A study of digital ink in lecture presentation

Abstract

Digital inking systems are becoming increasingly popular across a variety of domains. In particular, many systems now allow instructors to write on digital surfaces in the classroom. Yet, our understanding of how people actually use writing in these systems is limited. In this paper, we report on classroom use of writing in one such system, in which the instructor annotates projected slides using a Tablet PC. Through a detailed analysis of lecture archives, we identify key use patterns. In particular, we categorize a major use of ink as analogous to physical gestures and present a framework for analyzing this ink; we explore the relationship between the ephemeral meaning of many annotations and their persistent representation; and we observe that instructors make conservative use of the system's features. Finally, we discuss implications of our study to the design of future digital inking systems.