In the Palm of Your Hand
Walter Minkel -- School Library Journal, 6/1/2001
Handhelds are poised to change the way schools use technology
When laptop computers first appeared in schools, particularly laptops with wireless connections to the Net, they seemed like a much more flexible way to use technology in schools than desktops. But at six to eight pounds each, laptops and their cases and accompanying equipment are still a burden to carry, and they're expensive: the least expensive laptops start at about $1,100 each.
Now, proponents of handheld computers, such as those made by Palm and Handspring, say these smaller devices are the next big thing in educational technology. Handhelds weigh only five ounces or so and fit in a pocket. They also cost less than half of what a laptop does, ranging from $150 to $500. Handhelds can be linked by cables to laptop or desktop PCs, and more and more of the handhelds sold can connect wirelessly to the Net or to a local network. Mike Lorion, Palm's vice president for education, says that there are already more handhelds in students' and teachers' hands than many people would think. "There are over 500,000 Palm devices in schools already," he says. "Teachers are half of that. And within five years, the number of handhelds should equal the number of PCs in schools."
But so far, schools haven't purchased and used handhelds widely as part of the school's suite of technology devices. The vast majority of these 500,000 Palm devices Lorion mentions appear to be students' and teachers' personal property. (Palm says it doesn't keep numbers on who purchased them.) Neither Palm nor Handspring give discounts to schools. But Palm has been promoting its products to K-12 educators heavily for about a year now; Handspring, a smaller company, is limiting its focus so far to higher education, but has an eye on the K-12 market.
To demonstrate the benefits of handhelds to educators, Palm has been encouraging software developers to write programs with teachers, students, and curricula in mind. Sharon Porter, media specialist at La Grande (OR) Middle School, says she uses Teacher's PET software that lets her record grades and take attendance in her CIM [Certificate of Initial Mastery] class when it meets away from the library. "Without the Palm," says Porter, "I would be relying on scraps of paper that I would lose." There are now specialized Palm applications available for science and math, and software that turns a Palm or Handspring handheld into a programmable calculator. (The Handspring Visor series of handhelds uses the Palm operating system.)
In school libraries, both Lorion and Porter foresee students accessing library catalogs and databases anywhere in the school over a wireless network. The recent M-500 series of handhelds can be turned into wireless Net stations by adding inexpensive modems and hooking them to the cell phones many students carry (although the use of personal cell phones on a school campus may be problematic). Porter says that she would like to be able to consult her catalog and interlibrary loan system on her handheld, but Palm-friendly software for remote database access isn't there yet.
Lorion has a big goal for the Palm. "I'd like to see a Palm in every middle school and high school student's hand--for elementary students, a group of linked Palms in every classroom," he says. Using the Palm handhelds' "beaming" technology, or by putting handhelds on a wireless network, Lorion says that teachers can give students quizzes that provide instant feedback, as well as interactive exercises. Palm recently purchased e-book distributor Peanut Press, renaming it Palm Digital Media, and Lorion forecasts that soon many e-books will be available to students for download to their handhelds. Porter says, "I really see students using handheld devices over laptops in the future," both in and out of the library, "because of the [handhelds'] size and the stability of the operating system."--Walter Minkel
NewProduct
Textbooks (and Tests) Go Online
Memorial Junior Middle School in Hanover, NJ, has acquired "online textbooks" for its seventh and eighth grade language arts classes. The "books" can be accessed online at www.bkenglish.com. They were purchased from the Austin, TX-based publisher Barrett Kendall for roughly the equivalent of the hardcover version of the English text, about $46 per student. The price covers passwords good for three years and hardcover copies for each student. "Students are more eager to crack open this book, so to speak," says teacher Joe Greene, noting such assets as Web links and interactive lessons.
Teacher Rita Vex recalls e-mailing her class one of the book's online tests on a snow day. "Every kid took the test," beams the 33-year teaching veteran, noting that tests can be scored automatically and go straight into her electronic grade book. The online textbooks haven't caused a big surge in use of the media center's computers, says librarian Maryanne Greene. Most students in the affluent town have computers, printers, and online access at home. Things go smoothly, she says, as long as students remember their passwords. Instead of "the dog ate my homework," Vex says, "they'll tell you, 'The server was down,' or 'my dad was using the computer.'"
Help for the Research-Challenged
Are your students victims of information glut when they begin their research? KCTools (www.ala.org/ICONN/kctools.html), a new Web site from the American Association of School Librarians (AASL), may help them. KCTools is a new feature of AASL's KidsConnect, the help and referral service for K-12 students. The site's aim is to help kids understand how to tackle research projects using the Internet, and to expand their way of thinking about, searching for, and using information. "What's special about it is that it really boils the research process down into simple questions for kids of any age who are new to research," explains codeveloper Colleen Zanger. KCTools reduces the research process to four first-person steps: "I wonder," "I find," "I evaluate," and "I share." And each stage of inquiry encourages students to think about using the Net. By clicking on the "I find" icon, for example, kids can learn about the usefulness of search engines, complete with a link to the librarian-developed, kid-friendly KidsClick! Web directory.
Like the popular "Big Six" (www.big6.com), KCTools gives teachers and students a broad look at the steps of the process of doing research. KCTools focuses on using the Internet for research, and Zanger says that it "offers students questions to keep in mind, Web sites for support, and encouragement to continue to ask questions."
SiteoftheMonth
Have Cart Will Travel
The Mobile Librarian: mainst.monterey.k12.ca.us/library/cart/mobile.html
Gayle Hodur, district librarian for the Soledad Unified School District in central California, loved her job but felt the isolation of her transient lifestyle--traveling among three different elementary schools each week. So she created a Web site last year to find librarians in the same predicament. "I know there are others out there who are wading in the same murky waters, and I thought we might support each other and exchange ideas," says Hodur (ghodur@redshift.com). Although she had already created a library site for her district at mainst.monterey.k12.ca.us/library/libpg, Hodur says she wanted a page that she could "tweak at will."
Short and Sweet: Hodur's site is small and simple, and invites her fellow "mobile librarians" to submit their complaints, their "glories," and job-related humor. So far, the humor page contains just one thing--a lyrical take-off on the old Eagles song "Take It Easy": "C'mon don't stop--pass by the book drop / Didja read that book, or didja use it for a door stop?! / We may lose, and we may win. Will that book ever come back again?"
The Cart: Hodur is proud of the traveling cart that was crafted especially for her by a fifth grade teacher and his students. "Inside my mysterious vehicle is whatever I happen to need at the time," she explains, "along with the remains of whatever I was doing before, sort of like a giant purse." Hodur works primarily with the district's three K-5 schools because the high school and middle school students are already served by a combined library that is part of the Monterey County Library. Hodur creates "one-shot," 30-minute book-related crafts and activities, which she turns into PDF (Adobe Acrobat) documents and posts on her site.
On the Agenda: This summer Hodur plans to add more PDF lessons to her site and to get more feedback from other librarians during the long break, including frustrations. "If you mail me just to vent," she says, "I'll happily respond, but it won't get posted unless you say so." However, the biggest thrill for Hodur will be the arrival of a new, second librarian, Joyce Smith, who builds a mean Web page herself, to the growing Soledad school district.
NewProducts
Print Busters
Think your library is being shortchanged when it comes to patrons' printing costs? CybraryPRiNT aims to manage library printing costs by making users accountable for their copies.
Using the standard version of Cybrary-PRiNT, library users must deposit money into a separate debit account. When the patron wants to print, a library staffer swipes the card through a special card reader. Each time the user prints a copy, the software deducts the cost from the amount stored in the patron's debit account and authorizes the computer to print. The deluxe version uses a prepaid debit card that users can purchase in various denominations.
Another new product, CybrarySafe from CybraryN, is designed to help with filtering. Libraries install it from a CD-ROM onto their Internet stations, but the rest is up to parents. Parents are asked to browse through CybrarySafe's lists of "safe" Web sites to select those to which they want their child to have access. After logging in, the child can only get to those preselected sites. See www.CybraryN.com for details.
Gotcha.com
Many teachers have had that sinking suspicion: a student hands in a written assignment that either sounds familiar or appears beyond that student's capabilities. What to do?
Turnitin.com, an anti-plagiarism service to which schools or instructors can subscribe for a fee, checks to see whether an assignment has been copied or paraphrased by scanning it against a huge database and the Internet. The way it works is simple. Teachers send a copy of a student's assignment to the Web site. 'Web robots' scan it against the service's secure, in-house database of digital book collections and thousands of term papers. It's also checked against more than a billion Web pages, including cheat sites, or "paper mills" that provide ready-made term papers. About 24 hours later, the service e-mails the teacher an "originality report." Any non-cited phrase that matches a phrase in the database or the Net is underlined. A link is provided to each source so teachers can go straight to the source material to make a comparison. It's up to the teachers whether to pursue a plagiarism charge.
Thomas Atkins, a teacher at Bullard High School in Fresno, CA, who has used the service, says, "It enables the teacher to verify that an excellent paper written by a talented student is just exactly that, and not the product of the Internet."--Meg McCaffrey
TestDrive
Hardware Review
DreamWriter T-100, C-200, and I.T. Family of computing devices
NTS Computer Systems LTD, 11491 Kingston Street, Maple Ridge, BC, Canada V2X OY6.
1-800-663-7163. www.dreamwriter.com.
T-100, $175. C-200, $395. I.T., $858.
The DreamWriter T-100 and C-200 models go head-to-head with smart keyboards like QuickPad and Alpha-Smart, reviewed in October and December 2000 "Test Drives," respectively. Both models are more than keyboards with memory; the T-100's built-in LCD screen displays seven lines of 80-character text, while the C-200's larger flip-up screen displays 16 lines. Both units come with programs allowing basic math drills and simple keyboarding, and a calculator. The C-200 features password protection, allowing many students to use a single unit without concern for file security. Like the T-100, the C-200 can store files in built-in memory, or on the hard drive of a PC or Mac by using the included DreamLink software and cables. Of the two models, I prefer the C-200 for its touch, optional floppy drive, password security, and larger screen. I had difficulty, however, transferring files using the DreamLink software with both models, and needed to contact NTS's toll-free help desk.
The DreamWriter I.T. uses Windows CE, Microsoft's operating system for small devices. The I.T. features a built-in floppy drive, two PCMCIA slots, Ethernet and infrared ports, a modem, and 16 megs of RAM. It has an eight-inch flip-up screen and supports an external monitor. The I.T. ships with the pocket version of Microsoft Office, Internet Explorer, and other software. I easily created documents in Pocket Word and Excel, saved them to a disk, and then opened them in on my desktop computer. On the downside, some operations were very slow, and it was difficult to connect the I.T. to our school network. Pocket PowerPoint only shows slides--it can't create them.
The DreamWriter family offers more versatility than some of its competitors, but this versatility comes with additional complexity. I found the file transfer process of the T-100 and C-200 less than fully dependable. If the I.T. fits your needs better, you might want to wait to examine the I.T.'s replacement, the DreamMax 700, due out this summer. The DreamMax will offer wireless connectivity for only a small increase in price.
Reviewed by David McQuin Mankato (MN) East High School dmcqui1@isd77.k12.mn.us
TheLibrarian'sInternet
By Gail Junion-Metz
Challenging Gifted Kids
Resources for the teachers and parents of gifted children
How do you inspire gifted children so that they don't become bored, or lose interest in learning? Here are some Web sites, targeted to educators and parents, dealing specifically with precocious kids:
Clearinghouse on Disabilities and Gifted Education
ericec.org
This site offers background information on gifted children and suggests the best ways to encourage and teach them. Check out the "FAQ" section, as well as the "E-Mail Lists" to find online discussion groups on many aspects of precocious children. Sponsor: ERIC and the Council for Exceptional Children, Arlington, VA. Don't Miss: The "Fact Sheets, Minibibs" link, the "Common Myths About Gifted Students" fact sheet, or the short list of topical bibliographies. The "Digests" section offers hundreds of full-text articles on topics such as ADHD and tips for helping kids handle their unique abilities.
National Research Center on the Gifted and Talented
www.ucc.uconn.edu/~wwwgt/nrcgt.html
Here's a great source for authoritative research and many facts on gifted children, with full-text articles and links to abstracts of monographs. There is also a section for finding inexpensive pamphlets and videotapes on gifted children. Sponsors: University of Connecticut, City University of New York, Stanford University, University of Virginia, and Yale University. Don't Miss: The "Newsletter" section for short articles on gifted children. View individual articles in HTML format or whole newsletter issues dating back to 1996, in PDF format. Plug-ins: Adobe Acrobat reader. Detour: For a useful glossary of gifted terms and intelligence levels, visit www.gtworld.org/gtgloss.html.
GT
www.millville.cache.k12.ut.us/tag/gifted2.htm
If the ERIC Clearinghouse is too overwhelming, this site is a great alternative. Creator: Scott Carles, a fifth grade teacher at the Milleville Elementary School, Milleville, UT. Don't Miss: The "Articles" section that links to many articles on different aspects of giftedness, the "Schools and Programs" section for links and information about online programs and special schools for gifted kids, and the "Publications" section that lists publishers and books for the gifted learner.
Gifted Children
www.gifted-children.com
This is a monthly, online newsletter for the parents and teachers of gifted children. The annual subscription is just $10--and given the amount of information available, it seems well worth the price. To get an idea of this enormous site, check out the free links, available to everyone (they carry an asterisk). Creator: Arthur Lipper, who publishes Gifted Children Monthly. Don't Miss: For subscribers only: "Chat Rooms," "Parents' Ideas," "Research Papers," "Links," "Teachers' Sharing," and "Ask the Expert."
Hoagies Gifted Education Page
www.hoagiesgifted.org
This popular site is designed primarily as a resource for the parents of gifted children, although it does offer some guidance for educators. In the "Kids" section, check out the list of movies that offer positive characterizations of gifted children, such as Searching for Bobby Fischer. Creator: Carolyn K., software engineer and the parent of a gifted child. Don't Miss: Click on "Special Topics" in the "Parents" section for hard-to-find information about at-risk gifted children, especially gifted girls. Also click on "Success Stories" and "A Lighter Note" to find supportive articles and stories for overwhelmed parents. Detour: "Ten Tips for Parents of Students" at www.teleport.com/~rkaltwas/tag/articles/10tips.html.
BriteSparks
www.britesparks.com
This virtual community for gifted parents and their children was created in Australia. It contains information and interesting links about gifted children, ranging from toddlers to teens. Creator: Beth Crothers from Queensland, Australia. Don't Miss: The "Toddlers" and "Kids" links for fun and educational sites for gifted children, and the "Librarians' Tools" page within the "Education" link. Detour: "Gifted Canada" is a similar site, with a different perspective, at www3.telus.net/giftedcanada.
Gail Junion-Metz (Gail@iage.com), SLJ's Internet Librarian columnist, is a librarian and president of Information Age Consultants.
