Toshiba M205-S810
Posted Mon Sep 6, 2004 in
Computing
I returned the demo unit I had this morning and picked up my new tablet PC. I’m in the process of installing XP-SP2 on the system now. It’s a big download, about 100MB, but with broadband it isn’t too big of an issue. It’s still a long download, but definitely doable.
I’ve been working with OneNote to put my class notes for my graduate hydrology class in digital ink. So far, it’s been fairly easy to do, although I haven’t done a lot of conversion from digital ink to digital text. I think I’ll leave that for another day, as I’m under pressure to develop notes for this class. You see, my notebook has disappeared and I have no idea where it has gone.
This has every appearance of being workable. If it is, I’m planning on moving all of my notes over to the tablet PC and eliminating paper copies. I can use non-volatile storage (CD) for backup and will have the ability to edit my notes without having to patch pages or recopy good notes. I think I like this.
Next is to figure out how electronic presentations fit into my style of teaching. I think there is room for me to use electronic presentation, but not in the traditional Powerpoint style. There has to be a better way that will allow me to develop ideas in class, with some writing on the white boards, but also to integrate presentation of other material, perhaps visual aids only or images of things that I can’t adequately draw, I don’t know yet. But, I’ll be working on it.
It is difficult for an old lecture style teacher to think along these lines, but I want to find ways to integrate the technology in such a way that my teaching style is enhanced and that material is conveyed to the students in a way that encourages learning. I’m not talking simply of fact transfer, but the development of thought and engineering processing mechanics in the students. That’s my objective.
I have faith that you can integrate digital media into the class. Things that you know ahead of time you want to present visually can be projected, and things that present themselves at the moment can be done on the board. One of the things that is important about the style you have is that when you draw something in the presence of the class, they realize that it is coming from your head, that you actually own it. That is impressive, and demonstrates the importance of the knowledge.
Things that you've traditionally used your notes for, automate. Things that you've traditionally drawn or graphed from your knowledge, keep doing that with. There is no substitute for gaining the awe and admiration of the students by such knowledge. Just my opinion, as a former student with above average experience in training people.
— Dazed & Confused 6 September 2004, 08:41 #