Students have difficulty staying engaged in the classroom while simultaneously trying to get a complete set of notes from a typical chalkboard-based economics lecture. In this project, we have transformed our “chalk and talk” instruction methods into dynamic, interactive presentations by using DyKnow Vision and pen-based computing. This technology enhances student-teacher interaction in the typical classroom: students submit and present their own work during class, while the teacher comments on students’ work in realtime and puts these comments into everyone’s class notes. In addition to enhanced interactivity in the classroom, pen-based computing allows the derivation and detail of graphical analysis to be preserved, enhancing student understanding of such analysis.
In this paper, we assess the effectiveness of pen-based computing in the economics classroom by surveying students about whether these technology-enhanced classrooms provide an environment conducive to learning and how use of these technologies has affected their experiences in our courses. As further evidence of the impact of this teaching and learning technology, we rely on reflections from instructors who have used it and informal feedback from students.