Tablet PC's in the Classroom?

One of the major selling points of tablet PC's was their ability to be used in a classroom setting, where taking notes by hand, recording lectures, etc. would be really useful.

Are there any RFD readers who use tablets? Have you used them in a classroom? Any benefit from it?

a pen and paper is all u need

I was also thinking about this, but i was worried about the battery life on tablet pc's as they seem to be a bit on the lower side. Plus, I'm one of those ppl who like to have paper in front of them. Parallel searching when you're doing hmwk

They're a neat idea, but they're definitely only good for select people. A girl I know used one last year and seemed to like it, but in terms of pure simplicity, a binder full of paper can't be beat (lol, also you shouldn't throw a cram sheet tablet pc in the trash on the way into an exam). Battery and theft concerns are also something to think about. To each their own.

it's so much easier just to keep things simple.

The Class of 09 at Ottawa Medicine are all getting tablet PCs. The Ottawa program is "technology-integrated" so all our lectures are powerpoint and our PBLs are also online. So the tablet PC was chosen apparently because it's great to take notes right on powerpoint slides.

So I agree that its good for those reasons.. but if you're taking a humanities or social science where you're not given PPT slides, then pen/paper does just as well if not better (easier, faster access, no battery, not as expensive, not as big a problem if stolen).

Originally Posted by 0T6

The Class of 09 at Ottawa Medicine are all getting tablet PCs. The Ottawa program is "technology-integrated" so all our lectures are powerpoint and our PBLs are also online. So the tablet PC was chosen apparently because it's great to take notes right on powerpoint slides.

WHAT?!!? THat's so sweet!

I was using a tablet PC for school about a year ago.
It works great especially if the professor uses powerpoint slides or PDF's as you can take notes right over them and follow along.

I don't know what size screen they come in now but get at least a 12" screen. I think I had a 10.4" screen and it was a bit small for me. Having a 12" screen would be almost the size of a real sheet of paper.

Aside from battery life, the only other issue for me was if the professor was giving out handouts. You can either keep them as-is or scan them and insert them into your notes later.

I got Acer's tablet pc (TravelMate c300)
lasts about 5 hours, it's on the heavy side tho so be sure you can carry it amongst your other fun items.

I'm in Engineering Science at UofT (0t8), so a tablet pc is really the only option for me if I wanted to go electronic seeing as the amount of calculus and graphs is ntever ending, and doing these equations manually on the laptop is a waste of time.

The Tablet made it much easier to organize my notes, but there was a big, big big big big downside which I like to call The Internet.

Most of my lecture halls had wireless, and those that didn't I tried to log on even though I knew full well that I would not be able to.
I ended up chatting on msn more than I should've and did not listen in class half as much as I should have, which dropped me to a nice 71% average (compared to my 95% high school average, quite a bruised ego ;\)

anyway
jsut be responsible. I've taken steps to limit my internet access in school, but I think the tablet was a good purchase overall. Nothing like your computer crashing in the middle of a lecture tho

I'm typing on a Toshiba R10 TabletPC right now I'll be going to UofT for CompEng in Sept and got this laptop so I can keep my notes organized (my notes in high school were horrible). I was attracted to the TabletPC over a conventional laptop since it would be immensely easier to take notes in a math or physics class with all the equations involved. The battery lasts about 3-4 hours with the screen brightness toned down a bit so that's good enough for a lecture or two. I've had it for about 3 weeks and I'm getting used to it still but so far it seems like note-taking will be smooth sailing in first year.

tablet is great if it wasn't so expensive. a $1500-2000 note taker would buy a LOT of binders, papers, pen, pencils, eraser......and a lot of booze.

Personally I find that nothing beats paper and pen, especially for math courses. Sure you'd be writing them down and all on a tablet, but paper is a solid way to go, especially if you've got any additional hand-outs / assignments.

--Mark