(I found these notestoward an online lit review of Tablet PC schools; created and not posted over a year ago. It may assist a teacher prepare a research proposal or proposal to use or upgrade uses of Tablet PCs in a school. I'll try to update and refine this draft as a new post sooner than later.)

It's almost grant proposal writing season again. Here's a starting collection of online sources about schools using Tablet PC. Some sources are newer than others.

Together, they indicate that thousands of students and teachers in 130 plus schools use mobile PCs.

Maybe these references will provide that extra margin of confidence your administrator needs to approve you submitting successful requests to use mobile PCs in your classroom.

About Tablet PCs and Education

WhatIsNew tags reports about Tablet PCs, ultra mobile PCs, and education. This is one of the oldest continuing online news services about personal computing and its ecosystem, including education. WIN now focuses on the mobile PC ecosystem, especially advancements in pen technologies and how people are using these systems to be more productive wherever they may be.

Bill Gates, Microsoft's chairman and chief software architect said Friday that someday tablet PCs will replace textbooks for all students. "And so the teacher can customize the material, they can quiz the student. That student can have that tablet with them wherever they go and it's actually lighter than the textbooks and more flexible, richer in terms of what it can offer."

Remarks by Bill Gates, Chairman and Chief Software Architect, Microsoft Corporation at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign February 24, 2004. ... JAMES J. STUKEL (President, University of Illinois) said computing is deeply embedded in the culture of this campus, and we are proud to say we have maintained our edge. Our students, faculty and staff enjoy more than 47,000 network connections by which we connect to the world, and people connect to us. More than 1 million times a week, people log on to the online catalogue of the University of Illinois Library, which is the third, only to Harvard and Yale, in size of its collection. And this campus is a giant in research and development in science and engineering. We have more than 80 centers, labs, and institutes where important, life-altering work is underway. Among them is the widely known National Center for Supercomputing Applications, which is helping to build the future of high performance cyber infrastructure. And this new office here at the far edge of the campus is the Beckman Institute for Science and Technology where 600 researchers collaborate, and finally I would be remiss not to mention the investments in R&D brought to the happy place of having two of our faculty members win Nobel Prizes.

Robert Williams of the Microsoft Tablet PC Team discusses on a Channel 9 podcast origins of tablets, including at the University of Illinois.

This white paper is based on information gathered at the Tablet PC and Computing Curriculum workshop (August 4, 2004). Microsoft Research sponsored the workshop, which was hosted by the University of Washington Computer Science and Engineering Department. The 32 invited attendees were faculty members from a variety of schools, including four-year colleges, research universities, and minority-serving institutions.

Tony Chen and others at MIT offer a case study about Positivo Informatica - The Tablet PC Textbook: The challenge of new markets and technology adoption.

This Illinois Talking Books project has been designed to evaluate various digital book formats, technologies, delivery methods for eBook and audio book content that can be delivered to users via Tablet PCs using the Internet.

When integrating Tablet PC technologies with other advances in the computing sciences, undergraduate computing educators must re-think what one teaches students and how one enable students to learn. Use similar principles in other levels of education.

ConferenceXP is an initiative of Microsoft Research. We’re exploring how to make wireless classrooms, collaboration, and distance learning a compelling, rich experience by assuming the availability of emerging and enabling technologies, such as high-bandwidth networks, wireless devices, Tablet PCs, and the advanced features in Microsoft® Windows® XP.

In PreK12

Interview wih Katherine Clark, Principal, Ocoee Middle School, the first public school in the nation to put Tablet PCs in the hands of students in 2002-2003 academic year, that a class of seventh graders used daily for math or reading. This was successful.

Hinsdale Township High School District 86 in Hinsdale, Illinois, supplies more than 300 of its faculty with Toshiba Portege(R) M200 Tablet PCs as replacements for desktop computers, and provides 250 tablets for daily student use in selected courses.

New Trier High School, Winnetki, IL newsletter discusses using Tablet PCs with projectors to create ultimate whiteboards, grading papers with annotation features, and teachers moving around the room while computing.

Brookfield Zoo’s Every Student is a Scientist (ESS): Using Technology to Foster Inclusive Learning pilot program partnership with Chicago Public Schools (CPS) is on a list of the most innovative technology programs in the nation. ESS uses Tablet PCs with wireless connections to allow CPS students with visual, hearing, or physical impairments to explore conservation concepts and work alongside classmates who without disabilities.

The Cornwallis School in Maidstone, Kent, conducted a pilot study to experiment with using Tablet PCs to streamline learning and encourage early interaction with technology. The study was very successful and has led to the integration of Tablet PCs across the school and its extended community. “The Tablet PC makes it easy for students to share information with each other. This means they are less reliant on teachers as a source of information. A teacher using a Tablet PC imaginatively will deliver significant benefits,” said Mike Wood, Head Teacher, Cornwallis School. Benefits from use of Tablet PCs include new dimensions for learning and teaching in the classroom and at home, note taking made easier, reduced paper and costs, network homework, and knowledge sharing.

Case studies about Tablet PCs in this school serve as excellent sources for assembling a case statement for deploying Tablets in more schools.

Chris DeHerrera summarizes a news article about schools requiring students to use Tablet PCs in schools.

Karlen Communications offers an article with many links about Tablet Technology and People with Disabilities.

Software included with the bid purchase price (special pricing) for students attending the Illinois Mathematics and Science Academy is Windows XP (Tablet PC Edition), Microsoft Office, and antivirus software (for staff and students). CDWG has agreed to extend IMSA special pricing to you and have a web site you may use to purchase the tablet computer. The recommended tablet computers all come with wireless networking built-in. Instructional strategies will change with the laptops. Assessments will likely change.

Tablet PC's are becoming de rigueur for freshmen at De La Salle Institute, according to Brother Michael Quirk, president of the private Catholic college prep. "We believe we're the first high school in the city going to tablets," says Quirk, who sees Tablets as powerful and more flexible classroom tools than desktops or laptops (notebooks).

Invicta Girls Grammar school purchased 15 Tablet PCs with the intention of assessing their suitability for use by the schools teachers and pupils.

Global Friends: Your PowerPoint Introduction An Internet Hotlist on Taipei, a PowerPoint partnership program with Schools with Tablets in Taipei, Taiwan and Villa Duchesne/Oak Hill School.

John Dell, Thomas Jefferson High School for Science and Technology The Tablet PC – A New Tool for a New Age Presenter - How Tablet PC is used to prepare and deliver lectures, conduct and record discussions, and do live calculationsin AP Physics-C class will be demonstrated. Class notes easily go live to the web on a daily basis, as dohandwritten solutions to sample problems, quizzes, and tests. MATH JOURNAL, a new software tool forautomatic, real-time, solution of systems of equations and models (including systems of ordinary differentialequations of the type found in physics) introduced in handwritten form will also be shown

CDW-G White Paper: One-To-One Computing What began as a visionary experiment a few years ago is fast becoming a widespread and highly effective educational practice: one-to-one student computing. In 1:1 computing, each student is assigned a notebook or Tablet PC, connected to the Internet, and taught by a classroom teacher with a similar device. The result has been a transformation in education.

In Higher Education

In Summer, 2004 , Mayville State University, Mayville, ND, became the first campus to issue TabletPC notebook computers to all students and faculty. The computer issued is the Gateway M275.

Microsoft Research announced the eleven recipients of the Tablet PC Technology, Curriculum, and Higher Education 2005 RFP awards, totaling $500,000 (USD) in funding. The objective of this RFP is to use it as a catalyst to encourage educators to apply resources toward the revising, updating, and validating curriculum and pedagogy in conjunction with tablet technology in higher education.

Northwestern University Information Technology offers a review of Tablet PCs. Keenan E. Dungey, Chemistry Program, University of Illinois at Springfield (Technology Day 2005). Classroom Instruction with a Tablet PC consists of PowerPoint slides.

Kathy Ford, at the University of Illinois Faculty Summer Institute 2006 held a session Take Two Tablets and Call Me in the Morning. The “Tablet PC” is being adopted by several fields, including nursing and engineering. She showed how a tablet is different from a conventional laptop and how instructors can use it to enhance teaching, maintain a paperless classroom and engage students in active learning.

Welcome to Illinois as a MS-Tech student beginning in August of 2006. he program recommends Tablet PC (HP Compaq tc4400 Tablet PC). This is a perfect computer to take notes in class, do homework and work with your team members. Many class rooms and buildings have wireless connectivity and you can easily take advantage of this using a laptop.

University of Illinois recommends Tablet PCs to students. It is very useful to have a computer while you are at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. We recommend that you purchase a Table PC. Check for a list of university negotiated tablet PCs from Fujitsu and HP.

Ed Garay, Assistant Director, Academic Computing and Communications Center, and Director of the UIC Instructional Technology Lab (ITL), University of Illinois at Chicago comments about the mature design of the Fujitsu Stylistic ST4000 Tablet PC.

Tony Hursh describes the Tablet PC, gives some technical details, compares the Tablet PC to other forms of computer, provides an example of actual classroom use at the University of Illinois, and suggests further research on, and potential applications of, this technology in classroom instruction.

The Department of Atmospheric Science (DAS)at University of Illinois introduced the use of a Tablet PC to present lecture material to the Introduction to Meteorology and Severe and Hazardous Weather classes.

Tablet PCs in the Classroom webcast by presenter: Mitch Theys, Computer Science, University of Illinois Chicago.

Randal Jaffe offers online discussion about Teaching with the Tablet PC in Physiology and Biophysics.

Educational Technology, University of Illinois Springfield offers tablet PCs for faculty check-out.

Higher Education HP Technology for Teaching Grant Initiative recipients, 2006.

A University Business article asks the question, Is the Tablet PC the Future of College Computing? Rutledge Ellis-Behnke at MIT uses his tablet to help with lectures; with a special accessory, he transposes the display image onto a wall screen, uses his digital pen to add emphasis that everyone can see, then e-mails students the updated notes at the end of class. At Temple's School of Medicine, professor Tom Marino projects too, but adds diagrams and flowcharts in real time, and e-mails his notes to students during class. Now they can't say they didn't get the information.

The Educause 2005 theme The Tablet PC for Teaching and Learning offers the conference agenda with links to speakers. These presentations look at features and tools available with the Tablet PC that can enhance the classroom experience. Use of the ink annotation feature for grading, lectures, research, and collaboration were demonstrated, along with the voice and handwriting recognition capability of Tablet PCs.

Mitchel Theys and others at the University of Illinois Chicago Computor Science and College of Education discuss Tablet PCs and the Traditional Lecture.

Karen Chang, “iCare Worksheet in the Pocket PC and the Tablet PC”, Regenstrief Center Health Care Delivery Systems workshop at Burton D. Morgan Center, Purdue University, W. Lafayette, IN on September 23, 2004.

The Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT)uses an application (which is currently in a proof-of-concept phase called "Hawk Tour") includes a Tablet PC that shows where you are, what's there, and how to get to other places on campus. The application has context awareness, which provides interesting functions as the user moves about the campus.

Joseph Trout, Jane Prey and others, Tablet PCs in Engineering Education. In this two hour workshop faculty will receive a hands-on introduction to the use of Presenter and OneNote along with a rudimentary drawing package.

Musings from Lanny Arvan, an economist at the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign, on learning technology with Tablets - pedagogy, the economics of, technical issues, the entire grab bag.

Mobile Computing (Tablet PCs) In Higher Education project at the Johns Hopkins University, generously funding by Hewlett Packard, has enabled the development of modified studio style instruction in introductory physics coures.

Tilman Wolf Receives Teaching Award from Hewlett-Packard. Wolf of the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department (ECE) at UMass Amherst has received a highly competitive Technology for Teaching Award worth nearly $69,000 from the Hewlett-Packard Company. As part of the award, Hewlett-Packard is giving Dr. Wolf more than $53,000 worth of high-tech teaching equipment and $15,500 in unrestricted funds to pay for setting up this technology in the classroom.

Tablet PC Research

Microsoft External Research & Programs has supported more than 125 research projects at universities around the world in areas that include social computing (conferenceXP, classroom, Tablet-Based Computing including teaching, e-science, Compilers, Languages, and Runtimes, ... ), gaming, and robotics.

Rob R. Weitz and others offer the paper The Tablet PC for Faculty: A Pilot Project. They found that only a fraction of faculty are motivated to use tablet technology: roughly a third of faculty expressed an interest in replacing their notebook computer with a tablet computer" -- "generally, participating faculty did indeed use tablet functionality in their classes and were convinced that this use resulted in a meaningful impact on teaching and learning."

Linda Swarlis, Ph.D. Candidate, University of North Texas at poster session, poster # 48. Her title, How Cognitive Styles and Tablet PCs Impact Performance in Science Classrooms This research study examines to what extent field dependence, field independence, verbalizer, visualizer, high spatial, and low spatial cognitive styles, and the use of a tablet PC by girls impact classroom performance in a high school science class. Tablet PC usage, effective note-taking, and performance in tests in biology, chemistry, and physics classes will be examined. Does a tablet PC enhance learning for students? Does using the tablet PC enhance spatial ability for girls? Do cognitive styles impact satisfaction levels with the tablet PC, self-efficacy in technology for girls, and use levels that fully utilize the unique features of the tablet PC?

Misc.

Simplified User Guide for Tablet PCs Available at UIC Libraries.

May 22 , 2006 According to the Computer Industry Almanac, PCs In-Use Surpassed 900M in 2005. USA Accounts for Over 25% of all PCs In-Use. PCs per capita in the U.S. have reached 78% and will remain higher than cell phones for a few more years. The U.S. has a large PC usage lead with over three times as many PCs as the second place Japan. The U.S. accounts for over 25% of all PCs in-use compared to 4.6% of worldwide population. PCs in-use growth is slowing, but the U.S. is on track to have more PCs in-use than people in five or six years. In-use growth will continue because the PC is expanding its domain with new product categories such as Media Center PCs, tablet PCs, Ultra-Mobile PCs and handheld PCs. The rapid growth of mobile PCs is the major reason for current and future PC expansion.

A list of links to popular press articles about Tablet PC uses in various venues, including education.

Steve Potash, President, Open eBook Forum, presented PowerPoint slides about Digital Publishing Opportunities and Challenges Presented by the Tablet PC.

eFuzion: development of a pervasive educational system Annual Joint Conference Integrating Technology into Computer Science Education archive Proceedings of the 10th annual SIGCSE conference on Innovation and technology in computer science education includes papers.

Straight forward mechanisms like online catalogs provide a powerful means for easy access to complex content and content-rich applications independent of location.

Allscripts Healthcare Solutions (NASDAQ: MDRX), a leading provider of point-of-care decision support tools for physicians, to Pioneer Applications in Support of Microsoft Tablet PC Initiative.

Jeffrey L. Popyack and Bruce Char of Drexel University offered an introductory-level workshop at SIGCSE 2006 Workshops. Their presentations include a brief overview of the Tablet PC software development environment, resources available for developers, and instruction on using the SDK, with suggestions for usage in software design and team projects throughout the computer science curriculum.

The George Lucas Education Foundation Learning Interchange shares examples of innovative practices in K-12 education taken from topics and stories archived in the vast resources of The George Lucas Educational Foundation. You will find topics showing technology integration, social and emotional learning, project-based learning, authentic assessment and more in the GLEF Learning Interchange. Also, Edutopia online with free teaching modules.

Curtis Bonk describes what he calls an education perfect storm. This includes PowerPoint slides with data about emerging technology, enhanced pedagogy, learner demand, and erased budgts useful for current source leads.

New Zealand-based Ambient Design Ltd., creator of ArtRage, is the $100,000 grand prize winner of the Microsoft® Tablet PC contest Does Your Application Think in Ink? Also lists ten other awardees.

Annotate, Edit and Comment with Tablet PCs PDF Files testimonials.

In connection with the July 2006 bar examination, the Illinois Board of Admissions to the Bar will permit as many as 270 examinees to use their personal laptop computers (including Tablets) to answer the essay portions of the test.

The Boeing Company Puts the Tablet PC Through Its Paces.

Pharmaceutical Company Streamlines Processes with Mobile, Versatile Tablet PC.

Advertising Agency Streamlines Processes, Saves Money, and Increases Productivity with the Tablet PC .

Report on Girls in IT Workshop

The Impact of Tablet PCs and Pen-based Technology on Education: Vignettes, Evaluations, and Future Directions (Paperback)

Jane Prey and others, Links to white papers about Tablets.

Student Tablet PC

Tablet PC Blogs

tabletology.com

Gottabemobile.com

Watch for updates to this reference list. And, please, let me know of your reference posts, adds, your favorites, and what you can't find.

If you haven't done so already, Teach, check out the mobile youth report 2008, with a free download.

1.1 billion consumers aged under 30 with a combined spend on mobile of a quarter of a trillion dollars ($270 billion)!

That's the size of the mobile youth market according to mobileYouth's latest 2008 research - the mobile youth report.

Let's see, now. What's the teacher to student ratio for using mobiles? How does this ratio relate to curricula teachers tout as preparing students for the 21st century?

I wonder if we as classroom teachers can ever catch up with those now under 30 years of age and their familiarity with open learning. I heard a speaker at the Democrat convention propose a cadre of new teachers. That makes sense, especially if it can attract under 30s who use mobiles to learn. What do you think?

Did you catch the medal count at the 2008 Education Olympics? Finland earned the most with 35, United States the least with 1, behind Estonia with 08. Kudos to the U.S. 9th grade CivEd team for distinguishing fact from opinion, interpret political cartoons, and comprehend political messages!

Did you catch the medal count at the 2008 Education Olympics? Finland earned the most with 35, United States the least with 1, behind Estonia with 08. Kudos to the U.S. 9th grade CivEd team for distinguishing fact from opinion, interpret political cartoons, and comprehend political messages!

• TouchKit Run for C++ devs for creating touchscreen apps: $1580 = frameless 70cm x 50cm multi-touch screen + calibrated infrared camera + SW pack
• Touchscreen ordering at restaurants (TheAge.com)
• On mini-notebooks or Netbooks: "Right now, the prices range from $300 to $800," says Via's Brown. "In the next year, $200 to $700 will be the range."
• Students at Klein School District in Texas get Tablet PCs, starting with Klein Oak High School
• Congratulations to rugged Tablet PC manufacturer, Mobile Demand for making Inc 500 list!
• Albatron Tee PC is a Windows CE 6 device with 400MHz ARM926, 7" display, 128MB, 128MB storage, WiFi, Bluetooth, & camera options
• First look at Fujitsu Lifebook T5010 Tablet PC
• Gigabyte Netbook Tablet PC: 8.9" display, swivel hinge, Intel Atom, 1GB DDR2, WiFi, Bluetooth, 1.3M camera = $799

Several of us blogged that last year was going to be the year of touch. With resistive touch UMPCs, dual mode Tablet PCs, and then the iPhone, there’s no doubt this prediction came true.

Well, I think many of us are on board to make another prediction: This is the year of multi-touch. There’s the Dell Latitude XT Tablet PC with a capacitive/active digitizer which supports the pen and multi-touch, the announcement that Windows 7 will support multi-touch, Microsoft’s Surface Computer, and numerous one-of/homebrew multi-touch projects. Hey, even Google has a multi-touch library. Oh, and of course, there’s the iPhone (and other Apple products), with its multi-touch capabilities.

A New York Times article today lays out the case that we’ll be seeing more multi-touch systems in the near future too. As part of this trend they point to the iPhone, the fact that Windows 7 will support multi-touch, and the impact of new multi-touch hardware from NTrig and Wacom.

I have to say, though, that several things stuck out in the article that I think need some revisiting. First, in the caption to the Dell Latitide pictures, the NYT’s article says:

“A multitouch screen by N-trig, on the Dell Latitude XT laptop-tablet hybrid, responds to a pen as well as fingertips.”

Catch the phrasing? A laptop-tablet hybrid? Yep, OEMs don’t want to talk Tablets. The article clarifies the distinction in an even more confusing manner, describing the Dell Latitide XT as a:

“hybrid computer that’s smaller than a laptop but bigger than a tablet model”

Funny, isn’t it?

Anyway, as multi-touch spreads–particularly with the release of Windows 7–I’m predicting that Tablet PCs are going to be one of the early adopters. If Microsoft isn’t too careful here, it could wind up having its efforts lumped in with Tablets that no one wants to call Tablets. This is nowhere’s land and the start of a death spiral for Windows’ permutatation of multi-touch.

The other thing I think, which could cause a hiccup for multi-touch adoption, is Windows 7 itself. No one from Microsoft has talked about the implementation yet or the API, but if it’s not well done it very well may splinter and harm multi-touch adoption. Already we see NTrig go out on its own with a multi-touch SDK. Is this a harbinger of things to come?

Microsoft is also in last-place right now with its non-existent multi-touch SDK. There’s the iPhone, Google’s SDK, NTrig’s, and possibly one from Wacom when it launches its multi-touch digitizer later this year. And think about it, if Windows 7’s multi-touch is targetted to Tablet PCs, it may do no better than second place in adoption, playing second fiddle to the iPhone, which is on track to sell 40 million units this year. Tablet PCs are selling nowhere near that.

My point is that numbers of users and numbers of developers create a standard and if Microsoft’s multi-touch isn’t up to par, we could see so much splintering in the multi-touch market around Windows 7 to depress unit sales numbers, keeping the prices high, and the adoption rate even slower. Do we need another $2500 Dell-like Tablet with multi-touch? No way.

Wacom’s CEO hints at the pricing problem saying that for multi-touch to succeed “the cost is going to have to come down substantially.” Yep. This is a big problem. Pricing has been a problem with Tablets from the get go. And then there’s the whole UMPC overpricing. And if the Dell Latitude XT is any indication, we’re going to see price problems with any multi-touch, Tablet products too.

So here’s my take. For Windows 7’s version of multi-touch to really take off Microsoft needs to think more generically. It needs to think in terms of whiteboards and onscreen virtual instruments and onscreen keyboards and enabling multiple mice/users and multi-touch point of sale systems, and of course multi-touch on small, dedicated devices (phones being one of them) and so on. Microsoft has to think big and its implementation has to live up to the multi-touch dream.

And this leads to my last point about the NYT’s article and multi-touch in general: Living up to the multi-touch dream. As some of you may know I’ve been experimenting with a Dell Latitude XT over the last couple weeks, trying out the multi-touch drivers. And I have to say, the Dell Tablet doesn’t live up to the multi-touch dream. I haven’t had a chance to play with the NTrig multi-touch SDK, so I’ve been limited to the Flicks-like multi-touch gestures that NTrig provides. I’ll write another post that explains these gestures in more detail later, but let me say that more Flicks is not the answer. The feedback isn’t real time. It’s not smooth. It’s clunky. Apps like IE have to be tweaked with multi-touch in mind. If it’s not, it’s not going to live up to the dream. And is there anyone that thinks IE is going to be optimized for a multi-touch experience? Nope. It’s probably a safe bet that the iPhone is going to continue to lead the way here–for at least another development cycle or two–which is probably what, three to five years?

Don’t get me wrong: I’m agreeing that we’re going to see the influence of more and more multi-touch and I think the next 12 months are so is going to be a significant inflection point. However, will this period live up to the multi-touch dream? I think a big part of this is going to depend on what Microsoft delivers with Windows 7. This is going to be very interesting to watch. All eyes will be on PDC and the new Windows 7 Engineering blog, authored by Steven Sinofsky and Jon DeVaan blog.

Microsoft evidently is gearing up for a 300 million dollar ad campaign to shore up Vista. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that part of this effort will include giving Jerry Seinfeld 10 million dollars to help in the campaign.

All I’ve got to say is ugh.

Is this really the best way to spend money in today’s market? Not to me. We don’t need to give actors millions of dollars or TV networks more cash. Sorry. That’s yesterday’s world.

I’ll go back to some ideas I’ve talked about before that I think would help boost Vista’s image and do it more effectively.

Here, in no specific order, are some variants on how to market Vista better and still fit under a $300,000,000 budget:

1. 100,000 Tablet PC Get one, Give one Giveaway. Yes, give away 100,000 Tablet PCs at roughly $2,000 a piece, totalling about $200,000,000 over a ten week period. That’s effectively one Tablet PC every minute for 70 days. How do you give that many Tablet PCs away? Leverage the web and the gift of kindness. Here’s how it works: A person has to write a blog post or submit an essay on who they would give a Tablet PC to and why. It can be a person or organization. Your post/essay is then added to an aggregator that people can read and vote up/down on. Every two minutes a winner from this list is gifted a Tablet PC and whoever created the post is given one too. You can fill in the details.

2. 100,000 Tablet PC Live Search Giveaway. Like giveaway #1, give away 1 Tablet PC every minute over a 70 day period. To win, you have to use Live Search and somewhere on the page will be a winning link that you click on to accept the prize.

3. 100,000 Student Giveaway. In 4 weeks give away 25,000 Tablet PCs a week. How to do it? Any student adds a Facebook application that includes a chat Window in which a message pops up in which if you respond to and you win (or something similar).

4. Ultimate Silverlight Giveaway. Visit a page with a Silverlight app on it and win a Tablet PC or comparable by drawing something in the app. Drawings are voted up or down.

5. ???? Enter your own 300 million dollar giveaway here.

Of course, I know all of this is too late. But, you know, I hope it’s not too late for Jerry Seinfeld to do something nice with his money. It doesn’t seem right. Sorry, Jerry.

Microsoft evidently is gearing up for a 300 million dollar ad campaign to shore up Vista. The Wall Street Journal is reporting that part of this effort will include giving Jerry Seinfeld 10 million dollars to help in the campaign.

All I’ve got to say is ugh.

Is this really the best way to spend money in today’s market? Not to me. We don’t need to give actors millions of dollars or TV networks more cash. Sorry. That’s yesterday’s world.

I’ll go back to some ideas I’ve talked about before that I think would help boost Vista’s image and do it more effectively.

Here, in no specific order, are some variants on how to market Vista better and still fit under a $300,000,000 budget:

1. 100,000 Tablet PC Get one, Give one Giveaway. Yes, give away 100,000 Tablet PCs at roughly $2,000 a piece, totalling about $200,000,000 over a ten week period. That’s effectively one Tablet PC every minute for 70 days. How do you give that many Tablet PCs away? Leverage the web and the gift of kindness. Here’s how it works: A person has to write a blog post or submit an essay on who they would give a Tablet PC to and why. It can be a person or organization. Your post/essay is then added to an aggregator that people can read and vote up/down on. Every two minutes a winner from this list is gifted a Tablet PC and whoever created the post is given one too. You can fill in the details.

2. 100,000 Tablet PC Live Search Giveaway. Like giveaway #1, give away 1 Tablet PC every minute over a 70 day period. To win, you have to use Live Search and somewhere on the page will be a winning link that you click on to accept the prize.

3. 100,000 Student Giveaway. In 4 weeks give away 25,000 Tablet PCs a week. How to do it? Any student adds a Facebook application that includes a chat Window in which a message pops up in which if you respond to and you win (or something similar).

4. Ultimate Silverlight Giveaway. Visit a page with a Silverlight app on it and win a Tablet PC or comparable by drawing something in the app. Drawings are voted up or down.

5. ???? Enter your own 300 million dollar giveaway here.

Of course, I know all of this is too late. But, you know, I hope it’s not too late for Jerry Seinfeld to do something nice with his money. It doesn’t seem right. Sorry, Jerry.

This fourth post of notes toward a Tablet PC Learning Research Agenda gives priority to learner views of acquiring new behavior. All posts in this series address aspects of learning efficiency as a way to increase learning rates.

The first post proposed a Children's Research Center for Mobile PC Learning. The second started a list of research questions that a proposed Symposium on the Impact of Pen-Based Technology on Education Learning might address. The third began a glossary about Tablet PC learning research, especially measures of outcomes.

I consider this effort a way to clarify how an Association of Public School Learners and a National Association for Public School Learning might help account for increased academic performance in an emerging era of open learning.

A Learner View of Learning

It seems reasonable to assume that learners implicitly ask a series of six (6) generic questions when faced with a new task to perform. Most people who have encountered any instruction will recognize these questions as those each of us has considered at least once. Each question has a corresponding behavioral learning theory set of options instructors may use to increase learning efficiency.

Q 1: What must I learn to do? For example, see a color, squiggle, meaning of a squiggle, and/or hear a key word or phrase?

Q 2: How must I learn to do it? For example, where do I look, what for and which words and sounds must I hear to learn it? What moves do I make with my fingers? Can I choose from options you provide, or must I make my response some other way? How much guessing must I do? How fast must I do each thing? When will these presentations repeat?

Q3: What will it cost me to learn it? For example, how much time will this take me, seconds or minutes? How much of that time will I waste waiting for the instructor to give the next point? What other learning will I miss while waiting? Must I sit still or can I move around? How do I know I will I gain more than I give? Who or what controls what I give?

Q4: How will I know I learned it? For example, will a smiley face appear or bells ring automatically when I write the correct response? Will I know tomorrow after someone marks my response?

Q5: How will I show I learned it? For example, will I write something, choose something, fill in something missing, copy something? Who or what says whatever I do means I learned it, know it, understand it, can use it?

Q6: So what? What do I get for my cost? Stated another way, why should I learn whatever I decide to learn or what the program or another person says I should learn? For example, what benefit will I get for my cost, such as for my welfare gain, profit or advantage?

More questions

What generic questions would you include from a learner's view and what learning theories would instructors use to address each question?

More notes toward a research agenda

Future posts will continue to coordinate aspect of previous notes and fill in gaps to offer a possible research agenda useful to teachers, behavioral scientists, and software developers.

I appreciate your comments, so please let me know your thoughts, responses, etc. to this series and to the idea of building a behavioral science research agenda about Tablet PC learning.

Researchers have engineered two new materials that bend light in entirely new ways. These materials are the first that work in the optical band of the spectrum, which encompasses visible and infrared light. Such cloaks, long depicted in science fiction, would allow objects, from warplanes to people, to hide in plain sight. Existing cloaking materials only work with microwaves.

BBC News posted a video demonstrating software designed for robots that allows them to "learn" to move through trial and error. Ralf Der at the Max Planck Institute for Mathematics in the Sciences has also applied the software to simulated animals and humans. Professor Der has tried the system on simple wheeled systems.

"I call it a plug-and-play brain," he said.

"The classic thing in robotics is 'bring this' or 'play this chess game and win'—the task is given," says Daniel Polani of the University of Hertfordshire. "Ralf Der's system is only defined by what it perceives and does, but there's no goal. It's a very good approach."

Der and his colleagues are working to create a long-term memory, so that when the robot finds itself in similar situations, it knows what to do.

Robert Scoble writes a fairly long post about blogs and the PR industry and how the PR industry is promoting things the wrong way when it comes to tech blogs–or the blogs are getting pulled into their strategies. I think Robert’s trying to get at ways that can make blogs better and more interesting–possibly returning to their roots.

Here’s the thing I think Robert skips over: It’s not just the PR people that are disrupting classic tech blogs, the journalists are too. In fact, over the last few years, I’ve argued several times that much of the talked about online growth has been around journalistic endeavors. The writers and publishers have moved online. No problem here; they should have. However, it’s meant that with this transition there’s been money in the game and quite understandably people have migrated from being tech enthusiasts to journalists. Can’t blame people for moving to where the money’s at. But with this transition I think the flavor of tech blogging has gotten muddled.

In no particular order, here are my pet peeves about how this trend towards tech journalism has tainted some tech blogs–particularly the largest ones:

1) The journalists blog like journalists. What do I mean? They report what’s going on. OK, that’s fine, however, quite often their sources are another blog post from some other person journalistically blogging about someone’s comment or news leak. So what you say? Well, more often than not, the journalist blogger will repeat the key news (quite respectfully usually) reporting the key facts that the original blogger found. You know what? A tech blogger wouldn’t just do this. They’d simply say, “Look at this. So and so found out some info” and then provide a link to it. They might go on and add some commentary, but they wouldn’t think they’d have to lay out the whole story, which the original site did just fine. A journalist is going to repeat the whole story and effectively try to keep the reader on their site. A tech blogger will link.

2) Publishers of sites that want to make a living often do things to keep people on their site only. Tech bloggers aren’t as concerned with this. Ways of doing this are:

a) Link to their own articles rather than outside original sources.
b) Provide partial feeds so the reader has to go to the full site to see the full article.
c) Don’t link out, even if they credit another source. Big media blogs do this more commonly, but I see this enough to irk me more than I’d like.
d) And from the point in #1, journalists repeat news from other sites when a link will do.

3) A journalist’s mission is to report; a tech blogger’s mission is to spread their enthusiasm and knowledge for something. It’s not that a tech blogger is simply more benevolant. I don’t think that’s it at all. It’s just that a tech blogger knows they are biased–because they are enthusiastic about something–and shares it. A journalist focuses on reporting. (I will add that for some strange reason tech journalist bloggers seem to rant with some of the loudest. I don’t get this at all. You’d rarely see this in print media, though maybe on the radio or in video. Still, I don’t get it.)

4) Journalists like to point out the conflicts. Yes, tech bloggers will too. However, a tech blogger is just as likely to share info that resolves some conflict or problem. The reason? A tech blogger wants to nourish something. A journalist wants to get the next big story and attract readers and get clicks on their ads. Conflict keeps the click flow going–today. Archiveable information isn’t as much about clicks right now.

5) A journalist is more concerned about the number of readers; a tech blogger is more concerned about the richness of their community.

Yeah, this all is probably a bit of an oversimplification, but hey, I’m an engineer-minded, tech blogger and not a journalist-slash-analyst-slash-PR rep blogger, so I’m allowed. And, you know what, for some reason a smiley face just seems like a highly appropriate way to end this post :-).

The OLPC and original ASUS Eee PC have really shaken up the market so says Gartner. In fact, Gartner is predicting that in 2008 5 million of these diminutive PCs will be sold.

As Gartner sees it, these devices, which were originally intended for the education market have found a welcome audience in the consumer space. In fact, they think that 70% of the device sales will be to consumers. And Gartner sees people buying these as secondary devices, too. Not primary machines. Sound familiar?

Of course, what’s so hilarious about all of this is that these devices were exactly in the ballpark of UMPCs, which haven’t had the sales volume many would have expected. The reason? Price, price, price. Seems that if you take a UMPC, remove the $50 (if that) digiitzer, and add a keyboard, then that’s good enough to drop the price by 1/2. Amazing, isn’t it?

What’s also funny in a not so funny way is that UMPCs were originally intended for consumers, although for some mystical reason (probably because of their high prices), marketing switched to high-end or IT customers.

So here we are, seeing these low end PCs potentially increase in sales by a magnitude in what Gartner predicts to be 4 years. Simply amazing.

Now Gartner is including a wide range of screen sizes here: Anything from 5 inches to 10 inches. This doesn’t include MIDs. I assume it includes the good ole UMPCs though.

What else sets these devices apart besides their low cost? Gartner predicts most of them will have diminutive power to match their diminutive sizes. Makes sense. The online summary doesn’t say it, but I think this includes limited onboard resources too.

So here’s what’s even more interesting: For some reason, Gartner thinks that these devices will be accepted by consumers because of their ease of use. I don’t get it. What will make them any easier to use than any other device?

In fact, because of their limited resources, Gartner believes the provided OS will either be Linux or XP. Yep, no Vista here. Too big and too slugish for these small devices I guess. Of course, there’s no way XP is going to be selling into 2012, so I’m not sure what Gartner is thinking here. I’m guessing they are just seeing the XP/Linux trend throughout 2008.

To me, I don’t see XP being any easier to use than anything else. So I think this whole ease to use argument is not going to pan out. Low price, small screen, small keyboard, limited resources does not make something easier to use.

Now the Linux people have an opportunity here to show how to create a good secondary device. But I’m not going to hold my breath. It’s not going to be about five quick icons on the screen–although that’s fine.

I challenge anyone here. I don’t think I’ve see one company hit the ease of use sweet spot for secondary devices. As someone who wrote ShareKMC, which is about two devices working together, I can’t say I really understand what this behavoir needs to be, but I know it’s not there. I’ll put it this way, even the iPhone, which is a great little device and fairly easy to use, it’s not a great companion device. (I should add a link to EverNote here as a product that’s might help out here, if only it shipped with most of the devices.) My guess is ease of use isn’t going to be a shining feature of any of these devices, unless something changes on the software side. Crudely this would include a custom shell and maybe 4 to 5 really well tuned apps for the form factor. And NO, I’m not talking about an old fashioned media player with a 3D graphics shell. And to do it really well, I think there ought to be one or possibly two small tweaks to the hardware. I’m not going to go into details here, but I think anyone that really thinks about this stuff will see some really obvious things to do.

[Found via Gottabemobile]

Microsoft launched Microsoft Surface (TM), a commercial touchscreen that breaks down barriers and provides effortless interaction with information using touch, natural gestures and physical objects. Starwood Hotels and Resorts Worldwide, Inc. installed the first units in its Sheraton Hotels.

Microsoft Surface is a 30-inch display in a table-like form factor that several guests can use simultaneously. Picture a surface that can recognize physical objects from a paintbrush to a cell phone and allows hands-on, direct control of content such as photos, music and maps. Look for it in Restaurants, Hotels, Retail Locations and Casino Resorts. I wonder how teachers would use them in classrooms?

Thanks, Rob, for the prompt.

I’ve been thinking a bit about how to make desktop systems a little bit more Tablet friendly. There’s no doubt that a digitizing pad (especially with a view of the screen) is a good way to go, however, there’s also no doubt that one more device on the desk creates a little bit more of a mess.

So I’ve been wondering what it might be like to place this technology not in a separate device, but rather within the keyboard.

Here’s the basic idea:

Imagine a standard sized keyboard with a multi-touch display-slash-digitizer. Rather than make the whole keyboard virtual and lose the natural feel of keys, instead just make the less used keys virtual. This would be the standard mode of the digitizer. You’d see virtual representations of the keys displayed on the digitizer and you could touch them just like you would a normal keyboard. You could even press more than one key just like a regular keyboard since the digitizer surface would be multi-touch.

A secondary view of the digitizing surface would show all or part of the display and work as a standard dual-mode digitzer, like that from NTrig. In other words, you could use a pen on the surface to handwrite or draw or you could use your fingers to gesture or control the windows.

Now I probably drew this too much in favor of portrait mode, but you get the idea.

If I had a keyboard like this I think I’d leverage the inking and handwriting capabilities on my desktop a lot more. Yes, separate devices are OK or even a digitizer built into the display, but from my experience I slowly stop using things if my desk starts to get too cluttered and when sitting at a desk I’m not so sure if digitizing displays is the most economical way to go–especially if the features are used let’s say only 25% of the time.

Oh, and while I’m at it, I’d also like to be able to magnetically dock my mouse to the keyboard (with either a magnet on the mouse or keyboard and a metal strip on both sides), not only to help keep my desk more organized while not in use, but also as a charging surface for a bluetooth mouse when not in use. I like this kind of idea, both helps with organization and provides a much needed charging connection. I hate it when bluetooth mice go dead.

This draft begins my assembly of a glossary that gives priority to learning with Tablet and other mobile PCs. It’s part of my effort to offer real time, on-the-fly instructional decision support and collaboration to teachers using mobile PCs that translates into increased student learning rates. In this way, I’m trying to increase transparency to learning that Tablets and their siblings permit.

Each term has technical, operational criteria that allow measurable reporting to demonstrate increases in the probability of a correct response to a given instruction or presentation. I have used these ideas for decades when assessing instruction, venues, and software.

The glossary gives me written descriptors of how I think about learning when observing in classrooms, evaluating education software, etc. I use it as a reminder when searching for empirical research, scholarly, and evaluation reports about learning. It also indicates the breadth and depth of Tablet PC Education today as well as its possible future. Perhaps others will find this glossary useful also.

Some descriptors originated in empirical experimental research studies (symbolized by ER), mostly conducted by others; still more come from my less rigorous efforts, such as proof-of-concept exercises (identified with symbol POC). All have theoretical explanations that allow generalizations beyond uses in their original contexts. Check the tabs on this blog for details about POC entries.

I divided entries into terms about learning principles and associations as well as organizations about learning.

Terms about Learning Principles

Direct Learning (DL) (POC). Direct Learning software gives no more than three examples before someone can solve problems offered in a software program.

For example, MathPractice software format lets people solve problems without additional mediation by a person or by more examples or directions. Writing DL software requires the programmer to use straight-line logic to analyze the problem presentation process (image sequence), the content (astronomy, English, mathematics), and to blend these two analyses into a single step-by-step offer of a problem that allows a quick, correct answer.

DL software has three main dimensions familiar to education developers: sensory context, presentation process, and content analysis as well as legacies (pedigree). Each of these dimension consists of enough operational details to mire a software development project in debates about data point assumptions and confidence. Yet, theoretically, managing these dimensions by using operational criteria from learning research will increase learning rates for a given educational software program. http://tabletpceducation.blogspot.com/2005/03/defining-direct-learning-for-tablet-pc.html

Information supply chain (POC). Passing an intangible information commodity (such as 1+1=2) along from one source to another as in a tangible business commodity supply chain.

The transmission of ideas and processes from one generation to another as through school curricula. I refer to this transmission as an information supply chain. Others set a higher standard by calling it a knowledge chain. Teachers and books have been a major part of these chains, with increasing value to users as they increasingly save learner's time in mastering ideas and process of other people.

Learning. The learner meets criterion for successfully solving a problem or in other ways performing a task.

Learning analyst (POC). A specialist who estimates probabilities of learning and in other ways assesses instruction, software, and venues in terms of empirical research about learning and theories of learning.

Learning criterion (ER). The stated result expected in order to claim learning occurred.

Learning efficiency (POC). Measures that indicate the extent to which instruction and learners' attentions meet to yield a learning criterion quicker, easier, or with less effort when compared with other possible ways of reaching the same criterion (Heiny, 2007).

From a learner view, learning efficiency means spending less time, effort, and other personal resources acquiring a given set of information or skills. It also means gaining something of personal value in exchange for those resources.

Learning efficiency rating (LER) (POC). An informal system to rate student learning efficiency according to teacher instructional patterns. A learning efficiency rating score (LERS) indicates the level of confidence someone may have in an instruction to yield a learning criterion promptly, directly, and easily. Raters use the Learning Efficiency Scale (LES) to score instruction and then convert it into a rating.

This rating is to teaching what a financial credit rating score is to lending. Both indicate levels of confidence to have in someone’s future performance, based on past performance.

Learning efficiency scale (LES) (POC). Measures of learning efficiency indicate the extent to which instruction and learners' attentions meet. LES yields a measure of instructional competence, e.g., power or proficiency. It provides a framework for students and school observers to rank the relative capacity of school lessons and instructional material to yield intended student academic behavior.

Learning efficiency Star Rating System (LESRS) (POC). The number of stars assigned to an efficiency level symbolizes the instructional capacity to yield efficient learning.

***** Highly Efficient instruction receives a Five Star Rating,
**** Efficient instruction receives Four Stars,
*** Normally Efficient instruction receives Three Stars,
** Less Efficient instruction receives Two Stars, and
* Inert / Laissez-faire instruction receives One Star.

Learning forecasts (POC). A statement of probability of a student or group meeting learning criterion. Forecasts range from general statements by such indexes as I.Q. scores, achiever-test results, and grade level assignments to technical estimates based on instructional processes.

It’s also a proposed online subscription service for teachers of online databased real time information indicating whether instructional technique A or B will likely yield the most efficient learning rate by individual students in a given lesson.

Learning rates (LR) (POC). I don’t think I’ve defined learning rates. Indirectly, I’ve said that the threshold question about education software seems apparent: What learning do you as the software designer intend from the use of your software? Specify, at least for yourself, an operational definition of what you mean by learning. For example, you might assert, "This software will increase a users correct responses from 4 out of every 10 tries to 9 out of 10 tries."

Learner resources (POC). Time, energy, and personal tangibles as well as intangibles required to use prerequisite skills and information while meeting a learning criterion.

Learner view (POC). A view of instruction and its venue as seen by a learner.

Nearsourcing (POC). The fewer interventions, the nearer the original source the user selects. Nearsourcing of information acknowledges using insights of an information originator without considering interpretations others assign to those insights. It distinguishes sources closest to originals from farsourcing, or from what academics commonly call secondary, tertiary and other more removed sources.

Nearsourcing occurs when information users give priority to contents in information supply chains with fewer interventions between original sources and information a user selects to make a decision. It offers simplified information transmission from originators to learners and greater efficiency of collaboration of learners with originators of a bit of information.

Net learning (POC). A calculated or estimated difference between learning gained and learning limited by the learning venue or lesson.

One step learning (ER). Zeaman and House documented repeatedly in experimental laboratory studies of two choice visual discrimination tasks that human learning occurs in one step. Other activity of learners before learning is random (trial and error) behavior while searching for the relevant visual dimension to complete a task successfully.

Open learning paradigm (OLP) (POC). A working descriptor of the commonly asserted access that mobile PCs allow anyone to learn anything, anytime, anywhere (Any; ATTW; A3TsW?) on demand.

Personal benefits (PB) (POC). Learner gains more than personal resources given in exchange for advancement, advantages, or profits. (Heiny, 1980).

QuickStart Learning (QSL) (POC). It refers to activities that provide a person with prompt changes in behavior. Some have called this eons old practice learning-by-doing. It is a generic category of immediate, efficient behavior change activities. QSL is to learning what instant gratification is to the learner. They define engaged learning. Once the person starts the activity, measurable learning occurs. QSLs increase a learner’s behavior repertoire efficiently, that's one of their common attributes.

Time. The duration of an event, process, condition, etc., as with passing clock moments, trial blocks, beginning to end, start to finish, before and after, betwixt and between.

Trial and error learning (ER). Learner’s behavior before meeting before learning is random (trial and error) behavior while searching for the relevant dimension to complete a task successfully.

Venture educators (VE) (POC). Like venture capitalists, venture educators take the small daily gambles, risking their careers as well as the learning rates of their students to test the utility of these tools in schools. Are to education as venture capitalists (VCs) are to business.

They take calculated risks to gain advantages for student learning rate as VCs invest in clients. VEs don't have formal schooling or professional preparation comparable to VCs. Dodge offers useful insights for VEs to consider. Many of the logic patterns he reviews, VCs learn in business school and through trial and error. Some patterns they adapt and create. Others they create on-the-fly.

When a VE fails, theoretically students might pay a price. But in practice, the novelty of the VE’s efforts usually appears to help students more than regular curricula and instruction. I don't have objective data to support that hypothesis. Many observations in a wide variety of settings seem like a fair basis for this generalization until it's tested empirically.

Associations and other Organizations of and for Learners

Association of Public School Learners (APSL) (POC). A proposed independent body of public school learners and alumni advocating for public school policies that promote competition with private schools for the best students to address global demands.

National Association for Public School Learning (NAPSL) (POC). A proposed independent body to advocate for public policies that make public school learning more competitive with private schools and with other efforts for students to meet global demands

Open Learning Study Group (OLSG) (POC). A proposed group of scientists and policy analysts who give priority to understanding the potential and implications of learning on-demand anytime, anywhere, about any topic by anyone for any reason.

Children’s Research Center for Mobile Learning (CRCML) (POC). A proposed empirical research organization.

I'll post an updated version of this glossary, hopefully sooner than later. Let me know if you have Qs before then. I'd welcome your comments.

(Note: I edited these entries, so minor differences may exist between them and some original postings.)

Rob Bushway over at Gottabemobile brings up some interesting thoughts on the state of Tablet PCs.

I’m thoroughly convinced that Tablet features make a lot of sense–especially in one of my favorite areas to think about: education.

However, I’m also convinced that the numerous stumbles that Microsoft and its partner OEMs have made with the Tablet form factor have all but guaranteed that the era of Tablets as we know them now is nearing an end.

Yeah, yeah. Tablet sales are probably doing just fine. They may even be increasing for all I know. However, Tablets simply haven’t reached their potential and by virtue of the way the markets work, probably never will. Sorry. It’s unlikely Tablets as we know them now are going to just take off all of a sudden.

Here’s my working thesis though:

1) That we will see Tablet technology spread widely throughout more devices despite this “looming non-success.”
2) That the dream of Tablet PCs, like the original orange one that Bill Gates demoed at CES is still alive and well though the “dream devices” we all want may or may not be like this.
3) The dream devices of the future will improve our lives and will incorporate some, possibly many, of the core features we know now of today’s Tablet PCs.

In fact, I think we’re on the cusp of a new generation of Tablets. The iPhone being the first of them. It has excellent touch, good predictive typing via an onscreen keyboard, pretty good browser support for a touch device, and more. Yes, to me it’s a Tablet PC and a pretty good one at that. No to all of you skeptics a physical keyboard isn’t needed to make a great Tablet. The iPhone proves it.

But it’s not just touch that I think is key to making a great Tablet. It’s going to be about processors (Atom anyone?) and screen technology and other sensors (multiple screens with multi-touch?) and, yes, great software (simple, concise OS, with targetted apps). We haven’t seen enough of this from the Microsoft camp yet. Yes, Microsoft’s Tablet PC handwriting recognition is definitely beyond all others. No question. But the overall implementation of Tablets, well, uh. Let’s just say it’s not a bad start.

There’s more to do.

I’m quite excited by the possibilities. I’ve been thinking a lot over the last year about what kind of device might really make my electronic workbooks really sing for instance (see the header of this blog for sample screenshots). I’m convinced the right combination of technology will be quite enabling and valuable and make people smile.

So although Tablets as I dream of haven’t quite taken off in the way I think they should have, I’m still chugging away. The road ahead may be a bit uneven, and unpredicatable, and confusing, but I’m quite excited about the possibilties. It’s going to be an evolutionary, incremental process. I’m comfortable with that. Yes, I’m ready today for a killer Tablet. But I realize it’s going to take awhile longer. No problem.

It’s time to welcome the next era.

Einstein Technologies is now offering TEO 3.0 for free download. TEO is an add-in for Microsoft Outlook 2003 or 2007 that turns Outlook into a fully pen-enabled app. You can use it on your Tablet PC or UMPC running Windows XP Tablet PC Edition SP2 or Windows Vista.

Thanks for the update, Josh.

Update: The TEO listing on TabletPCPost.com has been updated to reflect the change from 15-day trial to Free.

It’s time to face reality: Microsoft needs to stop what it’s doing and clone the iPhone.

After using the iPhone over the last year, I’ve come to realize that the iPhone and its browser (and now its 3rd party apps) are consuming more and more of my time. It’s even eating into my notebook/Tablet PC browse time. The iPhone model is winning.

Of course, I’m not really suggesting to clone the iPhone exactly. I’m just saying, that like with the original Mac, we’ve seen the future and what Microsoft has so far is not it. Time to bite the bullet and copy. They’re right; you’re wrong.

Here are some thoughts along these lines:

Dump IE. Don’t port it. We’re talking rewrite time. Safari is more appropriate although not ideal with its touch navigation and attempt at smart zooming. In addition, out of the box there ought to be live video, Flash, and Silverlight in the browser. These are musts.

There has to be live video support. Period. The built-in camera has to be top notch too. Done right, this isn’t going to be just a phone, it’s going to be the owner’s most used camera for most. Think simple. Don’t go overboard.

On the plus side:

Microsoft knows touch with all of its experiences with the Tablet PCs and UMPCs. It’s time to leverage this on a better, thinner iPhone like device.

I’m convinced Microsoft can make a better iPhone in part because it won’t try to do all on its own. There has to be an open and vibrant developer community, which is something Microsoft knows how to do much, much better than Apple.

Another huge advantage that Microsoft would have with an iPhone clone is that Microsoft can leverage its huge community base to give much better and richer feedback to minimize nasty bugs–which have plagued every iteration of the iPhone. Microsoft can do better here.

One bit of advice I’d give to Microsoft is to take every opportunity to improve the ease of use of the iPhone. For instance, if there’s public or known WIFI and poor cell phone coverage, the phone should transparently switch coverage. Dropped calls–especially when at home where you’re most likely to have WIFI–shouldn’t exist. Not on a good phone anyway. Whatever you add, it should be about improving ease of use, not simply blowing people away with coolness.

If Microsoft wants to differentiate more; one place to do so is with the built in apps. I’m not talking about scientific calculators here. I’m talking live weather radars, better traffic monitoring, flight tracking, and more. Make it a phone that people will use to make their lives better.

Oh, I’m sure Microsoft will also toss in a bunch of IT stuff too, but be cautious here. Don’t make things complicated for everyone else.

That’s it. Time to just do it.

Scientific Learning offers a cluster of stories describing how their FastForWord personal computer with speech recognition program helps students crack the reading code, including a special education 10th grader.

This gets a 5 Star Learning Efficiency Rating!

Dave Nagel reports that the Utah State Board of Education has signed a five year contract with Scientific Learning for use of FastForWord in their schools.

I wonder how many Tablet PC schools use FastForWord.