Awardees: Nancy Pokrywka, Cindy Schwarz, Brian Daly, Susan Trumbetta, Ken Livingston
Semester of Award: Fall 2015
Materials Awarded: A Samsung Galaxy Pro tablet
Project Description:
The goal was to use the tablet to create instructional videos using Explain Everything, and also to be able to have students record their efforts to solve problems using the tablet and the same software. In my case, this was in conjunction with Biol 238 – Molecular Genetics.
While it was possible to accomplish the above, the biggest problem with the technology was that there is significant lag in using a stylus to write out words, formulas, and diagrams. Additionally, the sensitivity of the stylus/pad interference was low and imprecise. The resulting output was very crude and looked horrible. The experience while creating the videos was equally unsatisfactory since it prevented “natural” interactions we have all come to expect when using pen and paper. So neither I nor the students were particularly motivated to keep using the technology.
I also found the Android system to be awkward in general, and experienced various crashes, freezes, etc. I would be happy to turn over the tablet so that it could be re-purposed for some other activity.