Bryant University is a student-centered university focused on academic excellence that prepares its students to achieve their personal best in life and their chosen profession. As part of their ongoing commitment to innovation, Bryant launched a pilot program with Lenovo to focus on improving student learning through tablet PC integration.
“One of the major goals for this pilot is to engage faculty to drive creative uses of technology in support of teaching and learning and collect evidence of impact that will support expanded uses of the slates.” says Phil Lombardi, Director of Academic Computing and Media Services at Bryant.
The school requested proposals from faculty in how they would like to implement the ThinkPad Tablet into their class. The reaction to the pilot was extremely positive with proposals coming from multiple schools within the university.
The program detailed, analyzed, and measured the potential academic outcomes of tablets in higher education and sought to answer concerns around the effectiveness of tablets in improving learning outcomes and integration with existing technology, such as traditional laptops.
Bryant University hopes to demonstrate how tablet PCs can serve as an important instrument in teaching and learning, both in and out of the classroom, and can greatly impact how a student learns, develops critical thinking skills, interacts, collaborates and ultimately communicates and transfers knowledge.
Special consideration was given to projects that utilized the tablet to enhance the demonstration of what students know and are able to do, requiring assessment plans to gauge success or failure of the proposal.
Results were previously shared at NERCOMP-Educause in March and at the University’s annual Research and Engagement Day (REDay) in April, NEFDC and UBTech in June. Bryant University will also be speaking at the Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education in October.
