Today@Dal

A Paper Annotation Tool for Tablet (Phase 2)

We invite you to take part in a study being conducted by researchers in Dalhousie University to learn how to develop a more engaging and effective annotation application for tablet computers. We are looking for input and feedback on an application that offers various techniques for annotating on an e-document.

The study will be conducted in three sections. During an initial session you will be asked to meet the researchers for the introductory sessions to learn about how to use this annotation application. This session will take about 40 minutes. After the completion of this session the researcher will install this application on your tablet (Android) to take home with you and use it for 2-5 days. After the completion of the field trial, you will be asked to meet the researcher for a follow-up session, which will take a maximum of 40 minutes. The findings of this study will help us to evaluate the application, which will eventually assist in developing guidelines for such applications that will provide better user experience.

Active Reading is the combination of reading with critical thinking and learning, and which includes underlining, highlighting and scribbling, comments, on the source text or in separate notebook. In order to participate in the study you must have some experience with active reading on paper or e-document and you must have some experience in using tablet, smartphone or similar hand held devices with touch interface. You must have an android tablet that you will bring in the initial and the follow-up session; the study software will be installed on your tablet. During the field trial, you must use this application for active reading tasks for at least 2 sessions of half an hour each.

The initial and the follow-up session will be conducted in quiet meeting room in Dalhousie University and it is expected to take about 40 minutes each. You will be compensated with $25 for your participation at the end of the study. If you are interested, please contact Varinder Singh by email at varinder.singh@dal.ca.

Regards
Varinder Singh
MCS Student
Faculty of Computer Science
Dalhousie University