The Perceptions of the Experimental Group in the Questionnaire

5.2 The Perceptions of the Experimental Group

5.2.1 The Perceptions of the Experimental Group in the Questionnaire

About the experimental group’s satisfaction with Tablet PCs, most students in the experimental group were satisfied with the functions of Tablet PCs. They were satisfied with the weight (100%), the convertible screen (77.42%), the wireless Network (74.19%), the size of the screen (67.74%) and the stylus (48.39%) of their Tablet PCs. In comparison with the other functions, the stylus received the lowest

satisfaction from the students. But when the researcher asked the participants why they still liked to use the stylus, the five main reasons were (1) They could choose different kinds of pens to write with (83.87%). (2) They could choose different colors of pens (64.52%). (3) They could save their handwriting (58.06%). (4) They could use an eraser to erase a word when they made a mistake (48.39%). (5) They could turn their handwriting into text (38.71%). Most of the students still felt fresh and interested in the magic pen, the stylus, of a Tablet PC. When the researcher asked the participants why they felt comfortable about going on the Net wirelessly with a Tablet PC, the three main reasons were (1) They could move and get on the Net anywhere, even out of the classroom (77.42%). (2) They did not have to connect any per lines for going on the Net (74.19%). (3) It was convenient to log into websites out of the school (54.84%). These figures show the students really noticed the convenience without the limitation that comes from using a Tablet PC making it fun and easy to motivate the students to learn English vocabulary. The experimental control satisfied with the functions of a Tablet PC; in Chen’s study (2004), the participants also satisfied with the functions of a Tablet PC. Most participants in Chen’s study indicated that the stylus was easy to use and very helpful, as well as a Tablet PC was very light and easy to be carried anywhere.

The experimental group’s motivational comments included: The stylus was the

most interesting feature of the offered. A total of 70.97% of the students indicated that writing with the stylus on the screen helped them greatly with learning the English words and sentences. They liked to use the different colored pens. They tried to use an eraser to erase the wrong word when they made a mistake. They concentrated more on their writing when they used a stylus.

Because the students felt interested in and satisfied with its functions, a total of 70.97% of the students expressed that a Tablet PC motivated them to learn English.

The students liked doing the vocabulary worksheet with the stylus and then e-mailing the worksheets to themselves for reviewing. They could cooperate with their classmates to make creative sentences. They could share their screens with others through the software program, Visual Classroom. Some students tried to write words with greater care and draw cute pictures for sharing with others. In Lin, Liu and Niraminranon’s (2008) as well as Lin’s (2007) studies, the participants also remarked it was more fun and helpful cooperate with their classmates. Besides that, in this study, the students liked to have a test on the platform, Moodle. They could obtain their scores and knew the mistakes they made immediately. The teacher could review and discuss mistakes that the students made. The fun of using a Tablet PC, the satisfaction of its functions, the convenience it offers and the creative teaching method all motivated students to learn English well.

A total of 70.97% of the students affirmed that a Tablet PC was helpful in English learning because the functions were quick and easy to use to learn English.

The students mentioned that writing English words and sentences with the stylus gave them a stronger impression of the English. They like to e-mail their own worksheet back to their mailboxes, so they could review the worksheet later. They appreciated other classmates’ sentences through screen sharing in this way. They could review sentence patterns and learn new patterns by finding classmates’ mistakes. They like receiving immediate feedback, knowing their scores and learning their corrections immediately after they had taken a test. This all made a strong impression on how to correct their wrong concepts immediately. All of the above learning methods helped them in learning English. As the students in this study, most of the participants in Lin’s study (2007) and Chen’s study (2004) also thought that a Tablet PC was very helpful in English learning.

Remarks about the experimental group’s difficulties in using Tablet PCs, although about half of the students (58.84%) did not think that they encountered a lot of difficulties when they used a Tablet PC, a few of the students (19.35%) still thought that they encountered too many difficulties. Some of the students felt unsure about getting on the Net. A total of 38.71% of the students suggested that it was not convenient to log in when going on websites outside of school. Some of the students

felt uncomfortable with the stylus. Slightly over half of the students (51.61%) indicated that it was not easy to write words on the screen and a number of the students (29.03%) expressed that the words written with the stylus were not beautiful.

Besides these, students also responded that sometimes a Tablet PC would suddenly run out of power. Occasionally, it was slow to get on line, they experienced sudden disconnections and the stylus easily ran out of ink just like a real pen. When a writer wanted to write a word with the stylus, the handwriting easily jumped from one place to another place where the writer did not want to write. The file could disappear when saved. A few of the students were not familiar with computers and found it difficult to follow the teacher’s steps and explanations. They spent a lot of time dealing with the problems of a Tablet PC. Even though most of the students liked using a Tablet PC, they encountered some problems. As Chen’s study (2004), he found that even though most of the participants had no problem in operating a Tablet PC, a few of the participants (13%) still felt that a Tablet PC was not easy to use.

Comments concerning the future use of Tablet PCs in English teaching, when the researcher asked the participants which aspects were suitable for teachers, the sequence of the options were reading practice (77.42%), vocabulary teaching (70.97%), writing practice (67.74%), grammar teaching (64.52%), listening practice (58.06%), dialogue and reading teaching (45.16%) and speaking practice (38.71%).

Many students mentioned vocabulary teaching. It showed that they affirmed the vocabulary teaching with Tablet PCs this semester and hoped that the teacher could teach vocabulary with Tablet PCs in the future. A lot of students voted for writing practice. It revealed that they enjoyed writing with the stylus on a Tablet PC and hoped that they have more chances to use it in the future. For reading practice, a teacher could assign electronic books for students to read or share great articles with them. In Chen’s study (2004), a majority of the participants (78%) indicated that they would use a Tablet PC to read electronic books. Other activities for students to build their grammar included unscrambling words and making sentences. When a teacher trains students’ listening, he or she can add voice or sound and movie segments to his or her teaching materials making. The class will be more fun. For dialogue and reading teaching (text teaching), showing the film about a dialogue or reading, sharing a teacher’s dialogue and reading revisions with students, asking students questions, and encouraging students to write a summary of a dialogue or reading are all great methods to learn text with a Tablet PC. For speaking practice, it would be interesting and creative to ask students to record their voices reading and answering questions. Then they can listen to their own English speaking later as well as correct their own pronunciation, and the teacher could listen and score their readings. In Lin, Liu and Niramitranon’s study (2008) and Lin’s study (2007), the

researchers also mentioned that Tablet PCs can be used in other aspects of English teaching and learning, besides vocabulary teaching.

There were two questions in the open-ended question part. When the researcher asked the participants the first question, “do you think that it was suitable to use a Tablet PC in English vocabulary teaching this semester,” most of the students (90%) gave positive answers, affirming the fun, functionality as well as teaching method with a Tablet PC. They also mentioned that the teaching method was environmentally good because they did not have to use any paper. They could revise and print their own worksheets anytime because they had the electronic files. Two of the students (6.45%) gave neutral answers. They believed that learning English well depended on themselves, not a Tablet PC. That was a good viewpoint. If a student did not concentrate on the classes, did not finish the tasks in class, but just played or surfed on the Net, he or she could not learn English well. But, if a diligent student used a Tablet PC well, he or she could learn English faster and better. As in Lin, Liu and Niramitranon’s (2008) study, most participants thought they learned English faster with a Tablet PC. But in this study, one student (3.23%) gave a negative answer. He did not want to use a Tablet PC in his English classes anymore.

He mentioned that a Tablet PC wasted a lot of his time because he was not familiar with computers. He spent a lot of time dealing with computer problems. He also

stated that once the teacher had to spend half of a session solving the problems of Tablet PCs and then she had to teach the lesson in a hurry. The teacher did not explain very clearly what she wanted to teach, and her students could not understand nor learn the lessons very well during class. The above statement was a real situation, so the teacher has to be very familiar with Tablet PCs and well prepared before her class.

When the researcher asked the participants the second question, “what is your suggestion about the future use of Tablet PCs in English teaching,” more than half of the students (54.84%) gave positive opinions. The students expected the teacher to make better lesson plans by using her Tablet PC. They anticipated that the teacher could design more activities and games for them. They suggested that the teacher could use The Educlick System and a Tablet PC at the same time. The students wanted to experience different teaching methods in their future English classes.

They felt excited and challenged. Nearly half of the students (45.1%) did not have any opinions. Two of the students (6.45%) gave negative feedback. They did not want to use a Tablet PC anymore in their English classes. They felt frustrated about using a Tablet PC and they did not think that they could learn English better with a Tablet PC.