Digital Learning Environment Blogs

Get the RSS feed

|

Jim Vanides Archives

Will 2010 be the Year of the Tablet PC?
by Jim Vanides

I am generally more interested in how educators USE technology, than the technology itself. But the recent announcements and rumors at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) have me wondering if tablet pcs will finally get the attention they deserve...

Tablet PCs have been “invisible” or misunderstood for many years now. The original “slate” models (with or without removable keyboards) were met with, “What is that?” It wasn’t until the swivel-screen “convertible laptops” arrived that people started understanding tablet pcs to be simply “laptops with a screen you can draw on.” I can’t help but think they suffered from an identity crisis – perhaps yearning for a new name.

Of course the educational value of “laptops with a screen you can draw on” is simple, obvious, and often overlooked: “The pen is mightier than the keyboard” (a phrase attributed to Julia Williams, an early tablet pc faculty advocate at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology). Lest you think this is an overstatement, when you consider how many disciplines are diagrammatic in nature, then you begin to see the big picture. Exactly how much math can you do with a keyboard? Ever try to draw a physics diagram with just a mouse? What about art, design, music… or learning to read and write in Japanese?

So while a classroom set of laptops is exciting, a classroom set of “laptops with a screen you can write on” becomes even more exciting when you combine it with software like DyKnow which let’s you gather diagrammatic responses to open ended questions. Unlike multiple-choice clicker responses, diagrammatic responses to open ended questions reveal , in real-time during class, MANY fascinating student misconceptions. It’s like formative assessment on steroids.

So you’ll understand, then, why I’m excited about all the excitement from the Consumer Electronics Show. There may still be some confusion as people figure out what to call these new computers, but digital ink possibilities abound in new products that are coming our way.

“Laptop Screens You Can Touch”

There are different types of screen technology. The “tablet pc” convertible laptop I’m writing on (an HP 2710p) has a swivel screen with a high resolution digitizing glass surface. I can write on the screen, but it doesn’t work with fingers.

Another type of screen technology allows you to touch the screen with your fingers, but not write on it with a stylus (like an iPhone).

The new HP Touchsmart tm2 convertible laptop does both: You can touch it with one or two fingers, and you can draw on it with a stylus. You can do this with the screen flipped up in “laptop mode”, or with the screen swiveled and lying flat on top of the keyboard, in “slate mode”.  Plus, it’s a laptop like any other laptop – it has a keyboard. This, to me, is the ultimate student machine.

“Mini Netbooks with Screens you can Touch”

If you want a lower cost laptop that’s even MORE portable, you may be interested in the mini “netbook” configuration. Many schools are selecting this form-factor for its lower cost, less obtrusive role in the classroom, and lighter load in student backpacks.

The good news is you can now get mini’s with “screens you can touch”. The new HP Mini 5102, for example, comes with an optional capacitive screen that supports finger touch. While you can certainly draw simple diagrams with your finger, I’m not sure if you can use a stylus on this one. But it sure fits nicely in a backpack or shoulder-bag, and the battery life will get you through the school day.

For some people, the keyboard is simply rarely needed. For these uses-cases, the “slate” format is great – and with all the interest in electronic textbooks, the slate format is very exciting. Unlike the Kindle family of devices that are limited to slow, grayscale screens, a full-color full-motion screen means that electronic textbooks can (eventually) be so much more than a textbook was ever imagined.

Steve Ballmer at Microsoft gave a sneak-preview of what the slate format pcs will look like: 

Time will tell if “slate pc” viewability, battery life, and price will be adequate to actually replace hardcover textbooks, but it looks like the convergence is coming. 

Whether the format is “convertible laptop”, mini-note, or slate, 2010 may be the year that digital ink will finally oPEN (pun intended) some eyes to the possibilities for students...