GroupNotes on Tablets: Sustaining Diversity in Social Learning through Shared Individual Workspaces

This paper presents the GroupNotes interface for tablets which allow a small group of students to increase their engagement during lectures by allowing them to cooperate without disrupting others in the lecture venue, or require any changes to the existing pedagogy. The unique interface provides an individual workspace to each group member, which may be viewed and edited by all members in the session but allows for the individual to choose when and where their viewing of any other group members workspace is to occur; real-time, after the fact or a combination of both. The paper provides examples identifying the manner in which the interface enables students to follow principles identified as good practice in undergraduate education while still allowing for the individual to contribute and interact with regard to their own ability and preferred learning style.