Ms. Frizzle, a Middle School science teacher and Jake Olson report of schools and life in Turkey. Great reads, sometimes informative, sometimes provocative, sometimes just-life.
Do either of you use a mobile PC or see them used by others?
What other blogs by teachers in other countries should I watch?
Not quite sure what you mean by “tablet PC” – if you mean laptop, my school here in Turkey bought every teacher a laptop this year (obviously we have to return them at the end of the year). It’s much better than the fixed-to-the-desk PC’s that we had at the start of the year. The next step would be laptop carts, although the students tend to be a bit irresponsible with school property so I’m not sure I’d want the responsibility for dozens of laptops at a time. Right now, there are fixed-desktop-PC labs for the kids. They take computer classes weekly, and some have incredibly good skills with many applications. BTW, are you familiar with the European Computer Driver’s License (or something like that)? Many of the students here did the test for it this winter.
Thanks for asking about Tablet PCs. Tablet PCs are notebooks with more features.Here’s how Layne defines Tablet PCs. You can read more about Tablets and Ultra Mobile PCs (about half the size of a notebook) at tabletpcquestions.com: What Defines a Tablet PCMany companies are trying to use the Tablet PC term to describe a pen-enabled computer. However, the Tablet PC is a partnership between Microsoft and several hardware vendors who agreed to meet specific requirements. Only these companies have the license to load Windows XP Tablet PC Edition.(1) Electromagnetic digitizer(2) Video driver capable of screen rotation without rebooting(3) Fast resume from suspend(4) Suspend to hibernate when battery is 75% depleted(5) No legacy ports Windows XP Tablet PC Edition is a superset of Windows XP Professional. Among others, major additions include:Tablet PC Input PanelHandwriting recognitionSpeech recognitionWindows JournalSticky notes Thousands of teachers and students use Tablet PCs and Ultra Mobile PCs in school to complete assignments and for edutainment. This site is dedicated to information about mobile PCs for teachers and students to use. You can find authorized free downloads of mobile PC software that uses these features at tabletpcpost.com. I especially like MathPractice as an example of how to use Tablet PC features with students. Borrow a Tablet. Try it. Let us know how you like it. Congratulations to your school administrators for arranging for teachers to have and use notebook personal computers. We wish you well. Please come back for more information related to mobile PCs in schools around the world.
IM AN UNDERGRAD ENGINEERING STUDENT ON TURKEY AND YES I DO USE A TABLET PC HERE IN TURKEY. AND IM USING IT FOR 3 YEARS. ITS MY SECOND TABLET A HP TC1100. AND I HAVE FRIEND THAT USE A GATEWAY TABLET. I ALSO HEARD FROM A FRIEND OF MINE, HIS INSTRUCTOR USES A TABLET TOO. TABLET PC TACH CAME TO TURKEY YES BUT NOT VERY COMMON. YOU CAN ASK ME ANYTHING ABOUT TURKEY AND ITS POINT IN INTEGRATION OF TECHNOLOGY. NICE TO MEET YOU.AKIF GORUR
I’m so sorry to say that I didn’t see this post when it was first written. Sadly the schools I’ve worked in lag behind American schools in many ways. I’ve never seen a tablet PC in this country, and at this point, it’s easy to assume it’ll be 10 years before I do, but real technology (that’s not a fad) catches on late but fast here… what I mean by that is that as soon as something enters the market, it seems like it becomes very popular. An example would be wireless internet. When I moved here 3 years a go, it was a joke to even imagine it here. Towards the end of my first year, I went to a cafe that had it available for customers. Within a year it’s everywhere. In homes, businesses, and in places where it’s available to the public. If tablet PCs are for real, they’ll be here soon enough, an people will wonder how they ever lived without them.