work” scheduled for Spring, 2009 release. Also, check out the WIPTE conference at Purdue University in October, 2008.
 Pamela Livingston is a technology educator and author of the best-selling book,"1-to-1 Learning: Laptop Programs That Work."
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