The Tablet PC For Faculty: A Pilot Project
Rob R. Weitz
Associate Professor, Department of Computing and Decision Sciences, Stillman School of Business, Seton Hall University, South Orange, NJ 07079, USA, weitzrob@shu.edu, Tel: 1-973-761-9540, Fax: 1-973-761-9217
Bert Wachsmuth
Associate Professor, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, Seton Hall University, wachsmut@shu.edu, Tel: 1-973-761-9467, Fax: 1-973-275-2366
Danielle Mirliss
Instructional Designer, Teaching, Learning and Technology Center, Seton Hall University, mirlisda@shu.edu, Tel: 1-973-761-6021
ABSTRACT: This paper describes a pilot project with the purpose of evaluating the usefulness of tablet PCs for university professors. The focus is on the value of tablets primarily with respect to teaching and learning (and not for research or administrative work). Sixty-four professors, distributed across the various schools of a university, were provided with tablet PCs and were trained in their use. A survey was distributed to the participants at the end of the semester. There were 59 respondents, and of these 45 used the tablet in at least one of their classes. This paper describes the pilot project and the survey results. We observed that a) only a fraction of faculty are motivated to use tablet technology: roughly a third of faculty expressed an interest in replacing their notebook computer with a tablet computer and b) generally, participating faculty did indeed use tablet functionality in their classes and were convinced that this use resulted in a meaningful impact on teaching and learning.
Keywords: Tablet PC, Instructional technology, Higher education, Electronic whiteboard
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