The Next Small Thing: Are Handhelds the Future of Education Technology?

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A look at handhelds in the context of education technology trends with examples of some of the common ways that educators are using these powerful tools.

Quick Jump:

• Introduction
  
• Links for Administrator Productivity
  
• Links for Teacher/Student Productivity
  
• Links for Student Curricular Use
  
• Links for References/More Info

Introduction

They're popping up everywhere nowadays: tiny little handheld computers with much of the functionality of a full desktop computer. From the business world to the classroom, these small machines are shifting from being a cool gadget for techies to an important tool for putting what you need into the palm of your hand. No one doubts that these little tools can be incredibly valuable for personal productivity, but do they have a pedagogical place in the classroom? This article will look at handhelds in the context of education technology trends and give examples of some of the common ways that educators are using these powerful tools.

The handheld revolution, while significant in its own right, is an echo of the even larger revolution of education technology throughout the 1980s and 90s. As more and more businesses and individuals started depending on computers for commercial and personal productivity throughout the 70s and 80s, computers entered schools with the assumption that they would be of equal educational value. What no one knew, however, was how to best use these powerful new tools to improve the tasks that educators and students needed to complete. The market for educational software was huge and untapped, and vendors rushed to fill the void. It was like a gold rush: an unmitigated and unregulated rush for market share. Suddenly, the generation of children who grew up with a diet of Sesame Street and Mister Rogers were able to learn addition and vowels from Oscar the Grouch. But while no one doubted the entertainment value of such software, discerning educators soon started to question not only what programs could best help their students learn, but also how computers in general could add pedagogical, not just entertainment value. Through the 90s to today, a body of best practice has emerged for integrating technology, whether offline or online, into classroom instruction. Instructional technology using desktop or laptop computers is so commonplace; in fact, that there are many courses in which computer use is the expectation, not the exception.

Into this technology-friendly environment emerges a new player: the handheld computer. Suddenly, we are thrust back into the gold rush, into a Roaring Eighties of a time when anything goes. Or does it? The Palm, Inc. website, boasts over 10,000 educational titles, but who is overseeing the quality of these applications? Who is testing how well they work in the classroom? For better or for worse, handhelds' debut into the classroom comes at a very different time from the honeymoon period of education technology in the 80s. In an era of accountability, high-stakes tests and No Child Left Behind, educators can no longer afford to use an instructional technology just because its bells and whistles are entertaining to the students. The issue isn't whether Oscar the Grouch or Cookie Monster teaches addition, but how well they teach it. Educators need to be able to prove with data that they are raising student achievement, and the onus is on them to prove the efficacy of their methods, including the use of technology.

So what can handhelds do for us? The point isn't to find a use for a handheld; the point is to identify tasks that you already have to do that a handheld could make easier for you. Another way to look at ways that handhelds can improve teaching and learning is to picture limitless technology resources: how could technology improve your lessons if every student could have continual access to computers, wherever they are? If you can come up with easy answers to that question, there are probably handheld applications out there to make this dream a reality.
Read below for a list of some ways that educators are starting to use handhelds in their classrooms. Try them out, and then decide for yourself if handhelds are, in fact, the next small thing.

Types of Use

Administrator Productivity

• EPrincipal Mobile
  http://www.media-x.com./products/eprincipal/mobile.php
  • Allows a principal to transfer school related data to a PalmOS handheld PDA
  • Provides easy access to the latest report card information for every student as well as school summary data
  • View student information such as their timetable, report card or attendance records
    
    
• ScheduleFinder
  http://www.trusmart.com/
  • Student Schedules In Real Time
  • Student Demographic Information
  • Student Photo Identification
  • Student Search Capability
  • Student Tracking Lists
    
    
• Principalm
  http://www.principalm.com
  
  • Basic student demographic data, such as name, birthdate and age.
    
  • Stores as many contacts as you wish for each student, and stores as many emergency/non-emergency phone numbers, email addresses, etc. as you wish for each student and contact.
    
  • School-related student data, such as homeroom, counselor, lockers, bus numbers, and schedule/timetable information.
    
  • Student portraits from any picture system capable of producing JPEG images (converter included).
    
  • Always available wherever you can use your Palm -- power failures, fire or other emergency evacuations, field trips local and distant, or from bed when a hospital calls you in the middle of the night.
    
    
• HanDBase
  http://www.ddhsoftware.com/education.html
  
  • Managing your school's important data-cost effectively-is easier said than done. Today's progressive educators have a vision for using affordable handheld technology to efficiently manage data. Whether it's a simple matter like tracking class assignments, student grades, or attendance, or a more advanced business solution for auditing equipment using bar-code readers, HanDBase can get the job done! Connecting the data is easy with HanDBase's unique features and add-ons. Only HanDBase enables cross compatibility, where you can actually beam records between Palm & Pocket PC devices. For data integration, HanDBase offers add-on tools for converting data and synchronizing between Macintosh and FileMaker Pro or Windows and MS-Access.
    
    
• FileMaker Mobile 2.1
  http://www.filemaker.com/products/mbl_home.html
  
  • New FileMaker Mobile 2.1 software, now for both Palm OS and Pocket PC, lets you easily synchronize information between your handheld device and local FileMaker Pro 5.5 and 6 databases. In just a few clicks, FileMaker Mobile 2.1 lets you select the information you want to take to your handheld and synchronize the records you select. Now with Symbol bar code scanner support. Leverage the powerful desktop database functionality of FileMaker Pro, for a comprehensive desktop-and-handheld database system that makes it easy to take the information you need with you wherever you go.

Teacher/Student Productivity

• eStandards
  http://www.media-x.com./products/estandards/index.php
  
  • Provides access to curriculum standards
    
  • Supports various jurisdictions including: Ontario, California, Texas, Florida, British Columbia, Wisconsin, Kansas, and Minnesota (Massachusetts not yet available)
    
  • Browse state or provincial standards on your handheld PDA
    
  • Mark selected standards that have been covered in the classroom
    
  • Print to an infrared printer
    
  • Prepared to support other material such as university course outcomes or professional teaching standards
    
    
• Tome Raider
  http://www.tomeraider.com/
  • A fast, flexible and powerful cross-platform reference viewer giving instant and free access to thousands of megabytes of encyclopedias, dictionaries, guides, religious works, philosophical texts, e-texts and novels in TomeRaider format.
    
    
• Documents To Go
  http://www.dataviz.com
  
  • Use Word, Excel and PowerPoint files on your handheld anywhere, anytime. Now you can quickly view, edit and create new tests, essays and more on the handheld as well as synchronize email with attachments, PDF files, pictures and Excel-like charts.
    
    
• Quizzler
  http://www.pocketmobility.com/quizzler/quizzler.html
  
  • Quizzler is the standard assessment software for handheld computers. It is loaded with features, has a simple easy-to-use interface, and you can even make your own quizzes easily.
    
    
• Assessa PDA
  http://www.eyecues.com/asa/
  
  • Enables educators and researchers to access an extensive databank of items and quizzes as well as enter, maintain, and administer tests and surveys via HTTP, XML, Java, and very soon Macromedia Flash. Administration can take place on a variety of devices, including Palm/PocketPC, via the Internet, via wireless devices, or on stand alone PCs (Mac, Linux, Windows).
    
    
• AvantGo
  http://www.avantgo.com
  
  • Provides interactive and personalized content and applications to handheld and Internet-enabled phone users.
    
    
• 4.0 Student
  http://www.handmark.com/products/detail.php?id=46
  
  • Class Information Management
    
  • Coursework Management
    
  • Grade Tracking and Prediction
    

Student Curricular Use

• Palm Reader
  http://www.palmdigitalmedia.com/product/reader/browse/free
  
  • Read books and periodicals wherever you are and whenever your schedule permits. Turn that wait at the doctor's office into valuable reading time!
    
    
• PicoMap
  http://www.goknow.com/Products/PiCoMap.html
  
  • Allows students to create, share, and explore concept maps on their Palm OS computer. This program allows users to create multiple nodes and relationships leading to elaborate concept maps for brainstorming, visual outlining or assessment purposes. PiCoMaps can also be beamed to other students, the teacher, printed directly to an IR-equipped printer, or synchronized to a desktop computer.
    
    
• Imagimath
  http://www.imagiworks.com/Pages/Products/ImagiMath.html
  
  • This suite provides an integrated set of software applications that turns a Palm OS handheld computer into a compelling mathematics learning environment. The suite provides three applications for exploring mathematics: ImagiGraph™, a mathematics visualizer; ImagiCalc®, a full-featured calculator; and ImagiSolve™, a mathematical worksheet and equation solver. Offering unprecedented ease of use, flexibility, and power, ImagiMath meets the calculation and graphing requirements of science and math education.
    
    
• PowerOne Graph
  http://www.infinitysw.com/products/poweronegraph.html
  
  • Simplifies traditional graphing and scientific calculator functionality by utilizing the touch screens and larger displays of Palm OS handheld computers. Whether analyzing functions, data or equations, PowerOne Graph is the perfect solutions for professionals and students in engineering, medicine, sciences, research, computer science, or mathematics.
    
    
• ChemTable
  http://www3.sympatico.ca/marywong/ChemTable/
  
  • Freeware Periodic Table application that runs on monochrome Palm OS handhelds. The program is quite straightforward to use. Tapping on any of the element boxes in the Periodic Table will bring up a form showing a list of physical/chemical properties. In the Options menu, you can choose to display either element symbols or atomic numbers in the table.
    
    
• JflashCard
  http://www.handango.com/
  
  • A compact, easy to use flashcard program. It comes with a carefully selected dictionary of 1200 words often appear in SAT/GRE/TOEFL/ACT verbal exams.
    

References/More Info:

• http://www.kent.edu/rcet/loader.cfm?url=/commonspot/
  security/getfile.cfm&PageID=2216
• http://www.rainbowtech.org/Palm/palmapps.htm
  
• http://www.intel.com/education/handhelds/index.htm
  
• http://www.k12handhelds.com/apps.php
  
• http://education.mit.edu/pda/
  
• http://www.mpsomaha.org/willow/p5/handhelds/index.html
  
• http://www.techlearning.com/db_area/archives/TL/2003/04/
  spotlight.html
  
• http://www.concord.org/research/handhelds.html
  
• http://www.tomeraider.com/
  
• http://www.trusmart.com/
  
• http://www.handango.com/
  
• http://www.goknow.com/Products/PiCoMap.html
  
• http://www.handmark.com/products/detail.php?id=46
  
• http://www-2.palmone.com/us/education/
  
• http://software.palm.com
  
• http://www.ddhsoftware.com/education.html?
  
• http://www.principalm.com/productinfo/system.html