From black boards to digital boards: Students and professors experience challenges and remedies

Abstract

Since the early days of education, there has always been a challenge about the appropriate medium for the interaction between the instructors and students in the classroom. In this study, the efficiency of use of tablets, as an alternative for traditional black and white boards, has been investigated. The advantages and disadvantages of this medium are elaborated and the experience of the both professors and students toward the use of tablet has been recorded using carefully prepared questionnaires in more than ten engineering classes in two universities. Both undergraduate and graduate courses are targeted and effort has been made to identify challenges in using this technology. In addition, several remedies are proposed based on the students and professors comments to improve the efficiency of the use of tablets. The paper ultimately proposes an optimized method for use of tablets in engineering classrooms which can improve both the teaching and the learning experience in universities. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2013.