A study on tablet PCs: exploring their potential in education

Abstract

In our current society, the use of both Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and Knowledge and Learning Technologies (KLT) has incredibly increased. One of the newest ICTs is mobile learning or “m-learning”, an essential concept for understanding how tablet PCs help us: “any educational provision where the sole or dominant technologies are handheld or palmtop devices” (John Traxler, IADIS International Conference Mobile Learning, 2005). The main aim of this research article is to show the innovative use of tablet-PCs as learning tools in language acquisition and their possibilities as pedagogical tools in the classroom. The term “Tablet PC”, referring to the new kind of mobile devices that have appeared in recent years, have offered a wide range of new possibilities in our daily-life, as well as through their implementation in education. This article provides a theoretical approach about the potential of Tablet-PCs in education, paying special attention to language acquisition. Firstly, it analyses the development and implications of ICTs since their origin, specially, the brand about mobile learning and mobile assisted language learning (MALL) focusing in “Tablet PCs”. Secondly, it studies the advantages and disadvantages of the implementation of the tablet PCs in educative settings. This article concludes exploring the potential and the pedagogical uses tablet PCs provide us in the classroom paying special attention at the students´ age, their motivation and the improvement of collaborative learning.