About the Project

Higher education is designed to teach students fundamental skills they will need to survive as professionals in their future careers. As new technology becomes available, it is imperative to investigate how and if that technology can be used to improve learning environments.  Support provided through the 2006 Higher Education HP Technology for Teaching Grant Initiative and the 2007 Microsoft Research University Relations Tablet PC and Computing Curriculum has allowed the Georgia Institute of Technology Savannah Campus (Georgia Tech Savannah, GTS) to integrate a set of Tablet PCs into its distributed learning (DL) curriculum.  The overarching goal of this project is to thoroughly examine how Tablet PC technology can be used to enhance the student learning in higher education and investigate the redesign of distributed learning environments over traditional implementations. Additionally, the project is designed to increase the general exposure of the use of mobile technology in higher learning environments.

Impact on Student Learning

Currently, Georgia Tech Savannah (GTS) provides engineering education to students located across 4 different universities.  One of the primary initiatives at GTS is to develop a blueprint for building a campus that utilizes computer-based technology to enhance the effectiveness of education in synchronous distributed learning (DL) environments.  In this scenario, the professor and students engage in a live classroom session via videoconferencing equipment that allows the students and professors to be at different geographical locations.  This type of DL environment typically suffers from several challenges that create significant barriers in effective student learning and teacher instruction including:

1. Poor transmission of live lecture content
2. Limitations on basic classroom interaction among the instructor and students
3. Challenges in class administration of basic assessment activities (e.g., in class examples, exams, etc.)

These problems have contributed to a poor opinion overall of DL courses by students and instructors.  The results of this project have shown the following measured improvements in student attitudes and opinions regarding the learning environments created in the DL courses for this project as opposed to traditional DL courses:

1. Students felt the presentation of the lecture content was more clear and easy to follow than in traditional DL courses
2. Students preferred the use of the Tablet PC for taking and receiving notes
3. Students felt more involved in class discussions and learning activities
4. Students felt the in-class interaction through the Tablet PC helped them learn the material better and pay more attention in class

Impact on Teaching

Traditional distance learning (DL) courses have provided technology only for the transmission of lecture content video teleconferencing software and equipment.  An instructor is able to present content on a whiteboard, electronic whiteboard, and/or elmo that is then transmitted to remote sites where students see projected images of the content.  Any interaction with students is restricted to verbal question and answer responses via the audio link.  The complexities of conducting simple activities such as in-class learning activities for discussion or sending a student to the “board” to work a problem greatly affects the ability of the instructor to prepare lectures based on active learning. 

However, the implementation of this project has reinvented the concept of creating an active learning environment in a DL setting.  With the Tablet PC hardware and Dyknow software, the instructor can prepare for a class with the understanding that creating activities to engage students locally and remotely is possible.  There are two specific examples of how teaching practices have been affected by this project that center on content preparation/presentation and student participation.

Content Preparation/Presentation – One of the most critical improvements for instructors in the Tablet PC enabled environment is in the way class content is presented to students.  The use of the Dyknow software allows the professor to present any material for the lecture directly from the instructor Tablet PC to each student Tablet PC.  In this way, the students are able to follow the lecture at their own pace on their local Tablet without the burden of attempting to “keep up” with the lecturer as slides or only specific sections of a whiteboard are continuously projected in the remote classrooms.  Additionally, the digital inking ability of the Tablet PC also allows the instructors and students to make private notes and markups of lecture content that can help enforce course concepts. 

Student Participation – Another critical improvement of the Tablet PC enabled environment is the ability to create opportunities for student participation.  The combination of the digital inking technology of the Tablet PC and the virtual classroom space created by the Dyknow software for sharing content greatly reduces the complexity of conveying information between the instructor and students.  In the Tablet PC enabled DL environments, the instructor may use Dyknow engage each student in prepared exercises or examples created during the lecture stimulated from class discussion.  Each student can submit their responses to the instructor for assessment which then can prompt further discussion of important course concepts.  Additionally, students may submit questions in the form of written diagrams and equations from their own Tablet PC to the instructor for explanation without having to rely strictly on verbal interaction.