Thursday, May 19, 2005
Tablet PCs in Hinsdale
Chicago Tribune article on Hinsdale H/S/D 86 running out of money for Tablet PCs. They're now asking parents to pitch in roughly $2000 for one. Some parents, for a variety of reasons, are balking at that option.
Like claims in a weight loss advertisement, I look skeptically on an educator's claim that this new thing (whatever that thing may be) increases student engagement and attentiveness. I do not doubt that it does but how much is attributable to curiousity and how much to more substantive reasons. Though I lack any sources, I imagine Power Point once increased student engagement and attentiveness. Just as the business world has suffered through a Power Point backlash, I'm sure some students find it quite boring these days. That said, I still think educators should be bringing them into classrooms and using them to simplify the tasks so often groused about in the teachers' lounge.
Lastly, a once in a great while article in the Trib doesn't scratch the surface of Tablet PCs in education. I recommend
Tablet PC Education Blog for a more nuanced look.
- posted by bumper @ 1:00 PM
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I've wondered, too, how much novelty contributes to any changes in student achievement, whether because of a Tablet PC, PowerPoint, or just a smile on a teacher's face, for that matter.
Empirical studies about visual learning conducted by David Zeaman and Betty House (in the early 1960s)demonstrated that novelty contributed more than other visual cues, such as position, color, size, etc.
Marc Gold and others found ways to use Zeaman and House's findings to increase learning among people labeled retarded in schools, all without a Tablet PC even on the horizon! Gold's work continues through the Try Another Way company.
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Empirical studies about visual learning conducted by David Zeaman and Betty House (in the early 1960s)demonstrated that novelty contributed more than other visual cues, such as position, color, size, etc.
Marc Gold and others found ways to use Zeaman and House's findings to increase learning among people labeled retarded in schools, all without a Tablet PC even on the horizon! Gold's work continues through the Try Another Way company.
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