References in spreadsheets

Imagine you have a spreadsheet of student records as follows:

	Raw Scores
Name	Attendance	Quiz 1	Quiz 2	Quiz 3	Mid-Term	Finals
Swift, Harold	85	85	85	85	85	85
Reese, John	87	95	75	85	85	85
Carter, Josiah	87	80	90	85	90	87
Wesley, Alistair	66	95	75	90	75	93
Greer, John	94	85	95	90	80	87
Clark, Henry	78	75	80	80	85	88

Note: Names are inspired by characters from my favorite TV series, Person of Interest, and books.

These are essentially raw scores, but you want to convert them into weighted percentages which you can add later to become the final grade of each student.

Relative References

In paper, you will have to apply a formula for each cell. However, in a spreadsheet application, you can just create a formula for one cell, then copy that cell to the following cells. For example, if the weight of attendance to the overall grade is 20 percent, you can tell the computer to multiply the value of each cell in that column by 0.20. To do this, you use the reference of that cell, which is like the address of that cell in the whole spreadsheet. The reference is a combination of the column letter and row number in your spreadsheet application, like A2, meaning first column (A), and second raw (2). Here is the example:

Notice in the above picture that the formula used B2, the reference of Harold Swift's attendance raw score of 85. After hitting Enter, you can just copy that cell downward, because the spreadsheet will copy the formula, but change the value down to B3, B4 and so on.

Currently, the reference used in the formula is "relative" reference. Relative reference means that the reference will change if the copy is copied to another cell. If the target cell (where the value 85) is moved (i.e., cut and pasted somewhere else), the reference in the formula will change so that it still references to that value.

If you copy the formula to the right column, it will apply the same formula, but this time, the cell reference will adjust to the right (i.e., C2). Of course, the weight might not be the same, so you have to be discriminate in copying cells that contain formula with references.

Absolute References

What if you want to copy the same formula, but you do not want to change the reference, because you want to keep the formula really referring to the same cell? In that case, you need to use absolute references.

Take for example the revised spreadsheet, with additional columns for the weighted score:

Using references, we can use a formula to calculate the weight for Harold Swift's attendance as 

=B4*H3

This time, however, you cannot copy the formula downward, because you have a reference that is immediately above the cell where you will use the formula. In this case, you have to tell the application that the second reference, H3, should not change. This requires an absolute reference.

To make an absolute reference, you insert the dollar sign ($) before the reference that you want to make absolute. Remember that your reference is composed of a Column and a Row. You can make the absolute reference only for either, or for both. For example, in the above case, you want to make the reference for the first part (source value) to have an absolute column reference, while you want to have an absolute row reference for the second part (percent weight). So the formula would be like this:

=$B4*H$3

This way, you can copy the formula both downward and to the right. The first value's reference will adjust by row, while the second value's reference will adjust by column.

Copying the H4 cell downward:

Copying the H column to the right:

Click here to see the sample file.

References are very useful in spreadsheets because it allows flexibility in data used in  formulas and functions. For example, if you have a formula in one cell, which references another cell, any change to the source cell will affect correspondingly the formula. You don't need to worry about re-calculating it.

In the posts for the next two weeks, you will learn about two functions that use both relative and absolute references.

Using Extended Desktop in Presentations (Windows)

Presenters sometimes reduce the impact of their presentation when they show their audience the contents of their computer before or in between presentations. You can avoid this by using Extended Desktop.

Extended Desktop, one of the options under Windows' Multiple Display, is a feature that allows your computer to adjust for multiple display configuration (e.g., you have your regular laptop monitor and it is also connected to an LCD projector). It will be available only when your computer is connected to another display device, like an LCD Projector or another monitor.

For this post, I will provide steps on how to do this in Windows 7 or 8 with Microsoft PowerPoint and LibreOffice Impress. I will provide the steps for Ubuntu and LibreOffice as soon as I get my Ubuntu laptop back (somebody borrowed it).

To minimize what the audience can see when you use projector with your laptop, you have to:

1. Configure your operating system to use Extended Desktop; and
2. Configure your presentation software to show the presentation in the LCD projector while it shows your computer contents and control in your laptop (or desktop) monitor.

For the first procedure, it is easy. Connect first your laptop to the LCD projector. If you are using Windows 7:

1. Click Start, then go to Control Panel, and then, clicking Adjust screen resolution under Appearance and Personalization.
2. Click the drop-down list next to Multiple displays, click Extend these displays, and then click OK.

You may have to adjust settings depending on your LCD Projector's display capacity (i.e., lumens number).

As a shortcut, you can right-click on your desktop, and follow the menus like below:

(Click the image to enlarge)

For Windows 8, once you connect the LCD projector, it should immediately detect it and provide you options. Just make sure to configure it that the extended desktop is for the LCD projector and you retain the control of the software in your laptop. 

When you use Extended Desktop, either output device (i.e., LCD Projector and the laptop monitor) can become the main display, which is where the desktop shows the Start button, while the Extended Desktop shows, usually, a blank extension of your desktop wallpaper. Make sure that the main display is on your laptop and the extended desktop is the display of the LCD Projector. 

After configuring your computer for Extended Desktop, you now have to configure your presentation software to show the presentation in the extended desktop while showing you controls in your laptop monitor. Microsoft PowerPoint calls this Presenter View.

Configuring Microsoft PowerPoint to Show in the Extended Desktop

To do this in PowerPoint, go to the Slideshow tab, then check "Use Presenter View." Make sure to choose the appropriate display where PowerPoint will show the presentation.

(Click the image to enlarge)

Using Presentation View in Extended Desktop configuration is not only about looking smart during presentations. The configuration also allows you to make changes to the presentation file without stopping presentation, because the Presentation View allows you to edit the file even though you are showing it to your audience. This is because you can switch between windows in your laptop but the audience can only see the shown PowerPoint presentation. 

Of course, when you connect your computer to an LCD projector, make sure that your desktop wallpaper is presentable.

Configuring LibreOffice Impress to Show in the Extended Desktop

If you use LibreOffice Impress, you have to configure the similar function by clicking "Slide Show" then select "Slide Show Settings."

(Click the image to enlarge)

In the section "Multiple Displays," make sure to select the appropriate display (LCD Projector).

(Click the image to enlarge)

If you feel adventurous and you use an Android smartphone, I also recommend you use a bluetooth remote control application like this one. (I will write about this app later)

Please do comment if you need clarifications.

Creating Games with Powerpoint

Most teachers and presenters use the PowerPoint or Impress just to present information and images. However, you can use these programs to to engage your class by using them to create a competitive game, like Jeopardy.

You can do this by using that little used feature in PowerPoint and Impress called "hyperlinks."

(Obviously, it is nothing new. I am just emphasizing that that feature has been there since... I don't know... Microsoft Office '97?) 

Hyperlinks, or links for short, are immediately visible words or images that can be clicked to take you to another part of the file, or maybe open a document, or go to an Internet website. An example of a link is this.

General Flow

Here are the major steps in creating a Jeopardy-like game with PowerPoint:

1. Create the main page where the collection of links will be placed. I recommend that you use Text Boxes so that the whole box. You can also use a table, but you need to click the word, which can be difficult during presentation. 
2. Create the pages where the links will go to when clicked. In the first such page, make sure there are two bullets: a) First is question; b) Second is the answer. Make sure to configure that when the slide opens, you have to click for each bullet so that the answer will not appear at the same time as the question. 
3. Make sure to create a link that will return the page to the main page. Just duplicate this page and change the items inside.
4. Go back to the main page and insert a hyperlink per item and link it to the corresponding slide.
5. Try using the file once you finish it and adjust the settings based on your personal flow. 
6. During presentation, you can click the box, and it should go to that slide. After the participant answers (make sure to record the score), click the link to return the PowerPoint to the main page.

You might be thinking how do you know if the box has been used already. The presentation software will change the color of the link that has already been used, just like the color of a hyperlink in a browser will change if you already went to that page.

How to Insert a Hyperlink in Microsoft PowerPoint

To insert a hyperlink in PowerPoint (starting in version 2010), select a word or an image that you want to create a link first, then select Insert. You will find there Hyperlink.

Select "Place in this Document," then select the slide where you want to go to when you click this link during presentation.

How to Insert a Hyperlink in LibreOffice Impress

To insert a hyperlink in LibreOffice Impress, select a word or an image that you want to create a link first, then select Insert and select Hyperlink. Otherwise, you can click the hyperlink icon, like below:

Select "Place in this Document," then select the slide where you want to go to when you click this link during presentation.

However, to make things easy for you, you can download a ready made template here, The file is downloaded from the Kapi'olani Community College website.

Technology for Teachers, Part 4: Collaborative Systems

This is a re-post. Originally posted here: http://training-network.blogspot.com/2009/03/technology-for-teachers-part-4.html

In this last part of the series (which finally came to an end--my apologies), you will read about a bit more advanced online applications or systems that you may use for teaching (as of 2010). While the systems are actually inherently sophisticated, worry not. These systems that I will talk about are easy to use as they are really created with us--teaching professionals who have very little time to study new technology--in mind.

(Like in my previous post on this topic, you may click here to view my mind map about technology for teaching. Further, I tried to include only free services/applications as they are the ones that are both hard to find and need-to-find.)

Online Presentations

As teachers, we often have lessons which we tend to present repeatedly--not because the student is a slow learner, but simply--because it is a lesson that has to be given, say, every semester or every year.

While I subscribe to the idea that in presentations, the main audio-visual must be the speaker, I would also have to agree to the fact that sometimes--because we repeat the lesson over and over--we forget some points of the lesson. In such cases, don't I wish that I could record my presentation?

About a decade ago, this has been possible but expensive. Nowadays, however, due to widespread availability of open source and online solutions, recording your presentation is free--virtually, because you may still need to pay for the Internet connection.

If you have a webcam, you can shoot yourself while talking and using your audiovisual. Or, if you have, say, Camtasia or Camstudio, you can record your Powerpoint presentations and then add your scripted voice-over to the presentation from your computer. The result is a video file with your voice or a song background which you could upload to--say--Youtube.com, Multiply or Google Video or any website that you may own.

What is the point? With a prepared presentation, you are in a better position to correct mistakes, it is widely available (if uploaded to a website), and you can get feedback via forum or comment (which is what you already have with Youtube and Multiply).

Of course, you could always share it with online document sharing sites, like Slideshare or Scribd.

Of course, this is assuming that you want to record your presentation before it is shown to the audience.

The other side of the coin is simply broadcasting it over the Net, or, using vodcast or podcast. This is essentially using a web-capable, Internet-connected camera so that a realtime presentation/speech can be broadcasted to Internet terminals. Most often, these -casts are stored online, together with the interaction after the speech.

Online Collaboration

What is the use of having the internet if multiple users cannot use the same resource--at the same time?

Prior to Google Drive*, if multiple users have to edit a single document, they have to confuse themselves with multiple versions. With Google Drive (and others that have followed), writers can now share documents, have them edited, without having to worry about multiple versions on which one is the latest.

See one of Google's first videos about Google Docs.

(*I actually don't know if Google Docs, Google's initial venture to cloud-based application suite, was the first one to have online document sharing and creation service. I know Writely has been acquired by Google, and previously Google Docs was separately accessed. Let me not be sued with this qualifying statement.)

Besides Google, other providers of free document creation and sharing service are Thinkfree and Zoho. In my experience, These two have a better, closer-desktop interface (look-alike) than Google Docs, but I stick with Google Docs because of its integration with other Google services and Google's stability.

Learning Management Systems

As a teacher, I know you have acquired a significant amount of files (i.e., PAPERS) related to your work. You might have a student record book, a syllabus (which changes every semester), book and other resources, quizzes submitted by the student, essays, and a lot of other paper outputs.

With an online learning management system (LMS), all of these can be consolidated in one system--paper-free. Take a look at Moodle, for example. Within the system, a teacher can create a document for e-learning, a quiz (with the restrictions such as time), have it recorded, and the student's identity is saved for evaluation on improvement of performance. An LMS also enhances capability of the facilitator to customize the presentation according to the learning style of the learner.

An LMS can do the following: Integrated system for record management, lesson management, and relationship of learning to work performance, continuous learning, content management (lessons).

Moodle is a free and open source system, however, it has to be hosted somewhere, so this would require a bit of support from your organization's IT department.

An alternate is Engrade. However, the Engrades focus is on administration, meaning teachers cannot save documents in Engrade itself.

Online Classroom

I have observed this used--which is good, but--not as effectively as they can be. Social Networks can be used for learning. However, as I mentioned, its use must be studied in a strategic manner.

When we say strategic, we do not only mean organization-wide, but more so, behavior-based or -responsive. Social networking sites help interpersonal relationship between the teacher and the learner, but I would like to suggest that there has to be some indicators on how to evaluate the effectiveness of the applications/systems that are used. This is where organizational strategy should come in.

Information and Knowledge Sharing

Information and knowledge are better shared. This can be done using the systems described above to create an online journal (or eJournal) on one end of the formality spectrum, and wikis and online communities on the other end.

Of course, journals are peer-reviewed, with peers meaning recognized experts, while a wiki is a community-reviewed publishing and content-management system.

Zoho and Google Sites both have these features.

Specialist Technology Applications

There are certain functions that are not applicable to all educational systems/institutions. For example, the engineering profession may require simulation software; management courses may require operations research and statistical software; and accounting may need accounting software.

My only share at this point on this section is that there are open source or free license options. You do not need to limit yourselves to proprietary systems that are just as hard to learn to use. Take for example statistical software.

I appreciate SPSS (I DO!), however, the price is just not that appealing to students in the Developing Countries (like mine). If you would use just the basic statistical procedures (hypothesis testing, t-test, the usual statistical procedures you see in statistics book for management or social research) and the data to be entered is not that big (say, less than a thousand), you may want to use OpenStat or other open source software.

Back to the Basics

Let us not forget that technology has to be used properly. Take into consideration the content of your lesson, the learning style of your learners, and your own propensity to the technology you plan to use.

And of course, do not forget budget.

As for the management, I strongly suggest a strategic integration for use of technology. This helps sharing experience and style in using technology for teaching.

If you need clarification on how to use any of these, do not hesitate to contact me by posting a comment with your contact email.

Technology for Teachers: Social Networking, Website Publishing and Online Collaboration

This is a re-post. Originally posted here: http://training-network.blogspot.com/2009/02/technology-for-teachers-social.html

In my last post, I talked about blogs and social networking. I would like to continue discussing about the opportunity of these technologies and discuss also the opportunities in website publishing.

Blogging or Online Journals

Blogging is not just for ranting or fielding your opinion. For me, it can be a person's online mindmap (although not graphical in form). Blogging allows one person to give a lesson, a point of view, or update. The real beauty of blogging is that you do not need to learn a lot of codes in order for your ideas to be made available in the Net. For example, this post will soon be available via Google Search because this will be indexed by Google and other search engines.

Blogging also allows you to start the next idea, social networking, because your audience (if you set it up) can contact you by writing you an email or subscribing to your blog. RSS, or Rapid Site Syndication, allows you to push information without getting personal information from your audience. (That is why blogging is an effective marketing tool as well.). Blogging, when used with other available (free!) online services, can be a creative and effective two(!)-way communication tool between you and your subscribers or parters in your ideas.

Social Networking

Social networking may actually have been a redundant term had the Internet not been discovered. Networking, as far as I know, originated from the social sciences, not from computing. Network is another term for relationship (as far as I know). Anyways, social networking is simply making your identity available forr contact with people of mutual interest.

While social networking started with Friendster's advertised goal of making contact with friends and personal relationships, the idea blossomed to professional collaboration, as emphasized by social networking sites as Linked-In.com. What exactly can this do for you?

Social networking allows you to advertise your specialization and your ideas and stay in contact with professional networks so that you can grow professionally. You can also learn new techniques and trends in social networks. It can also allow you to connect and collaborate in light of geographical and temporal differences. Lastly (in my limited experience, of course), social networks allow you to easily get recommendation with people that you may want to be in contact with but you yourself cannot do so simply because you do not know the someone personally.

Social networking should not be seen as a waste of time, but an opportunity that should be properly used for both your and your organization's goal.

Website Publishing

Ten years ago, website publishing is reserved for the people who have the money and the know-how to publish their ideas. Before blogs were made available, website publishing was viewed as a one-way street.

Enter free websites given by internet service providers, such as AOL, MSN, EarthLink and SBC Global. Followed by educational institutions that gave online storage to their instructors. Website publishing became easier to produce than before.

Nowadays, the line of demarcation between website publishing and blogging is blurred. After all, blogs are websites. Perhaps one distinguishing characteristic is their perceived purposes.

Blogs are still perceived to be opinion-based and -oriented, while websites are (at least, theoretically) information- or fact-based online content. Whether the content is reliable or not, however, is another matter.

Websites have a significant flexibility in their content, while blogs have limitations on the layout and the content--particularly due to the provider's terms. Nonetheless, weblogs or online journals are fast keeping up with the demands of the bloggers to be able to communicate content in very creative ways.

Update 2014: Blogs now allow almost greater flexibility in terms of layout. For example, Blogger now allows the owner of the blog to use Cascading Style Sheets, or CSS, to control what is the color, size, and position of virtually all elements of your blog.

Your blogs or personal websites can be redirected to your own domains (for as low as USD 4 per month!) so that your visitors need not to remember your "http://www.domain.net/something/something-again/your-username/blog-folder/index.html". For example, using Google Sites' service, I created an online newsletter, and had our IT unit redirect a folder to that website.

These online opportunities, when used with each other and other available services, can significantly alter the way you implement training, and significantly improve the effectiveness of your training and teaching sessions.

Look out for Part 4, when I discuss the rest of the opportunities.

Technology for Teachers: Opportunities, Part 2

This is a re-post. Originally posted here: http://training-network.blogspot.com/2008/12/technology-for-teachers-opportunities_20.html

In my last post, I talked about technological opportunities for teaching. In particular, I talked about desktop document creation, website creation and network-enabled interpersonal communication being enhanced by existing computer and network technologies. In this post, I will discuss technologies or systems that are related to a bit more advanced teaching functions, but you do not need to fear of tech-speak. I am not a technical person (Although I am technically capable, from a user-point of view.).

Before I go on to the second part of the opportunities for teachers, I would like to review first, however, the audio-visual communication continuum, in particular, the media richness model. This model is better discussed in this website.

The model essentially suggests the proper selection of communication channel in an organizational setting. In training, proper selection of channel is very important as learners have to get what you intend to say. You have to make sure that a channel for feedback is available whenever possible.

The proper selection of your audio-visual communication channel will make your messages more effective and your image more sincere, consistent and audience-focused. This will make your audience more receptive and will be able to better judge your messages more efficiently. In learning, it is pretty much the same—whether it is traditional classroom learning, e-learning or blended learning.

Another idea that you have to consider is time. Due to the availability of various computer-aided communication and learning technologies, trainers use some types without proper consideration just to get into the fad. This, unfortunately, produces bad effect to the learners.

Take for example the use of websites. Lessons can be posted in websites, sure. But you have to consider the things that you will discuss. Complicated subjects that require more cues and immediate feedback (particularly questions) may not be effectively delivered through this channel. While e-learning enthusiasts will promote this due to always-available lesson, this asynchronous communication has to be properly planned and implemented.

With this, let's go to technological opportunities for teachers:

• Asynchronous Lesson Delivery - This refers to delivery of lessons at different times between the lesson initiator and the lesson receiver. This is practiced in cases of blogs, online blackboards, and online learning management systems like Moodle. This is useful for lectures that are pretty straightforward, or maybe as preparatory reading for discussion in the classsroom.
• Issues and News - Most of the lessons being discussed in the classroom are better related to current news and issues. With RSS (Rapid Site Syndication), you can include in your website the latest trends that are related to the topic you are discussing. RSS is integrated in most blogs and online journals, meaning, your audience can subscribe to the RSS without divulging personal contact information.
• Professional Relationship - Teachers and learning facilitators need to be in connection with people who are within the same discipline or specialization as they are, or maybe for related fields for teamwork or possible mentoring. Social networking websites, such as Friendster, Facebook, and Linked-In, provide such services for free. In the Philippines, Friendster seems to be more popular, but I have seen the credibility of Linked-In with my co-workers at the University.

Let's stop here for now. Next time, we shall discuss online collaboration tools available to you.

Technological Opportunities for Teachers

This is a repost. Originally posted here: http://training-network.blogspot.com/2008/12/technology-for-teachers-opportunities.html

Working as an information officer (an administrative support, non-IT position) at the University of the Philippines—while I myself have a background in communication, management and training—I have observed that even the premier tertiary educational institution in the country has yet to better appreciate (that is, understand, value and use) the opportunities of technology for teaching.

I am not exactly an advocate of distance learning as I appreciate that existing systems and culture cannot handle full e-learning applications or solutions. Teachers or faculty, however, are not using the full functionality of an Internet-enabled computer for more effective learning.

Situation

While I do not have statistics or formal studies to support my statement, I have the courage to say that faculty members at UP Manila do not use information technologies available to them. Take a look at the classrooms or the lesson plans (if there is one available) and you will see that IT-supported teaching functions are only on audio-visual presentation (which is limited to non-interactive presentations), basic interpersonal communication (like email and announcements through e-Groups) and basic grade recording system (the spreadsheet). Even faculty of computer science have yet to know more about the opportunities available—most of them free!

There are few who use blogs, but these are just for announcements and getting feedback.

In short, opportunities are present and numerous. We just need to learn how to use it—and even this is not that difficult.

(A lot of faculty members from UP Manila know the Internet but fail to use it for their tasks, often giving the excuse of difficulty of learning how to use it. I beg to disagree as practically all online systems available are intuitive and have available tutorials. For example, I created a basic customer contact management system for my training for call center wanna-bes even though I have no training in programming nor database management systems! I guess it is just a matter of humility to admit that there is something else you can learn, or plain laziness in pursuit of professional growth due to pursuit of personal pleasures.)

Enough with my personal opinion. Let's go to the different teaching functions (that I know from experience) and see what technology or technologies are available for you. They are usually free.

Basic Teaching Functions

This is where you would see teachers really use the information technology, but even here, there are other opportunities available.

• Audio-Visual Presentations - Most teachers use information technology for audio-visual presentations, like presenting their reports, lectures, and important points. Audio-visual presentations, however, should be used as support and should not replace the experience of the lecturer or speaker. Interactive presentations, however, have to be improved. For example, Microsoft Powerpoint has options for using links which can be compounded to be used for games.
• Records management - When I first became a trainer for ROTC (Reserve Officer Training Corps), I immediately saw the need to automatically calculate the grades of cadets. There is also a need to create a profile of the student population. A spreadsheet software will help here. There are, however, other functions that can be added, besides managing records of students. We'll look into this in the section for learning management system.
• Interpersonal and Group Communication -Email, instant messaging (chat) and electronic groups are useful here. However, these are not used effectively as they can be compounded with online presentations and storage of files. You can also use social networking sites, blogs and other Web 2.0 technologies.

I will stop here. Watch out for my next post which should discuss the following:

A Bit Advanced Functions

• Blogging and RSS
• Social Networking
• Website Publishing

Advanced Functions but Still Easy-to-Learn Systems

• Online Document Creation and Collaboration
• Online Brainstorming
• Learning Management System (LMS)
• Niche Social Networking
• Project management
• Research
• Collaboration
• Web Conferences
• Web Meetings
• Webcasts and Online Stored Presentations
• Sharing Information and Wikis
• Simulations
• Others!

If you have more ideas, please do not hesitate to add your comment or email me at info.casupm@gmail.com. You can also view my mindmap for this article here.

Types of Computers

There are many computers, and there are varying typologies depending on the perspective. In this brief section, we’ll survey the types according to how they relate to your role as an educator and a technology user.

• Mainframe – A fairly large computer. In the beginning of computers, a mainframe occupies as large as a small building. Nowadays, mainframe refers to a smaller computer, but still significantly larger than the one you use at your desktop. These usually have the size of a cabinet. Mainframe usually refers to the size, although a mainframe is frequently associated with server.
• Server – A computer which ‘serves’ or handles processes for another computer, called a client. A server may store data, process requests, perform calculations, or any combination of these. Considering that a single client may process requests from innumerable clients, the server function is best assigned to a mainframe or a server-function designed hardware. Samples are a web server, a chat server (IRC), and an email server (POP3 and SMTP).
• Client – A computer which makes the requests to a server computer. A client is actually associated with the function of an application, such as an email client (for example, Microsoft Outlook or Mozilla Thurnderbird) or a chat client (for example, Yahoo! Messenger).
• Microcomputer – Also called a desktop. This refers to the computer you frequently user -  with a monitor, a keyboard and a mini tower. The term ‘microcomputer’ refers to the old terminologies when mainframes were called ‘macrocomputers.’ Something in between ‘macro’ and ‘micro’ was also called the ‘minicomputers,’ which had the capability of macrocomputers but were smaller in size and expected to handle less processes.
• Laptop / Notebook – Very similar to desktop, save for the capability to be mobile. They were intended to give you the capability to compute as if with a desktop while having the capability to bring all those functions easily to wherever you are.
• Netbook – A smaller derivative of the laptop, a netbook has a significantly smaller storage capacity and minimal upgrade capability. A netbook is an attempt to take advantage of cloud services – operations and storage – while maximizing mobility. This has been rendered impractical and outmoded by the tablet form factor (see below).
• Mobile Device – Previously called ‘PDAs’ or personal digital assistants, mobile devices are small electronic gadgets  for personal productivity, such as scheduling, notes and data storage. With the merge of cellular phone and PDAs, mobile devices now have wi-fi and/or 3G capability and internet-related software, such as browsing, email and chat – aside from their basic communication (i.e., call and SMS) functions. They allow the users to do computing tasks while literally on the go.
• Tablet - Modern touch-based computers which have their own operating systems and whose capabilities are extended by the applications made available by the developer community. Currently, the two common operating systems for tablets are the Android (by Google) and iOS (by Apple). The primary strength of the tablet is mobility and ability to add functionality through available applications.
• Hybrid - A hardware form factor that mixes tablet and laptop. Usually, it is a laptop that has a touchscreen, which can be swiveled so that it covers the keyboard (functioning like a tablet), like the Lenovo Twist, or the screen can be physically disconnected from the rest of the body (again, functioning as a standalone tablet), like the Asus Transformer T100. The benefits of the hybrid over the tablet is that it allows the flexibility of ease of typing when needed and ability to focus on content communication (e.g., presentation to a client) or create content while on the move.