VT Tablets

Tablets in the College of Engineering: 

Tablets in the College of Engineering Background and rational for the move to Tablet PC’s Tommy Regan College of Engineering, Virginia Tech

Slide2: 

'You can't build a reputation on what you're going to do.' Henry Ford

History of our computer requirement: 

History of our computer requirement College of Engineering Began its requirement in 1984 with IBM machines First major college of engineering in the country to have a requirement Lots of discussion and opinions about whether or not to do this Support infrastructure created since the University did not have one for students Benefit: Some of the most computer literate engineers entering the workforce

University Computer Requirement: 

University Computer Requirement University decided to require computers in 1997 Desktop requirement of PC or Mac depending on college or department 4 Help group to answer questions http://computing.vt.edu

Move to mobile computing platform: 

Move to mobile computing platform The College moved to a notebook/laptop requirement in 2002 Mobility key to this move Leverage Engineering Fundamentals (now Engineering Education) to use these devices in the classroom Not much discussion about this move, most saw it as natural and obvious Benefits: Mobility and teamwork

Tablet PC pilot programs and discussions: 

Tablet PC pilot programs and discussions Worked with Microsoft and other groups to pilot tablet devices in the classroom Began in 2003 when the first tablets began to come out Examined various aspects of tablets in the classroom – ECE and CS classes originally Use of various tools for education Benefit: Better understanding of tablets and help in determining future direction

Rational for the move: 

Rational for the move Change in pedagogy for engineering students Engineering Education will use these devices in 1024, 1104 and 1114 Change in environment increasing the use of collaboration Old style note taking 'Battleship Effect' - Not as intrusive in the classroom Annotation of faculty slides and notes Classroom assignments using ink instead of paper notes or typed notes Mathematical formulas and diagrams Increase the mobility and use of technology Thinking outside the box 'One stop shop' for notes and information

Move to Tablet PC for the fall of 2006: 

Move to Tablet PC for the fall of 2006 Decision made in March of 2006 to move to a tablet pc by the College Technology Requirement Committee Worked with vendors to get information under non-disclosure about road maps New machines would be the most powerful computers we have ever required Focus on the fact that the Tablet PC is a powerful notebook that has the added advantage of tablet functionality Benefit: Ink annotation, mathematical equations, diagramming, collaboration.

Feedback: 

Feedback Collegiate Times Front Page Collegiate Times Letter to the Editor Discussions with various student groups Discussions with department heads and faculty Unhappy user groups

First year experience: 

First year experience Engineering Education will leverage these devices for classes Development of a notebook using OneNote that will assist students in all of their classes Work with collaborative tools like Classroom Presenter, OneNote, Conference XP and others for enhancement of projects Make users comfortable with the devices for future use and success

Specifications: 

Specifications

Software Bundle: 

Software Bundle AutoDesk exchange program MatLab Adobe Acrobat Microsoft Campus Agreement OS Upgrades Office Professional One Note Visio Project CAL’s

Requirement notes: 

Requirement notes Student owned machines Can’t force them to upgrade or update Can’t enforce policies Difficult to monitor and track Students purchase the bundle Various support mechanisms for the students SoftWare Assistance Team 4 Help University Bookstore Get Connected/Res Hall support

Vendor Support: 

Vendor Support Alliance with Fujitsu and Microsoft http://www.vtnews.vt.edu/story.php?relyear=2006andamp;itemno=300 Toshiba Hewlett Packard Gateway

Examples: 

Examples

Applications: 

Applications OneNote SketchUp ChemPad Classroom Presenter AutoDesk Inventor Camtasia Office Applications

Tools and applications: 

Tools and applications OneNote http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/FX010858031033.aspx Classroom Presenter http://www.cs.washington.edu/education/dl/presenter/ Sketch Up http://sketchup.google.com Physics Illustrator http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/downloads/powertoys/tabletpc.mspx ChemPad http://graphics.cs.brown.edu/research/chempad/home.html Math Journal http://www.xthink.com Write On http://www.ee.vt.edu/~jgtront/tabletpc/writeon.html Vector Pad http://www.ee.vt.edu/~jgtront/tabletpc/vector_pad.html Freemind http://freemind.sourceforge.net ReMarkable Text http://www.cs.brown.edu/research/projects/remarkable_texts.html Camtasia http://www.techsmith.com/camtasia.asp

Where will these devices help your environment?: 

Where will these devices help your environment?

Thank You: 

Thank You Contact Information Tommy Regan Dir. of Information and Learning Systems College of Engineering Virginia Tech tregan@vt.edu 540-231-4376