Abstract:
Drawing on PowerPoint Slides on a Tablet PC in the Classroom
Iver Iversen
University of North Florida

The Tablet PC is a notebook computer that enables the user to draw with a pen on the screen. The user can annotate slides and draw graphs and diagrams during a classroom PowerPoint presentation. The finished product, including the electronic ink, can be saved and placed on Blackboard or a webpage. The presentation will demonstrate actual classroom use of the Tablet PC.

Detailed Description:
The Tablet PC is a full-fletched notebook computer with a hard drive, USB ports, and an internet connection that enables the user to draw with a pen on the screen. Recently, several different Tablet PC models have appeared on the general PC market (prize range: $1600-2600). Microsoft provides a special Windows XP for Tablet PC that is pre-installed on all models. The Tablet PC either comes as a regular notebook computer with a swivel attachment that enables one to fold the screen over the keyboard or comes as a slate with a detached keyboard. The slate form is similar to a letter-sized pad and is easy to carry to a classroom. The user can annotate slides and draw graphs and diagrams during a Powerpoint presentation. Using the pen, the instructor can interact directly with students in the classroom in the same manner as when one draws with chalk on a blackboard or ink on a transparency. The difference is that what you draw on the Tablet PC screen can be saved along with the slide you draw on. The instructor can save the images and place them on Blackboard or on a webpage for student use outside of the classroom. The presentation will demonstrate the classroom use of the Tablet PC and share experiences obtained from the use of the Tablet PC during one semester in two different Experimental Psychology courses for undergraduate students at University of North Florida. (For an example of use, see under courses at http://www.unf.edu/~iiversen/)