Tablet PC Program
Class of 2014
Connect To Your Future
The One-to-One Tablet PC Program is the result of twelve years of technology study at St. Ursula Academy. In preparing our young women for a changing world we are providing them with tools which enable them to be networked with information technology anytime and anywhere during their high school years here. The Tablet PC Program is aligned with the mission of St. Ursula Academy and with our responsibility to be visionaries of what will enhance and enrich the teaching and learning of those we serve.
The Tablet PC enables teachers to implement different types of learning activities made possible by technology that will address the needs of different types of learners such as visual, auditory, and kinesthetic (learning-by-doing).
For more information about the program and a description and flash video showing the Tablet PC go to our web site at: http://www.saintursula.org/technology/TabletPC
Tablet PC Program – Information
A Tablet PC is similar to a laptop computer, but the screen also swivels and lays flat to double as a writing surface. A digital pen is used to write or draw on the tablet, just as you would write or draw on paper or in a notebook or on a white/blackboard.
Features
- Write, edit and draw directly on the screen with a digital pen while sitting, walking, standing
- Jot quick notes without running a special program
- Draw images, diagrams, formulas without the constraints of a keyboard and mouse
- Take notes easily, reorganize them, search them
- Combine files into binders
- Annotate documents quickly and naturally
- Display presentations easily
Benefits
- Notes are always with the student and take up a lot less space
- Students have a copy of their homework even after they turn it in
- Everything students need for class is in one bundle (easy grab and go)
- Screen doesn’t act as a dividing wall between the student and the teacher/class
How the Tablet PC program will operate:
- Student of the Class of 2010 obtains a standard Tablet PC through SUA
- Provisions will be made for students who qualify for financial aid so that they too are included in the program
- Tablet PCs are loaded and configured over the summer with standard software, textbooks, organizational software, etc.
- Freshmen attend an orientation session before the start of school to receive their Tablet PC and learn to use and care for it
- Teachers update their lesson plans to make use of on-line texts/resources and eliminate requirements for hard-copy binders
- Students bring Tablet PC to school everyday, fully charged
- Students and teachers use Tablet PCs throughout the school day as appropriate (not in use at all times)
- Teachers control and monitor tablet use in the classroom using monitoring software
- Students use Tablet PCs around school, at home, and “on the go†for completing assignments, using St. Ursula Academy’s wireless network
- Help Desk available for student and teacher assistance as well as repairs
- “Loaners†available when student Tablet PCs are being repaired
- Tablet PCs reconfigured/updated at the end of each school year for the next year
A one-to-one Tablet PC program provides every student her own Tablet PC to use both in and outside of school. We’ve learned a great deal about how to structure such a program based on schools that already have laptop/tablet programs in place.
Tablet PCs allow teachers and students to:
- Do spontaneous classroom work on the computer
- Use on-line/CD textbooks and supplemental activities
- Access more subject-specific on-line materials/applications
- Do multi-media projects
- Participate in on-line discussion groups (these encourage “quiet†students to have a voice)
- Ability to do on-line research in the classroom at the “teachable momentâ€
- Take more on-line tests using ExamView ® (and have them graded automatically for immediate feedback)
- Do more in-class writing—enables peer editing both in and out of class
- Complete more challenging homework assignments (knowing that students are equipped to do it)
Laptop/tablet programs in place at thousands of schools around the country have yielded the following results:
- Significant increase in student engagement and achievement
- Improved quality of student work, particularly in writing
- Increased student motivation and organization
- Improved productivity and critical thinking skills
- Better communication and teamwork skills
- Development of real world skills in using and applying technology
Academics
Quicklinks
St. Ursula Academy
1339 East McMillan Street
Cincinnati, Ohio 45206
Phone: 513-961-3410
Fax: 513-961-3856