Inscribing Electronically: Using a Tablet PC to Record Observational Data

<B><I>This seminar is co-organised by the Centre for Information Technology in Education (CITE) and Faculty of Education, HKU</B></I>

Tablet PCs provide alternative ways to enter data into a computer. A pen enables users to write directly on the screen to produce text documents. Speech recognition software enables the tablet PC to be controlled using voice commands, or spoken dictation to appear as text documents. Diagrams can be drawn directly on the tablet using the pen, and presentations and photographs can be annotated. In this presentation, these features will be illustrated using observations of student teachers during school experience as examples. Observational Recording System (ORS) software designed to record data based on specific observational criteria will also be demonstrated. The examples introduced, while based on classroom observations can also be adapted to other contexts - such as clinical practice in nursing, performing and expressive arts, and counseling and social welfare where observations of performance are taken, or where observational data need to be recorded for research purposes.