Teaching, Technology, and Learning

This research prototype from Gizmodo looks pretty sweet:

Imagine a classroom of students with these babies... the instructor could transmit slides wirelessly and students could be annotating them and sharing notes. Students could work on problems independently or in groups and send their work to the instructor to share with the class. OK, you can do all these things with a classroom full of tablets today and use software like dyknow, but the form factor on this is so much cooler. The integration of touch with pen input has lots of possibilities.

One of the problems with desktop-based touch systems (like the HP TouchSmart) is that it's just inconvenient to touch the screen to interact with things. It just gets tiring on your arm to move it that far on a regular basis. The Courier would solve that problem since it lays flat on the desk while replacing the notebook and organizer. An alternate approach that I've pitched is that a desktop touch-based system should have a monitor flat on the table where your fingers are resting. It could be up at an angle to be a bit more comfortable, but with a monitor down where your hands are naturally it would make much more sense to grab and touch things with both hands. It would have to have some kind of palm rejection though, to distinguish your palms from what you are grabbing with your fingers.

I guess having a monitor integrated into the desk might cause neck problems if you are craned over it looking down all the time...