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Infusing Tablet PCs and Interactive Learning Technology into Computer Science Education to Enhance Student Learning

Abstract

Students from the digital age are visual and active learners who prefer strong interaction with their peers and instructors. Traditional lecturing styles are insufficient in grasping the attention of these students and in supporting their learning needs. Tablet PCs and interactive teaching applications have proven to be effective in increasing student engagement and supporting teacher instruction. More importantly, leveraging these technologies, innovative teaching methodologies can be developed to improve lecturing efficiency and facilitate assessment. This paper presents an on-going project in the Computer Science Department at Prairie View A&M University that focuses on revamping the teaching of computer science and engineering courses by incorporating tablet PCs and modern educational technology into the classroom. The goal of the project is to enhance student and teacher interaction, improve teaching effectiveness, and increase students’ interests in course content.

In this paper, we describe the development of an advanced learning lab equipped with tablet PCs and a SMART interactive learning system. Our goal is to use the educational infrastructure to promote problem-based learning, collaborative learning, and assessment. We present a novel digital ink based computerized testing system Real Test, which is used to comprehensively measure student class performance. A supplementary virtual reality learning platform is also discussed for enhancing student learning outcomes. Finally, we discuss our phased implementation plan which ensures that students benefit from the innovated learning technology throughout their degree plan.

Background

To build solid academic programs, we need not only effective management and highly-qualified educators and scholars, but also effective teaching methodologies and educational infrastructure. Our higher-education classrooms today consist of a diverse range of students; many of whom have grown up with computers, video games, and the Internet. Instructors need multiple ways to represent information using interactive text, images, sound and video to engage a broad range of learners. The traditional lecturing style and evaluation methods are often less effective in catering to the classroom needs and stimulating student interests. These issues have more acute consequences for technology and engineering faculty as graduating engineers in the 21st century are encountering increasing competitiveness due to a globalized economy. Thus, it becomes paramount to move our engineering students from passive learners to becoming actively engaged in the learning process, and higher educators must ensure engineering students have access to the state-of-the-art learning facilities.

Tablet PCs and supporting applications have shown great potential for classroom instructions. Research shows that tablet PCs have intrinsic advantages in fostering active and collaborative learning. Many educators and researchers have investigated ways to enhance class interaction using tablet PCs1,2,3,4. Commercial and in-house applications supporting class interaction using

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Li, L., & Frizell, S., & Yang, Y. (2010, June), Infusing Tablet Pcs And Interactive Learning Technology Into Computer Science Education To Enhance Student Learning Paper presented at 2010 Annual Conference & Exposition, Louisville, Kentucky. 10.18260/1-2--16794