Active in online classes... Wacom's paper-like "liquid crystal pen tablet" "want to support the educational environment"

Cram schools are introducing online classes. In online classes, instead of whiteboards, cram school teachers write letters and diagrams on liquid crystal pen tablets at hand and share the screen with students.

In the midst of this, Wacom's (Kazo City, Saitama Prefecture) liquid crystal pen tablet entry model "Wacom One Liquid Crystal Pen Tablet 13" has been released at Eiko (Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo), which develops eiko seminars for cram schools. Nearly 120 units have been introduced, and they are said to be well received by instructors.

Wacom is ambitious for the introduction of liquid crystal pen tablets in educational settings. We asked the person in charge about their aims and thoughts.

Useful for grasping students' level of understanding

A liquid crystal pen tablet allows you to write (or draw) letters, diagrams, and pictures on a tablet with a liquid crystal display using a dedicated electronic pen. device. It is common to use this by connecting it to a personal computer. Eikoh, which develops cram schools, will open “EIKOH LiNKSTUDY”, a cram school specializing in online classes, in the summer of 2021, where Wacom's liquid crystal pen tablet will be used.

Originally, Glory adopted the format of online classes in March 2020 due to the spread of the new coronavirus infection. However, at that time, it was an "analog" method that reflected the writing on paper or whiteboard with a camera.

Since then, in order to improve the learning guidance of online classes, we have considered a mechanism for teachers to write directly on digital teaching materials with a pen tablet. At that time, he was looking for a liquid crystal pen tablet with excellent cost performance, considering that more than 100 instructors would use it.

Another requirement is that you can write neatly in the specified position of the teaching material without time lag in order to share the screen with the students. In addition, it must have a display and size with good visibility. It was the "Wacom One LCD pen tablet 13" that held down these points.

After verification of the actual machine, it was adopted, but "the decisive factor is the writing comfort similar to that of a pencil" (Yoshiro Taniguchi, Manager of Eiko's Business Management Office) With a boost, 121 units were introduced by November 2021.

Currently, it is introduced in the online cram school "EIKOH LiNKSTUDY". The natural feeling of writing on the LCD pen tablet allows the instructor to concentrate on the lesson without feeling stressed. It seems that interactive online classes are enriched because the instructor can directly write problems and explanations in digital teaching materials prepared in advance.

What's more, it is useful for instructors to grasp the level of understanding, as they can check the students' expressions and expressions while writing on the blackboard, which they could not understand before. Here are some comments from teachers.