Workshop on the Impact of Pen-based Technology on Education (WIPTE) registration has opened, agenda is posted, and abstracts are available. The deadline for early registration is September 14, 2009. Here is a note from the WIPTE committee:

If you are interested in the use of Tablet PCs or other types of pen-based technology to support teaching and learning in varied disciplines, please visit www.wipte.org to learn more about WIPTE (the Workshop on the Impact of Pen-based Technology on Education). 

WIPTE 2009 will be held October 12-13, 2009 at Virginia Tech.  The workshop covers multiple subject areas and is intended to identify and share best practices related to the use of Tablet PCs and pen-based computing in both K-12 and higher education.  Each WIPTE paper presentation includes an assessment component as an important part of the presentation. The WIPTE program also includes keynote talks, poster presentations, hands-on sessions and vendor booths.  Corporate sponsors will be providing giveaways including two HP 2730p Tablets, an HP iPaq 910 Business Messenger cell phone and more.

Additional information including the workshop schedule, travel information and links to an online registration form are available at www.wipte.org.  An early registration fee of $50 is in effect through September 14^th. After that date the fee increases to $100.

We hope to see you in October!

Learning to write is an intergral part of schooling and with advancements in Tablet technology, the ability for students to learn to write and continue using practical skills like note-taking on a computer is a great opportunity. More work is needed in the area of Tablet technology and accessibility. Microsoft is requesting that students put thought into this area during its annual Imagine Cup competition.

This year the Imagine Cup has a Tablet Accessibility Award with first place prize of $8000, a Tablet PC, and a trip to the Imagine Cup finals in Cairo.  The competition already started and first round ends in 21 days. So please help spread the word to interested students!

Students aged 16 and older must be attending an accredited four year high school or college, either full or part time.  

Imagine Cup Tablet Accessibility Award overview  

The object of the Tablet Accessibility Award is to create a new education application that uses Tablet technology while expanding the possibilities about how a user interacts with the computer. The application should reflect the Imagine Cup theme, “Imagine a world where technology helps solve the toughest problems facing us today,” as it relates to the United Nations Millennium Goal of Universal Education.

This Award competition starts at 12:01 AM Greenwich Mean Time (“GMT”) on April 3^rd, 2009 and ends at 11:59 PM (GMT) on May 20^th, 2009 (“Entry Period”). The Entry Period consists of two (2) separate Rounds

First Place:

• $8,000 USD, to be divided equally among each officially registered member of the Team
• A Tablet device (Lenovo ThinkPad X61 Tablet PC) for each officially registered member of the Team. ARV US $ 1,028,00
• A trip for each officially registered member of the Team to Cairo, Egypt to attend the Worldwide Finals. Trip includes round trip coach air travel, standard hotel accommodations and select meals.

Second Place:

• $4,000 USD, to be divided equally among each officially registered member of the Team
• A Tablet device (Lenovo ThinkPad X61 Tablet PC) for each officially registered member of the Team. ARV US $ 1,028,00
• A trip for each officially registered member of the Team to Cairo, Egypt to attend the  Worldwide Finals. Trip includes round trip coach air travel, standard hotel accommodations and select meals

See http://imaginecup.com/Competition/mycompetitionportal.aspx?competitionId=34 for contest details, rules, and eligibility information.

As schools adopt PCs for students to use in the classroom and take home, it is good to see more appropriate hardware designs be made available on the market. The balance between the value of the PC and cost is difficult for many schools, so seeing affordable entry-level solutions like the next Intel Classmate design is encouraging.

The next generation Classmate PC will include an integrated digitizer on the display, so that a student can use either a finger or stylus to enter information. The ability to control the PC literally at the touch of a finger will be good for entering commands and direct object manipulation. What ways do you see students using touch technology?

Though touch is a great natural interaction addition to a traditional mobile PC, the educational value of writing and drawing directly on the screen far exceeds touch. On first thought, you may nod your head because the most common tools in the classroom include pen, paper, and [chalkboard or] whiteboard. The one-for-one value of being able to accomplish whatever the students do on paper on a PC can be met. Students can write, erase, and turn in the assignment. The challenge comes with moving beyond the analog equivalent, and this is possible with the right software.

At a simple level, a student may draw a triangle in one space and want to move it to another location. The student can erase it and re-draw, or using the stylus the student can select and move the triangle. Let's say the student wants three more of that same triangle, so now can copy the original, paste the new, then move the new to the preferred locations. Object replication is simple on a PC and faster than with paper and pencil.

A more complex example includes the software providing real-time feedback to the student, so the student knows if his or her answer was correct or incorrect. MathPractice is an example of this type of software. This involves handwriting or shape recognition and software developers can integrate this aspect into applications and this will work if the operating system is Windows XP Tablet PC Edition, Windows Vista Business or Enterprise, or the software vendor creates proprietary ink and recognition engine.

Have you gotten a preview of the next generation Intel Classmate? What are your thoughts about it? How do you see your students using it?

For more information on the next Intel Classmate PC, go to http://www.classmatepc.com/sneak-peak/

PCs entering the classroom so that each child can potentially have all day access to curriculum and content is a phenomenal shift in schools. PCs like the Intel Classmate with appropriate software have been making in-roads at this 1:1 computing effort. The second generation is now out and Classmate 2.0 is making press review rounds. Are you finding these reviews helpful? What additional types of information do you need?

Darren Waters of BBC posted his first impressions recently:

It's a cut-price, cut-down laptop that runs XP moderately well, and connects to the net without a hitch. In fact, it accomplishes most tasks thrown at it without a hitch and its underpowered processor only really struggles when it is attempting to multi-task.