Tablet classroom interactions

Tutty, J. and White, B.

At the start of this year, a new learning environment enabled the teaching in the first programming unit to change from a traditional model of separate lectures/practicals/tutorials to integrated workshops using wireless enabled tablet PCs. This restructure facilitated a more student centred and active learning approach. Consistent with other units taught using this approach an improvement in student outcomes, satisfaction and retention rates was observed in the programming unit. In this paper we argue that an important factor in this improvement has been the increased level of interaction both between staff and students and also among students themselves. In both constructivist and community of practice theories social interaction is seen as a critical ingredient in effective learning environments. Using the community of practice framework an analysis is made of the dynamics within the programming unit to examine the impact of these interaction factors on the complex nature of learning so as to better understand why the improvements are occurring.

Cite as: Tutty, J. and White, B. (2006). Tablet classroom interactions. In Proc. Eighth Australasian Computing Education Conference (ACE2006), Hobart, Australia. CRPIT, 52. Tolhurst, D. and Mann, S., Eds. ACS. 229-233.

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