As a child of the 1980s I went through a couple of Etch-a-Sketches. I also went through a couple of those yellow and black handheld Games Invaders machines. It's a trend that's continuing today: any handheld machine is prone to a disaster in my grip. Mobile phones, cameras, GameBoys, PDAs (normally not my own). it's like their manufacturers smeared them in butter. So it was a good thing that the Tablet PCs on display at BETT 2003 were being watched over closely as I attempted to get my (possibly greasy) mitts on one.

Microsoft seems confident that Tablet PCs, running on a new edition of Windows XP, will take off. Bill Gates has reputedly predicted that in five years they will be the biggest-selling PCs in the American market. Their appeal seems clear: users will not be restricted to just the standard keyboard-and-mouse control mechanisms, but will also be able to use a digital pen to write directly on screen, through a process called 'digital inking'. Handwritten text can then be saved as it is, or it can be converted into standard text through handwriting recognition.

The pen-based computer concept is of course not new, and has been trialled with varying levels of success for the last 20 years or so (see the Tandy Model 100 from 1983, 1989's GRIDPad, and the Apple Newton in 1993). Most of the PC press coverage of Tablet PCs has, however, been impressed with the sophistication of its handwriting recognition technologies. For those who despair already at Microsoft Word's tendency to make spurious predictions about their typing, however, the true test will be time.

As portable computers, Tablet PCs aren't exactly the most pocketable you'll come across. More like a combination of laptop and PDA, they're still about the size of a 160-leaf A4 writing pad, and weigh in at around 3-4lbs too. With the hardware for the school user being built by Research Machines, Viglen, and soon Time (with many other models and makes available from all the usual manufacturers), Tablet PCs are however pretty robust, and screen size isn't restricted like it is on a PDA. There are also two different types: the Slate, which can be used with an external keyboard, and the Convertible which, like most PDAs, has a swivel screen so the built-in keyboard can be folded away beneath it.

Digital inking has essentially been added to the XP operating system for Tablet PCs, meaning that it can be used with pretty much all Office programs, allowing users to scribble notes in margins, highlight points or make suggestions on others' documents without having to 'mark changes'. And a couple of new programs have been added too, such as the notebook-style Journal, complete with feint-blue-lined background, and Sticky Notes. Pen-based control of some of the Office programs, or while web browsing, isn't always easy, except in a point-and-click based capacity. Additionally, as the digital pen is a special stylus designed specifically for Tablet PC, you can rest your wrist on the screen without affecting the input. Fine if you've got clean hands, but you may want to make sure you've got supplies of screen-clean handy.

Microsoft itself has already made quite a fuss over the educational potential of using these new machines. Indeed, they're mentioned every few pages in the recent Windows XP Magazine Education Special, which was being handed out to everyone who neared the Microsoft stand at BETT.

This might be a particularly egregious form of networking for their customer base, but the product itself features built-in networking capabilities based, in most models, on Wi-Fi, or wireless connectivity. This means that Tablet users can access normal e-mail and the internet without any cables - as long as they are near enough to a base station. In a school with the sufficient network however, pupils could actually access the web from locations all around the premises, rather than simply in the context of a computer lab or a classroom - or, indeed, could network and communicate with students from other schools and locations.

Most of this connected work can, of course, be performed already from a classroom with ample numbers of desktop PCs and good high-bandwidth internet links. It's the kind of technology that London's new education 'tsar' Tim Brighouse wants to see incorporated in bringing together collegiate groups of schools to share expertise, resources, and discussion.

One extra benefit that Tablet PCs may have in this respect is its new feature, the 'Input Panel', which allows users to easily provide voice inputs. Text-to-speech technologies from organisations such as ScanSoft will allow the creation of even greater multi-modality. As reported in Language Learning & Technology Journal in January 2003, "both voice recognition and text-to-speech, combined with natural writing input, could add a powerful dimension to interactive multimedia or web-based applications."

Thinking specifically of the languages classroom, these kinds of technologies may allow students to blend authentic speaking and writing in the target language and to simultaneously make meaningful communications across countries. Equally, students working together across the globe will be able to annotate each other's work in hand and exchange it via e-mail, making an otherwise long-winded process immeasurably swifter.

Though the starting price for a Tablet PC is fairly prohibitive for the majority of schools at the moment, the benefits of a robust, slate-style computer that is compatible with handwriting as well as a keyboard interface, voice inputs and text-to-speech software, provides students with a practical, portable workstation usable across a variety of subjects. Tablet PCs may look like Etch-a-Sketches, but you can do much more with them. You can even draw diagonal lines.


Links:

Language Learning & Technology Journal - llt.msu.edu/vol7num1/emerging/default.html
ScanSoft - www.scansoft.com
Tablet PC - www.microsoft.com/uk/windowsxp/tabletpc


April 2003