Issue link: https://www.e-digitaleditions.com/i/59887
Technology in the room. The devices also elimi- nate two primary distractions that laptops bring to the classroom—the "click-clacking" sound of students typing and the visual barriers that open laptops create between students and instructor. Moreover, students enjoy the con- vertibility of the devices so much that they use the computers in class more often—and learn the material more comprehensively, says Jim Kraushaar, an associate professor in business technology at the University of Ver- mont. "We found that students with conventional laptops often only bring them to classes where a laptop is re- quired," he says. "Students with con- vertibles, however, use them much more often to take notes and write diagrams in more of their classes." Kraushaar adds that having the ability to respond to a question with dia- grams and pictures, rather than text alone, is an invaluable learning tool. "The tablet encourages D ATA B I T me to create more graphic explanations in the class- room," Kraushaar says. "When both students and faculty are using this technology, that graphical element helps them learn, perhaps not more, but better." The handwriting feature of the The global business com- munity estimates that net- work attacks and spam account for 45 percent of worker downtime and cost companies more than $150 billion a year. manipulate, and share their written notes more easily than they could with an old-fashioned pen and paper. Tablet PCs are already taking hold tablet PCs is one of its important benefits, agrees Charles Grisham, chief technology officer for the Uni- versity of Virginia's College of Arts and Sciences. "Over the last 20 or 30 years, we've gotten away from using our hands to record information," says Grisham. "Yet, there's some- thing about the way the hand and mind work together that allows stu- dents to internalize difficult informa- tion." When students record infor- mation in their own handwriting, they often learn more effectively, Grisham adds. Tablet technology then allows them to file, access, New Curriculum Targets Business IT TOOLS OF THE TRADE The IT Governance Institute (ITGI) of RollingMeadows, Illinois—the research arm of the Information Sys- tems Audit and Control Association (ISACA)—has released a set of edu- cational materials designed to teach students the intricacies of Control Objectives for Information and re- lated Technology (COBIT). COBIT, an international governance and con- trol framework, is designed to help business understand and manage the risks of information management and technology.Material from the new curriculum, COBIT in Academia, can be integrated into curricula for courses on information systems man- 50 BizEd MARCH/APRIL 2005 agement, information security man- agement, information systems audit- ing, and accounting. COBIT in Academia is available free to academics at www.isaca.org/ cobitinacademia, in exchange for their completing a brief questionnaire, agreeing to informITGI of their eval- uation of thematerials, and pledging to use thematerial for teaching pur- poses only. The download includes: ■ The Student Book, which explains the content and application of COBIT protocols. ■ The COBIT Presentation Package, an 80- slide PowerPoint presentation that illustrates COBIT's core elements. in the healthcare industry, where note taking and digital record keeping are crucial. It only stands to reason that tablets would also find a strong foothold in higher education, says Ted Ladd, a spokesman for Gateway. "Students appreciate their pen- and-paper capabilities, and faculty can annotate on top of anything, from video to PowerPoint presenta- tions. The operating system also has voice recognition, so students can record lectures and convert them to text," says Ladd. "We don't want to give up on the notebook in the short term, but we want to help people make a smooth transition from the notebook to the tablet PC. In the next two or three years, tablet PCs will be the way to go." ■ COBIT Case Study: This extended case study includes student ques- tions and teaching notes designed to encourage students to apply COBIT knowledge to a real-world situation. ■ COBIT Caselets, three short case studies with teaching notes. Professors can use the entire set of materials or extract specific ele- ments to supplement their own teaching examples. Also available is the ISACA Model Curriculum. The curriculum, which is free to academics at www.isaca.org/modelcurricula, is designed to help professors better teach to students best practices in the audit and control profession.