Education with Touch

By Lynn Marentette

Lynn Marentette

If you haven't stepped into a classroom lately, you might be surprised at some of the technology that is around in some schools.  In classrooms with touch-enabled interactive whiteboards (IWBs), teachers and students have discovered a tool that allows for multi-modal learning, something that research shows facilitates learning and memory.

Teachers and students are hooked, and the excitement is spreading. In fact, one school district in North Carolina was provided with a $2 million gift to put an IWB in every classroom. The local philanthropists who donated this money had learned that students in classrooms equipped with IWBs made significant gains on end-of-year achievement tests, particularly in the area of science. We need to do whatever it takes to encourage more young people to excel in the sciences.

Over the past few months, there has been quite a bit of buzz among educators about the possibility of the iPad's use for education, in part because of the popularity of the iPhone and iPod Touch. A user-friendly, touch-enabled smaller screen that doubles as a connected, multimedia eTextbook would be welcomed by students, parents, and teachers. In its present form, the iPad might not be the answer, as it lacks a good way to input video, pictures and handwriting. Tech-savvy teachers often incorporate digital storytelling and multimedia activities into their lessons, and 21st century learners need a fast and easy way to input and manipulate their creative content. Although some of the netbooks in line for purchase by the schools offer this capability, they don't provide the mode of touch that students love, a touch that might make learning tangible—and real.

Whatever the case, a touch-enabled tablet has many advantages over traditional tools for learning and communicating. Fully loaded, it is a window to the world – a television, a movie theater, a microphone, a communication device, a 3D game, a journal, a musical instrument, and a means to connect and enhance minds.

Lynn Marentette has more than 20 years of professional experience as a school psychologist, with a passion for emerging collaborative technologies, natural user interactions and interfaces, and the harnessing of interactive multimedia in education. In addition to her work as a psychologist, she blogs at Interactive Multimedia Technology about accessible off-the-desktop natural user interfaces.