November 2003 — Features

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Catalyst for Change

By Casey Barton and Kenneth Collura, Diocese of Columbus Department of Education

Bishop Hartley Becomes the First U.S. High School to Furnish an Entire Class With Tablet PCs

In a world and age dominated by technology, educators may find themselves, at times, ill-equipped to face the needs of an ever-modernizing, ever-mobile student body. Because our goal as educators is always excellence, we cannot afford a lack of foresight; we must always plan the next step and anticipate the next turn. As a pioneer in education technology, Bishop Hartley High School (www.cdeducation.org/ schools/bh), a Catholic high school in Columbus, Ohio, has sought to embrace those changes with a revolutionary computer from Hewlett-Packard known as the Compaq Tablet PC TC1000 (www.hp.com/products/tabletpc).

In February 2003, Bishop Hartley became the first high school in the country to give an entire student class their own personal tablet PCs, which they could use during school hours or anytime, anyplace outside of school. The students were loaned 140 tablet PCs for the remainder of the school year; amazingly, every unit was returned intact and undamaged. While knowing this situation required substantial responsibility from the students, the technology staff at Bishop Hartley correctly predicted that the end result would justify the means.

Note-Taking Options

In countless ways, the tablet PCs have proven themselves as an indispensable asset both inside and outside of the classroom. Their mobility, versatility and convenient, user-friendly access have rendered standard computer labs obsolete. Quite literally, everything a student needs for a day's work lies within the confines of a laptop computer smaller and lighter than most textbooks.

For the eternally disorganized student, the tablet PC is the breaker of old habits and the initiator of new ones. By using a note-taking program such as the Microsoft Windows Journal, students can now not only type their notes into the computer, but also handwrite them on the screen using an electronic pen. Not to be confused with the capabilities of the Palm Pilot, the glass screen on the tablet PC is not pressure sensitized, so students can lay their hand on the screen as they write. The end result is that the user can take notes more quickly, comfortably and legibly. The tablet PC software also allows students to convert their handwriting to typewritten text, so those poorly organized students will never again have to look beyond their Windows Journal files to find lost notes.

If, for example, that dreaded final- exam week is here and students need to locate notes for a specific topic, the search process is simple. Students can quickly type in a keyword, and the tablet PC will cross-reference the typewritten request with their handwritten notes, finding the needed material in a matter of seconds. And in the near future, the tablet PC will also include fully downloadable textbooks for every senior course. In addition, in the unfortunate event that a student loses or destroys his computer, all Bishop Hartley tablet PC files are backed up on the school server, where they can be retrieved for future use.