On the Effectivity of the Tablet as a Tool for Learning

STS WFR

Acua, Mary Emmanuelle Arellano, Sharmainne Gravoso, Paul Andrew Onrubia, Yob Paz, Jared Christian Tadle, Frauline

INTRODUCTION

Technology of Tablet PC The tablets that most of recent generations know today are different from the tablets known many decades ago. Due to different needs and desires, technology has found its way to improve tablets and come up with what we enjoy today.

In 1888, the first exclusive right to market an electronic tablet used for handwriting was approved. A system that accepted handwritten characters by analyzing the handwriting motion was granted in 1915. While in 1956, a system using a tablet and handwriting text recognition instead of a keyboard for working with a modern digital computer was proved in public. The tablet computer and the supplementary operating software is an example of pen computing technology. Academic research and commercial systems started to explore this pen computing technology, such as Pencept, Communications Intelligence Corporation, and Linus (1980). Moreover, GO Corporation brought out the PenPoint OS operating system for a tablet computer product. This PenPoint OS was one of the earliest operating systems written specifically for graphical tablets and personal digital assistants.

Alan Kay, a Ph.D. candidate, anticipated a KiddiComp. The concept of his proposal in 1972 was to have a personal computer for children of all ages. The paper delineated the requirements for a conceptual portable educational device that would propose features similar to

that supplied by a laptop computer or a device offering near eternal battery life. Apple Computer started its tablet project in 1987, which considered the release of devices of three sizes. In 1993, it released Apple Newton, the smallest among the three sizes considered. In 1994 the European Union initiated the 'OMI-NewsPAD' project (EP9252). It demands a consumer device developed for a receipt and consumption of electronically delivered news / newspapers and associated multi-media, while the Webbook Company announced in 1996 the first Internetbased tablet, then referred to as a Web Surfboard that would run Java and utilize a RISC processor.

In 2000, Microsoft made up the term Microsoft Tablet PC for tablet PCs built to Microsoft's specifications, and running a licensed specific tablet improved version of its Microsoft Windows OS. Microsoft Tablet PCs were targeted to address business needs, mainly as note-taking devices, and as strong-featured devices for field work. In the health care sector, tablet computers were intended for data capture.

Back then, the existing devices were too heavy to be held with one hand on extended periods. Finger and virtual aspects were not present in all contexts, and there were not enough applications specific to the platform. Thats why tablet PCs failed to gain popularity among the consumers. Fast-forward to 2010, Apple exalted tablet PCs by launching the iPad. Its concentration to specify the touch interface is considered a milestone in the history of the development of the tablet computers that defined the tablet computers as a new class of portable devices, different from a laptop PC or netbook.

Features of Tablet PCs 1. The most significant feature of a tablet computer is the touch screen. The best of them use what is known as capacitive technology which allows you to use the screen with very little pressure from a finger. 2. It doesnt have many buttons for navigation. The best tablet computers only have one button aside from the power button. This makes it easy to navigate using the on-screen controls. 3. One of the main reasons that people like to use tablets is the large number of applications that are available with it. 4. It serves as an extension of smart phones. 5. The use of email and the ability to access documents from the office make tablets a good option for people who are travelling. 6. A lot of people use tablets for things like watching videos and reading e-books. 7. People use tablets for taking pictures and videos.

This list is just a generalization of the features of a tablet. There are a multitude of features that differentiate one brand from another.

Tablet PCs in the Philippines Southeast Asias laptop and tablet markets will continue to remain buoyant in the coming months with the regions major developing markets being the growth engines, - Director Gerard Tan, GfK Asia Digital Technology account director. The Philippines is among the

Southeast Asian countries, but in the statement of GfK, Indonesia, Thailand and Malaysia were the three biggest markets for such gadgets and collectively consume over 70 percent of the regions sales volume while contributing 67 percent to the overall dollar value. (2012)

In medical, business, and in media industry, the technology of Tablet PCs is somehow proved to be helpful. But in the case of academics, it is still being debated whether it is helpful or not to students. Studies in United States show that using technology in class may lead to distracted behavior and attention deficit disorders, especially for countries like the Philippines which is just starting to grasp the technology of Tablet PCs. Do Tablet PCs help the Filipino students in their studies?

In 2011, Science Secretary Mario Montejo wanted to create a feasible math courseware and test whether it could make an impact on student learning. With Undersecretary of Science de la Pea and Education Undersecretary Yolanda Quijano, they conducted a project called Technology Package for Student Learning Empowerment. Several government units worked together: The Science Education Institute (SEI) of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), University of the Philippines National Institute for Science and Math Education.

Technology for Studies Innovations have been affecting all sectors of the society, even education. Computers and the internet, for the last decades, transformed education dramatically. These technologies made lives of students and teachers easier. Recent developments, especially electronic requirements

such as e-books contributed to less expenditure and wastage of time. Upon the release of the Apple iPad in 2010 which 'invented, created, a new niche, a new product line, in computing (Worstall, n.p.), the tablet PC made it to the mainstream and made another set of changes in the learning and teaching system.

A research conducted by Pearson Foundation showed that tablet ownership among college and high school students in United States tripled just a year ago (Pearson Foundation, 1). The study found out that the percentage of college and high school students owning a tablet has risen from 7% of March 2011 to 25% of March 2012 (Ibid., 2). Activities that are mostly done by students are checking emails, playing games, social networking, looking and searching for information, listening to music, lightweight content creation such as notes and lists, reading a book and news, watching TV programs and movies and conducting local research (Muller, et.al., 4). The tablet, with its applications programmed intended to make our daily living easier and more convenient, is evidently gradually changing the daily lives of students, not only pertaining to the academic aspect but also to the social, personal, and entertainment aspects as well.

Because of the positive feedbacks on the use of tablets for the education of students, education agencies of government of different countries have made programs and actions to spread these positive effects of tablets on student studying by providing each student with a tablet. In the United States especially, several states have already taken an action to make a 1:1 ratio of students and tablets a reality. Some of them are Roslyn High School in New York, where the administrators handed out 47 iPads on December 2010 to students and teachers of two

humanities classes. The administrators believed that this would improve the communication between students and teachers, as well as lessen textbook and paper use. Also, Virginia Department of Education has begun experimenting on using iPads to replace biology and history textbooks in 11 schools, while 6 middle schools in California have already begun teaching algebra using iPads only ( Saredge, n.p.).

It is not only in the United States and other developed countries that replacing conventional textbooks with tablets in schools is campaigned and implemented. In the Philippines, President Benigno S. Aquino III has already expressed his support of tablet PC's among Philippine students (Legaspi, n.p.). He said that the government is just waiting that the price of tablet be affordable so that it can be bought and used by students for their reading materials. As a matter of fact, as early as 2011, the Department of Science and Technology had already conducted a pilot-test of 20 locally manufactured tablets among grade one students of selected public schools. The tablets were used to teach Mathematics and Science (Esmaquel II, n.p.). As of now, La Salle in Manila seems to have made a history as the first school to fully digitalize its teaching (Panicker, n.p.) as each of its students now carries a tablet instead of traditional notebooks, books and pens.

The use of tablet PC's increased rapidly and is now being used not only for entertainment purposes, but for academic studies as well. Because of its features, especially the easy access to internet, more students find it more convenient to use in their studying than the usual method of writing with a pen and paper. Because of its well-publicized positive effect on students' studying

as well as in the quality of education in general, government agencies and school administrations made it a part of their plan to digitalize completely the education. Truly, tablet PC's have changed the way of living in every day setting, particularly the students. However, we shouldn't be completely blind of the drawbacks of this technology for our education, especially for the students themselves.

Effects of Tablet PC on Studying Because of its fast paced spreading among students, scientists have already begun studying how tablet PC's affect students studying. Most of the results of the studies done showed that American students now prefer the use of tablets in their daily school activities. Yet, there are articles which showed up and expressed their displeasure on the use of tablet for education. Majority of the proofs provided by the studies done were based on the number of

students who used and agreed that using a tablet has significant effects on their academic performance. According to the survey done by the Pearson Foundation, 6 out of 10 of both college and high school students believed that tablets help them study more efficiently, especially that tablets were used for acquiring and reading materials (Pearson Foundation, 2). An article written by Leah Arnold gave emphasis on the event that there's an increase in the number of tablet users who were still studying in college (Arnold, n.p.). Based on a study done by National Retail Foundation in US, there's a 27.5% surge in spending on electronics among college students while expenditures on traditional school supplies and textbooks decreased (Ibid., n.p.). In some cases, the students were 'required' to buy tablets, especially in college, because their degree program now uses applications and softwares which would make their learning

easier. This is what happened in the University of Florida, where students should have a tablet to be equipped with softwares necessary for their degree program. Students also believed that at first. it may cost too much but the good effect of owning a tablet is longer than anybody thought.

Why the sudden increase of the number students who prefer to use tablet over paper and pencil? Bradley believed that tablets offer a lot of advantages and convenience that the pen and paper doesn't. Through the tablet and its easy access to internet feature, students would have a wider source of quality information in a short period of time (n.p.). The tablet is also a convenient tool for organizing things such as schedules of activities and exams (Johnson, n.p.). Bradley also included in her article a research done by the U.S. Department of Education which revealed that mastery of technology increases self-esteem and self- confidence (n.p.) This could be because of the fact that our society now has a 'fetish' on these technologies and to have knowledge or possession of these technologies would make you a bit higher in status than the others. Tablet ownership could be used as a symbol for economic status.

Despite the large amount of articles and good feedback received from the tablet users, we cannot neglect the fact that it has also its own antithesis. The foremost negative impact identified by some scientists is the distraction caused by the tablet. Because many of its applications can be easily downloaded from the internet, students tend to download applications that are not for academic purposes such as games. Carrying a tablet inside a classroom also causes the student distraction, resulting to the student completely ignoring the teacher. Scott Travis, in his article 'Does Technology make students smarter or more distracted?', included a short description given

by a professor on how his class looks like. The teacher noted that most of his students are not paying attention to the lesson because they are either playing or chatting with friends (Travis, n.p.). The New York Times has also reported incidents wherein students used tablets to cheat during exams, download pornography and hack systems of local businesses (Ibid., n.p.).

Another thing that the tablet cannot completely provide is the essence of communication. Tablets may have dramatically improved the system of communication among individuals but the feeling of reality becomes less. Students have said that conversations online are too far from how they are in reality. Also, even its own internet feature caused disadvantages to its student users. It tempts the students to waste time on unproductive activities.

Yes, tablets could be good. It allows us to a wider and easier connection to the world. The students have more ease in studying now. There could be other advantages apart from those mentioned above. But despite these advantages, technologies will always have its disadvantages. The way tablets change the life of students positively will also affect them negatively. And if the American students believed in the great benefits the tablets offer for their studies, what about the Filipino college students who remain to have restricted access to such technology? Would they have the same opinion on the tablet as a more efficient way of studying and learning than the conventional?

This group takes a look at how Filipino college students perceive tablets as a means of studying.

METHODOLOGY

For this study, this group has chosen to conduct a survey pertaining to students' study habits in relation to tablets. This groups survey focused on four of the most populated colleges in the University of the Philippines Diliman, namely, the College of Arts and Letters, the College of Engineering, the College of Science, and the College of Social Sciences and Philosophy.

This survey was conducted in order to gain insights from the students of our colleges of focus, as well as analyze whether tablets play a positive or negative role in the improvement of students study habits. This survey also aims to compare the general results from the four different colleges.

For this survey, 20 respondents from each of the aforementioned colleges were asked to complete this survey. Each respondent was first asked if he/ she owned a tablet. Tablet owners and non-tablet owners were directed to two different sets of questions.

Those who owned tablets were then asked if they used their tablets for their studies, and if they did, they were asked how exactly they used it for their academics, given the following choices: note-taking, reference, organizing, internet browsing, powerpoints, schedules, picturetaking (notes), and readings. Second, the respondents were asked whether they agreed or

disagreed with each of the 11 statements on this list regarding the effectivity of tablets when it comes to academics.

1. Tablet helps me organize things I need in my classes. 2. Tablet is an efficient tool for note-taking during class 3. Tablet's internet browsing-features help me whenever I need to surf the net. 4. Tablet helps in reviewing my lessons for exam. 5. Whether I'm an auditory, visual or tactile learner, tablet is a useful assistant. 6. Tablet helps me in my daily academic schedules. 7. Tablet is a good instrument for keeping my reading materials. 8. Tablet encourages me to do critical thinking activites such as analyzing, arguing, evaluating and explaining. 9. Tablet helps me is creating, designing, imagining and improvising things. 10. Tablet allos me to have a good communication with others by evaluating emssages, analysing situations, listening actively and reading and uniting efficiently. 11. Tablet affects how I work with others to achieve a common goal by assisting in allocating resources, brainstorming and decision-making.

Respondents were then asked if they believed whether the use of tablets was more efficient than the traditional (pen & paper) way of studying. Next, the tablet owners were asked to compare the traditional way of studying to studying with tablets in terms of time, effectiveness, and cost. And lastly, they were asked if the use of tablets in their studies was helpful and if it has affected their grades.

On the other hand, those who did not own tablets were asked whether they would use a tablet for leisure, and / or for academics, in the event that they did own one. If they did consider using tablets for academic purposes, the respondents were asked what specific academic activities they would use their tablets for, the choices also being those given to respondents who owned a tablet. Next, they were given the same list of 11 statements regarding the effectivity of the use of tablets for academics, and were asked whether they agreed or disagreed with these statements. They were also asked if the use of tablets would be more efficient than the traditional way of studying. And lastly, these respondents were asked if they are content with the way they study, and if they think using a tablet would be better for their studies.

RESULTS & DISCUSSION

Number of tablet owners per college

Inclination of tablet use of students per college

Tablet use of students who owns these gadgets

Evaluation of tablet per college who have these gadgets

Tablet use of students who do not own these gadgets

Evaluation of tablet per college who do not own these gadgets

The survey consisted of a total of 92 respondents, with 28 respondents from the College of Science, 20 from the College of Arts and Letters, 20 from the College of Engineering, and 24 from the College of Social Science and Philosophy. According to the results of the survey, only 29% of the respondents own a tablet. Majority of those who owned a tablet use it for their studies (about 81%). The way the respondents use their tablets for academic purposes slightly differ

from each college. While the respondents all use their tablets mainly for internet browsing, viewing assigned readings for their subjects, and as a source of references: 1) those in College of Science and College of Arts and Letters use tablets for scheduling; 2) College of Engineering respondents use tablets for PowerPoint presentations while those in College of Arts and Letters rarely use it for this purpose; 3) College of Social Sciences and Philosophy respondents rarely use it for taking pictures of lectures.

The respondents opinion on how their tablets affect their study habits and learning skills also differ from each college. While the majority of the total respondents thought that using a tablet is helpful in their studies (78%), they still prefer the traditional method of studying (63%) and also, only the majority of the respondents in the College of Engineering thought that using tablets in studying is more efficient than the traditional way of studying (about 67% of Engineering respondents). Next, the majority of the respondents in the College of Science and College of Arts and Letters thought that using a tablet for their studies directly affects their grades (70% for College of Science and 86% for College of Arts and Letters).

For the respondents that did not own a tablet, the majority wishes to own a tablet (69%). If the non-tablet respondents ever had a tablet, they will use it for internet browsing, viewing assigned readings, taking pictures of lecture notes, and as a source of reference. Again, their opinions on how the tablet will affect their study habits and skills also differ for each college. College of Science and College of Engineering respondents are split on whether the tablet will be a more efficient studying tool or not (50%), while the majority of the last two colleges disagree on the tablet as an efficient studying tool (69% for College of Arts and Letters and 53% for

College of Social Sciences and Philosophy). Next, the majority of the total respondents is content with the traditional method of studying (66%), and agrees that having a tablet will not improve their grades (68%).

Based on the gathered data, it was found that the tablet really contributes to the students in organizing academic materials. It was found that tablets are effective tools in reviewing for exams. As a matter of fact, majority of the respondents said that it is an efficient tool for notetaking during classes. It was found out that tablets are useful for the auditory, visual, or tactile learner. Based on the survey, tablets encourage students, especially in the College of Science, to do critical thinking activities such as analyzing, arguing, evaluating, and explaining. It also helps students in creating, designing, imagining, and improvising things. Respondents said that tablets are good instruments for keeping and reading materials. It was found that the tablet affects how students work with others to achieve a common goal by assisting in allocating resources, brainstorming and decision making.

CONCLUSION The tablet has a multitude of features, such as its internet-browsing, photo-capturing, and note-taking capabilities, aiming to aid students in their academic endeavors. Students from colleges this group focused on, the College of Arts and Letters, the College of Engineering, the College of Science, and the College of Social Sciences & Philosophy, considered tablets as effective tools for learning. It could be noted that students from these colleges utilize their

tablets (or plan to, for those without tablets) by keeping materials they need for school in this portable and easily accessible device.

But despite these terrific features, most of the students from the aforementioned colleges still prefer the traditional method of studying, using pens, papers, and books, over using tablets. Our research has also shown that tablets become a distraction to the students, thus hindering them from being productive, creating a negative effect on their study habits.

It is therefore proper to conclude that, in spite of the tablets great feats, most students would rather study traditionally as, tablets, for them, cause more harm than good when it comes to academics. The wonderful features of tablets which would supposedly help the students are neutralized by its customizability, as many non-academic applications and enhancements could be installed, which, in turn, may result to poor academic performance.

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