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Fall-Winter 2007-08, Vol. 7, Issue 1

ADOPTION OF TABLET PC SOLUTIONS THROUGH CDW-G MODERNIZES PROGRAM DEVELOPMENT AT THREE INSTITUTIONS

CDW Government, Inc. (CDW-G), a source of IT solutions to the education sector, recently announced that it helped three higher education programs adopt innovative tablet PC hardware and software solutions to "enable an interactive learning environment for students and faculty and allow students to easily capture and manage information."

Educational Pathways (EP) interviewed representatives from Freed-Hardeman University’s nursing program, the Palm Beach Atlantic University’s Lloyd L. Gregory School of Pharmacy, and the Morehouse School of Medicine about their implementation of tablet PC technology acquired through CDW-G.

Keeping Pace with New Technology in the Medical Field

John Bentley, CIO at Freed Hardeman University (FHU), located in Henderson, Tennessee, explained how its relatively new nursing program, launched in August 2006, decided to provide Fujitsu Lifebook Tablet PCs to the 55 students it currently enrolls. The FHU nursing program wanted to expose its students to tablet PC technology because medical professionals across the country have been rapidly adopting tablet PCs in their day-to-day work environments.

"When it came time to start looking at pricing, warranties and support, we talked to CDW, and they provided us with the best solution available," said Bentley, adding that they liked the portability of the light-weight Fujitsu T4000, coming in at 4.75 pounds (including battery pack). Plus, Fujitsu has a service center close to home in Memphis, meaning that any possible technical service exchanges would not require long-distance shipping resources.

Organizing Information and More Options for Note Taking

Dan Brown, dean of the Palm Beach Atlantic University School of Pharmacy (PBA), located in West Palm Beach, Florida, said their purchase of HP TC4400 tablet PCs for 75 students was facilitated to "improve our pedagogy. We wanted students to be able to receive information efficiently and organize the large volumes of information that we give them." PBA also liked that students could have the option of taking notes in class with a digital pen or with a keyboard.

Using OneNote Sotfware

PBA’s Ian Burchette, pharmacy IT specialist, added that he likes the way the tablet PC integrates well with Microsoft Office OneNote software. (All three programs use OneNote.) Burchette explained how the tablets are utilized in a typical classroom. To begin with, lectures are audio-recorded with the tablet’s built-in microphone. In addition, there’s typically an accompanying PowerPoint presentation that includes any of the faculty member’s digitized annotations made on slides, along with any of the students digitized annotations and notes taken during the lecture. All of this digitized information is organized, archived and synchronized through the OneNote software. So, for instance, a student who took notes electronically during the recorded lecture can select a section of those notes at a later date, and the software will cue up the audio recording to the point during the lecture when those notes were actually taken. As noted on its website, OneNote "delivers the flexibility to gather and organize text, pictures, digital handwriting, audio and video recordings, and more - all in one digital notebook on your computer." OneNote also has a feature that allows study groups to share their notes with each other.

Burchette claimed that it took about two weeks for the non-tech- savvy students to grow accustomed to using the OneNote software. "We came to an agreement with these students to pick one of their courses that was low intensity when it came to taking notes. They started with that class and gradually migrated to the point where they are now taking all of their notes using the OneNote software."

Tech Support

It’s important to note that all three institutions said they were pleased with CDW-G’s support services. At the Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM), located in Atlanta, Georgia, Perry D. Riggins, interim CIO and executive director of the Division of Information Technology Services, explained that, as a relatively small institution, it was vitally important that they have an outside tech support partner that could efficiently resolve any possible issues related to their adoption of tablet PCs. MSM started doing business with CDW-G in 2006. "They had a hard time selling us on the fact that they could actually do the things we were requiring," said Riggins. "But, sure enough, they have certainly come through."

Like FHU, MSM went with the Fujitsu Lifebook tablet PC for its 52 matriculated students.

Loaners and Warranties

All three programs have systems whereby swappable tablet PCs are made available to students if their own units have to go into repair. FHU, in addition to having swappable units, requires their students to take out a 3-year accidental warranty on their tablets on top of the standard warranty. PBA has a pool of loaners, said Burchette, and their warranty is next-day, onsite. So, an HP technician will go wherever the student wants - school, home or at work - to repair their tablet PC if necessary.

Overall Benefits

All three programs claimed that tablet PCs have brought a new positive dimension to teaching and learning. The ability to quickly annotate a lecture by drawing right on tablet PC screens was, in particular, cited as a significant feature readily used and enjoyed by faculty.

It was also mentioned that tablet PCs were more efficient than laptops simply because tablets are smaller and fold down flat as opposed to everyone in a class having their laptop screens flipped up like a kind of barrier between the faculty and the students.

Integrating video and high-resolution digital imaging, especially in reference to medical procedures and/or human anatomy and histology-related images, were described as relatively new and exciting possibilities. The future of tablet PCs included integrating audio, video and picture-taking recording functions with the OneNote organizing software for dynamic teaching, learning and sharing experiences.

In short, there’s lots of encouraging news about tablet PCs that promotes and facilitates innovative enhancements to teaching and learning. For more information about CDW-G’s product offerings for educators, visit www.cdwg.com/education.

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