Teaching, Learning & Technology in Higher Education : Tablet PC

Making Live (Synchronous) Distance Learning Come Alive - Georgia Tech and DyKnow

jgvanides — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 22:08:00 GMT

Ask anyone who has attended an online webinar presentation, a live "broadcast lecture", or viewed a lecture that has been video podcast, and chances are they were multitasking - big time. Let's face it: Without actually engaging the audience, a lecture is highly ineffective - and if it's an online, non-interactive lecture, it's like watching a television show - minus the entertainment value of advertising.

Thankfully, innovation in instruction and technology is changing the equation, as is the case at Georgia Tech Savannah...

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First-time Tablet PC User? Try My Favorite "5 First Steps"

jgvanides — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 06:30:00 GMT

I recently had the privilege of introducing 50 middle school teachers to their new tablet pcs. It was great fun, and everyone left with something simple they could try the first time they fired up their tablet in class. If you've just acquired a tablet pc to enhance your teaching, or if you're still thinking about it, below are my favorite, simple, "5 First Steps" that I shared during my workshops...

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What's "WIPTE"? A great conference for tablet pc educators - Register before Sept 14 and save!

jgvanides — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 20:54:00 GMT

The "Workshop on the Impact of Pen-based Technology on Education" (WIPTE, usually pronounced "WHIPPED-tee" by attendees) is a great event for anyone looking for innovations in education through the use of pen technologies such as tablet pcs. This year, the conference is going to be held at Virginia Tech, and it's not too late for early registration...

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Tablet PC Tips - Online and F2F @ Virginia Western Community College

jgvanides — Wed, 22 Jul 2009 23:49:00 GMT

In their project, "Enhance Project-Based Team Learning in the Mobile Computing Curriculum with Tablet PC's", the faculty at Virginia Western Community College are using tablet pc's in their college level programming courses taught ONLINE, and for face-to-face robot control projects for local middle school students. Not surprisingly, the tablet pcs are making the learning experiences more engaging AND more efficient for the instructors...

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Making Calculus Engaging and Relevant at Diablo Valley College

jgvanides — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 22:07:00 GMT

Calculus is a "gatekeeper" course for many technical degrees, and failing calculus often results in dreams denied. Thankfully, many of the HP Technology for Teaching grant recipients have redesigned the calculus learning experience, with measurable improvements in student academic success. Professor Despina Prapavessi at Diablo Valley College is among the innovators who are changing the "calculus" of learning ...

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Engineering Design for Secondary School Teachers - CAD and CNC Milling on a Tablet PC? How fun!

jgvanides — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 00:17:00 GMT

There's nothing like making physics and math real by giving students a design challenge that's engaging and exciting - and you know you're making progress when you have students saying, "The best part about this is you are learning - but you don't even realize you are learning 'till the whole thing's over with... you're having fun while you're doing it." Check out their video...!

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11 Reasons Why a Tablet PC is Better

jgvanides — Sat, 13 Jun 2009 18:19:00 GMT

...better than what? OK, the full title should have been "Eleven Reasons Why a Tablet PC + Digital Projector is Better Than a Whiteboard or Overhead Projector... and Sometimes Smarter Than a Smartboard". I'm still frequently asked what a Tablet PC can do. Once I explain that they do everything a laptop does PLUS you can draw in the screen, then the next obvious question becomes, "How does this help me in class?" Below are 11 reasons to consider a tablet pc, based on the experiences of our HP grant recipients...

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Revolutionizing Instruction With Tablet PC's - Interview with Clemson U (in Second Life!)

jgvanides — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 22:50:00 GMT

The tablet pc project at Clemson University continues to grow. With grants provided from the HP Technology for Teaching initiative, teaching and learning is taking on new forms - with measurable improvements in student success. Marilyn Reba, Lisa Benton, and Barbara Weaver (all from Clemson) took the time to tell their story during a recent ISTE Eduverse Talks "show" in Second Life....

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Tablet PCs Make Science Real at Bluegrass Community & Technical College

jgvanides — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Are your students tired of cookbook labs that bear little resemblance to real science? Brent Eldridge at Bluegrass Community & Technical College (Lexington, Kentucky) and his colleagues are using tablet pcs to revamp the lab experience to be field-based, dynamic, and highly collaborative...

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Enhancing "Live" Distance Learning with Classroom Presenter

jgvanides — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 18:03:00 GMT

Live classroom interaction is an instructional model that is often missing in synchronous online presentations. Richard Anderson, University of Washington, shows us how he brings graphical interaction into an online course that is broadcast synchronously to three sites - one of which is a world away... ...(read more)

More Evidence that Digital Ink is Significant - Nat'l Univ reports results

jgvanides — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 16:15:00 GMT

For those of you wondering about the significance of "digital ink", Dr. Ron Uhlig at National University (San Diego, California, USA) has collected some rather compelling evidence - and a great example of the use of tablet pcs... ...(read more)

Must-See Video! - Tablet PCs at Clemson University

jgvanides — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:09:00 GMT

Clemson University first received an HP Technology for Teaching grant in 2006. Based on their excellent progress and initial results, they received a follow-on Leadership grant in 2007. Now their students have created a short video that shows the impact. It's fantastic......(read more)

Tablet PC educators take note: WIPTE Announces Call for Submissions

jgvanides — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 22:42:00 GMT

Any educator who is using a tablet PC should know about WIPTE, an acronym derived from the original Workshop on Pen-Based Technology in Education that was first held at Purdue. It's a great venue to learn from other tablet-using-educators, and a great place to share your own research and innovations in teaching... ...(read more)

Tablet PCs vs. Traditional Whiteboards for Active Learning - paper from CSU San Marcos

jgvanides — Fri, 23 Jan 2009 21:37:00 GMT

Edward Price, Chuck De Leone, and Robin Marion from California State University in San Marcos, have been using Tablet PCs from their HP Technology for Teaching grant to explore how they might compare to traditional whiteboards in support of students working in groups. With the help of Ubiquitous Presenter software, some interesting results are beginning to emerge......(read more)

I'm officially sold on Second Life for Educators

jgvanides — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 04:24:00 GMT

OK, I admit I was a doubter years ago when I first heard about Second Life. No more. Having just participated in tonight's "ISTE Speaker Series" event held on ISTE Island, I have to say that the experience was FAR more fun and "human" than most "slide sharing" webinars I've attended - even with the dinosaur and fairies in the audience......(read more)