Precious MeTL: Reflections on the use of Tablet PCs and collaborative interactive software in peer-assisted study sessions

Peer-Assisted Study Sessions (PASS) is an academic mentoring program, where high-achieving senior students assist small groups of first years in study sessions throughout semester. One of the challenges PASS Leaders face at Monash in conducting their classes is the limited time they have with their students. The current paper explores, through action research, the use of Tablet PCs and an interactive, online whiteboard software suite called MeTL to increase the efficiency of time spent learning and sharing. The PASS Leaders found that while some difficulties remained, the advantages of using the Tablet PCs and the software were significant, particularly for student engagement, increasing time efficiencies, student collaboration and encouraging real-time feedback to the PASS Leader.