TeacherTabletPC

Keenan Dungey, Associate Professor at the University of Illinois at Springfield, has presented on his use of the Tablet PC in class (PowerPoint slides, Google HTML conversion). Among the advantages he lists:

• PowerPoint can save the notes I made during the lecture, which I can then post to BlackBoard
• I can switch from PowerPoint to other computer applications for projecting during the lecture (animations, LoggerPro data collection, Web resources…)
• I can sit down with the students in a discussion circle instead of standing at the whiteboard
• I can switch to other computer applications for projecting during the lecture (animations, Web resources…)
• I can quickly evaluate how well the computer is capturing my notes and make corrections

At about 46:50 into the nearly 51-minute Tablet PC Show #57, Perry Reed mentions my post on Windows Messenger Inking to communicate math, along with several other real-world uses of Tablet PCs.  There’s also a ton of info on various hardware and software, including the Motion LE1700.

Since I’m on spring break, my daily posts may tend more toward the afternoon… you know, when I wake up.

Warner Crocker at GBM picked up on a tip at Gizmodo, referencing a MacApper post about using the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to clean various case surfaces on various notebooks and tablets. While the concern over the chemical content/toxicity of the Magic Eraser seems to be unfounded, I might be a little concerned about the long-term abrasive effects of it, but given the results from so many people, I’d certainly give it a shot for a really dirty machine.

Gizmodo: Quick Tip: Use the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser to Clean a Black MacBook:

Those of us that own the black MacBook know that fingerprints are the devil. Smudges and fingerprints show up all over the black matte finish. Josh, over at MacApper, figured out the most efficient way to get rid of the nastiness, with the Mr. Clean Magic Eraser. Josh put together some pretty detailed instructions about how to use Mr. Clean to tidy up that MacBook, so hit up the link and let us know how it goes, fellow BlackBook owners.

GottaBeMobile.com: A Case Cleaning Tip:

… what ends up on your fingers ends up as residue on your keyboard or your case. Greasy fingers make for greasy fingerprints.I’ve noticed this on the Lenovo Thinkpad X60 Tablet PC, just like I noticed it on my Toshiba M200. It is not a killer problem, but one of those niggling ones that drive me crazy every now and again.

A week or so ago I picked up this tip up from Gizmodo for cleaing cases on the Black MacBook and I thought I’d give it a try. Well, today during my lunch hour I picked up a Mr. Clean Magic Eraser and gave the case a once over.

It works quite well in removing those greasy marks, especially on the space bar. Now if I can just find the self control to keep from eating at my desk.

Steve Myers has posted about his first few days of Econometrics with every student having a Gateway tablet (see my original post on the 1:1 computing experiment).

1:1 Computing and Econometrics – 1st Monday

We used the polling feature to great advantage. DyKnow Vision allows for the anonymous polling (exactly like clickers) within the software. I pick a polling screen, decide what the possible answers are (A-E, T/F, Yes/No, etc.) and press request answers. In seconds all the students have answered and I can display the results.
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Because it was so easy and anonymous to vote I asked again whether their strength of preference to change the group was very high, that is vote yes if you REALLY want or need the groups to be changed. This time the votes showed 8 NO votes. Within a minute I know that while 3 of the 8 wanted to change groups, no one had a strong preference and all in a way to allow total anonymity of the students.

Day Two of the 1:1 Computing experience — Engagement

For some reason one student lost wireless connectivity and this created a bit of hassle towards the end of the class, but the most amazing thing of the day was the students wouldn’t leave. One was getting up and I said at least ‘he; was leaving and he said if h didn’t have another class he wouldn’t. So whether it is the Tablet, DyKnow or the task at hand, the word for today is engagement.