Duke University -Learning Science with Team-Based Learning and a Tablet PC

Great story on using Tablet PCs in the biology teaching and learning environment..this instructor get's it...and on top of this, the university has an entire section devoted to explain what a Tablet PC is....and it can be used to provide feedback on student electronic documents...experienced users can collect student responses during class...one other item to note is that they have also established a Tablet PC Faculty Loaner program...to get them in the hands of the instructors who need and want them...and they will train instructors on how to use a Tablet PC. Further reading on the Case Study on enhanced Classroom presentations can be viewed here...Tablet PCs are finding their way in to many paperless environments, especially in health care...and if you happen to be a CSI-NY fan, you can see the actors using a Sahara Tablet from TabletKiosk almost every week, as the CSI shows are becoming "paperless" as well.... there's also an entire section of the blog devoted to tablets in the category area, or you can click here to review...and don't forget the archives...over 200 posts on Tablet PCs and a new 10 battery on the horizon...BD

The Center for Instructional Technology can provide consulting for faculty who wish to learn more about classroom uses of Tablet PCs.

Alyssa teaches cell biology in a six-week summer academic enrichment program that offers freshman and sophomore college students intensive and personalized medical school preparation in the Summer Medical and Dental Summer Program at Duke. Her students have widely varying backgrounds and must quickly learn large amount of complex information, and to apply this information. To facilitate student learning, she uses Team Based Learning. Students are responsible for learning terms and facts outside of class, and come to class prepared for tests taken individually and then repeated as a team. The tests are immediately graded, so that Alyssa can use her tablet PC for just in time teaching to address student misconceptions revealed by the tests. The rest of class time concentrates on team-based critical thinking and problem solving skills that the students will need if they are to be successful in medical school. Students also use a discussion board to explore ethical issues based on the concepts covered in the course. She was able to immediately address student requests for more explanation and context because she was able to sketch and label during class. She could then distribute these notes after class to her students.

Professor Karagoz also has students use her Tablet PC during group writing activities, in which they use Windows Journal to complete short exercises. At the completion of the task, the student work can be displayed to the rest of the class for peer review and discussion.