Progress toward the Paperless Classroom using Tablet PC's at MIT and HKU Medical Faculty:More... Faster... Better... Cheaper... Maybe!

This project is the systematic replacement of paper by tablets for the students as well as the replacement of the chalkboard for the professor. We are attempting to understand the limiting factors associated with the use of this technology on a daily basis. To this end we are recording reliability, usability and the increase in learning that is derived from the use of Tablet PC's. We are also attempting to measure the fundamental shift required to eliminate paper and to create instantaneous access to the information for the students. This will serve to increase the speed of learning.

We started with two highly visual classes, Neuroanatomy and Mandarin. We then extended Tablet PC's to include special projects in various other subjects, such as Biomedical Engineering, Health Science and Technology, Business and a class at HKU Medical Faculty.

I will present what we have learned, plus new ways to use Tablet PCs in education. In addition, I will provide the data to show that not only was there an increase in course material delivered but also a dramatic increase in learning was achieved.

Some of the Results to be discussed and illustrated at this presentation are:

For the students:
1. Increased interactions with teaching assistants - the amount of time spent making paper copies and maintaining websites will be reduced so they are able to spend more time interacting with students.
2. Increased access to information on-demand
3. Decreased back strain from carrying an entire collection of notes and books
4. Use of color
5. Increased student-student interactions concerning course work
6. Guidelines for how much time it takes students to become proficient in a particular type of material presented in a class

On campus:
1. Increased efficiency of knowledge transfer with more interactive lectures
2. Color figures will be delivered to the students without a 20-fold increase in copying cost
3. More conversion of course material to digital format: faculty will increase their use of electronic delivery of lecture material, using PowerPoint, AVI files, and audio files for demonstrations.
4. There will be a reduction in cost of AV equipment since multimedia demonstrations can be done on the computer in PowerPoint without the need for a tape deck, mixers, movie projector, overhead projector, and the disruption caused by the transition to each of these machines during class.
5. Enrichment of course content will be easier for faculty.
6. More course material will be available on the web.
7. Less time will be spent on clerical work.
8. Online office hours for students will increase faculty-student interchanges. E-Tablets will allow quick drawings to be used in these interchanges.