The Interactive Multimedia Textbook: Using A Digital Pen to Support Learning for Computer Programming

Through a field study computer science practices, we observed that students not only rely on the computer but also the programming textbook. To get overall comprehension, students organize their effort in understanding the abstract concept in the textbook and tracing the program execution constantly. The observations motivated us design an interactive textbook that integrates paper books with interactive multimedia supports for learning computer programming. Students could understand how program works from browsing multiple perspectives of program execution. We also facilitate the on-line query, enabling students to construct their own links with digital information. An evaluation with 11 students found this system can offer efficient access to the digital information while remain concentrating their attention on paper textbook, in a manner felicitous with their current reading practice.