A low-priced Tablet PC with limited function could serve as a very important tool in learning. Imagine a student consilidating all of his or her textbooks into a single unit, instead of lugging around big books which they don't really want to read. When the unit powers on, it brings up a menu program with a list of textbooks to access. The texbooks would be sold on cd rom or dvd, and implanted into the menu as modules. Also accessible would be a standard, engrained word processor and a virtual notebook, organized by subject. Other software modules might include games, and a graphing calculator for advanced math students.
Hardware would include a hard drive of ample size, USB ports for printers and mice, or perhaps even a scanner. Of course the writing and pointing would be accomplished with a stylus. No internet access will be included, because it would ditract the students with MP3's, pornography, and chat. They can buy their own computer for that stuff.
Advantages to the digital format are text searches, "writing on the page", less materials in class, and graphical animations.
I think that is the solution to an advanced education. Those textbooks we currently have are too expensive, overwhelming, and too hard to carry around.
So, industry leaders, please make the tablet pc available to everyone in a learning environment.
Christopher Griswold
Racine, WI
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