LEARNING WITH MOBILE TECHNOLOGY IN HIGH SCHOOL:
A HUMAN FACTORS PERSPECTIVE

Carolyn M. Sommerich, The Ohio State University,     sommeric.1@osu.edu
Ken Collura, Catholic Diocese of Columbus     kcollura@cdeducation.org

This paper describes results of an observational study of high school students who participated in their school’s 24/7 access tablet PC (TPC) program during the program’s second year.  Seniors were issued TPCs at the start of that school year; juniors early in the second semester.  (Currently, all juniors and seniors are issued tablet PCs for the entire school year.)  Primary areas of interest for this study were students’ experiences with and attitudes about the TPCs, physical discomfort associated with TPC use, and temporal and task-driven patterns of TPC use.  Data were collected via questionnaire and computer use monitoring software.  Results showed students’ attitudes were generally quite positive towards the TPCs.  However, students did not tend to think TPCs had improved their grades, few students disagreed that TPCs were a distraction in class, and visual and musculoskeletal discomfort was prevalent amongst respondents.  Understanding how to use the TPC and recognizing its organizational capacity were associated with several positive attitudes towards the TPC, including making school more enjoyable.  This type of assessment provides a useful complement to assessments of impact of digital technology on academic performance.