U Virginia turn tablets on teaching: school tries high-tech content delivery.Turns Tablets on The University of Virginia will launch an ambitious program to develop and deliver digital course material using tablet PCs (1) A tablet computer environment from Microsoft that is based on an enhanced version of Windows XP. Designed to function more like a portable writing tablet than previous tablet-based computers, it includes handwriting recognition as well as the ability to retain handwritten words . The pilot program, set to begin this fall, will include more than 400 students in the school's biochemistry biochemistry, science concerned chiefly with the chemistry of biological processes; it attempts to utilize the tools and concepts of chemistry, particularly organic and physical chemistry, for elucidation of the living system. , psychology, and statistics programs, said Edward Ayers, dean of Arts and Sciences. University faculty will work with Thomson Learning (www.thomson.com) over the summer to develop the course content, while Microsoft (www.microsoft.com) has agreed to supply its Tablet PCs and the necessary software. Students will be able to collaborate with each other and communicate digitally with instructors in real time on campus and in wireless classrooms. The university expects that combining intelligent digital tools and blended learning Blended Learning is the combination of multiple approaches to learning. Blended learning can be accomplished through the use of 'blended' virtual and physical resources. A typical example of this would be a combination of technology-based materials and face-to-face sessions used models will improve both student [earning and faculty productivity. "Our goal is to institute pilots like this to explore and expand how more traditional approaches might be reinvented to better serve our students," said Ayers. "It also meets the demands and sensibilities sen·si·bil·i·ty n. pl. sen·si·bil·i·ties 1. The ability to feel or perceive. 2. a. Keen intellectual perception: the sensibility of a painter to color. b. of today's tech-savvy, information-focused student within the budgetary constraints of higher learning higher learning n. Education or academic accomplishment at the college or university level. institutions. |
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