Experiences with the Mobile Interactive Learning Table: a custom table for education

Multi-touch technology on tabletop displays lets children interact with digital objects in collaborative and competitive ways. Multi-touch tables are not a part of classroom instruction because of high cost and lack of meaningful applications. This thesis explores possible solutions to building hardware and software that support the engagement of children.

Outlined is a demonstration of our Mobile Interactive Learning Table (MILT), a custom hardware system that can be built for a cost well below current commercial implementations. Experiences with transporting the table to schools and similar settings are discussed, as well as proposed advantages to this do-it-yourself custom approach. Additionally, digital card games were created to encourage elementary and middle school student engagement in meaningful learning. Observations of children collaborating and competitively playing these games, and a comparison study comparing gameplay using different input devices were conducted.