Understanding the impact of tablet PCs on student learning and academic teaching

Steve Clark, Lucy Taylor, Joanne Pickering, Andrew Wait
University of Sydney

During semester 2, 2005 and semester 1, 2006 three academics in the Faculty of Economics and Business at the University of Sydney were invited to trial the use of Tablet PCs to deliver their presentations in lectures. This paper presents a study of teaching with Tablet PCs, combining real-time handwritten annotation with prepared material on digital slides, and evaluates the likelihood of its adoption as a teaching tool among academics. We gathered feedback from students by using a survey and provided a discussion board where students could post comments. We conducted interviews with academics using questions based on Rogers (2003) study into the impact of innovation on teaching. The results of this study will be used to inform the future direction of Tablet PCs in the Faculty and contribute knowledge to the broader learning community on this teaching tool.

Keywords: tablet PCs, innovation