E- Books! (and handhelds)

This post is supposed to contain ideas I gained from the e-book about using handhelds. But, I must first comment on the e-book. WOW! What an incredible way to "take a book with you". My son makes me carry his book when we go into a restaurant or Dr.'s office so people will not see him with it. He thinks that is not cool. He would love for people to see him with a handheld, however! Of course, the tough part would be making him stay off the games and on the e-book. There are so many other advantages to the ebook, but I will have to address that later.

With all of the advantages to handhelds, there are still some concerns that have to be address. One of my first concerns would be cheating. A teacher would have to be more attentive to how and when the handhelds were used during an assessment. There are ways to restrict beaming to curb some of this. Expectations and consequences would need to be addressed and clearly communicated to the students and parents.

My next concern would be professional development. So often in education, we jump on the latest bandwagon only to find we do not know how to drive it. It is critical to the success of technology in the classroom that teachers are provided the necessary training on how to use it.
It would need to be practical and timely.

Now, let's talk about advantages. There are so many, but I will list only a few that I think are outstanding. The first one is the attraction for the students. Technology is SO-O-O motivational! With the possibility for each student to have "their own" computer, and to take it home!?! I think that alone would raise assessment scores on whatever activity you are conducting.

I also think the ease for the teacher is attracitive. A teacher can manage a number of different things simultaneously. Attendance, class lessons, parent contacts, student information are just a few of the things that can be done on the handheld ---anywhere in the building.

With a digital camera built in, a teacher can enhance any number of lessons. Students love to see themselves. You can conduct a lesson one day and post thier pictures in the classroom the next! Depending on the level of students, you can also use the camera to help record data in a lesson, manage behavior, or create presentations.

The possibilities are endless!

Soft Rest #4- Participatory Simulations - A pod-talk with educators

The focus of this Pod-cast is simulatory software for the classroom. Simulation software has been around for a while, beginning with Oregon Trail. I guess that it actually began with roleplay before we ever had classroom computers. If you have ever used this kind of instruction, you know that it is effective. With simulations on a handheld, there are just as many advantages, and even a few more.

The pod-cast discussed two different simulations, one with communicable diseases and one with environments and populations. Both of them seemed quite intriguing to me, and I would love to see them in action! In the first example, one handheld is set up to be "sick". When other computers come into contact with it, they become "infected". One of the jobs of the students is to determine who the original culprit was. In the second example, the handhelds are assigned to be little fish or big fish in a pond. The big fish eat the little fish. The little fish can be eaten, but they will also "reproduce". There are a number of applications in this example including predator/prey relationships, balance within an ecosystem, population control, and biodiversity.

I can see so many advantages to using this kind of software. First, (and maybe most importantly to a classroom teacher) is there are no consummable supplies that have to be stored, prepared, or re-ordered. There is very little setup time and no clean up time invloved. With no visible set up, the lesson can be fresh for each class. With the power of the software, it allows more time for applying thinking skills for the students, and less time to "work it out". (graphing, recording data, etc.) I think using the handhelds for simulations is excellent!

Applications for handhelds

Tonight, we heard some interesting applications for a handheld in administration. One assistant principal shared how she uses her handheld. By downloading the information from her school's information program, SASI, she is able to access student and teacher info almost instantly. This provides her with a number of ways to save time. For example, when a student was in the wrong place, smarted off to her, and then, ran off, she was able to pull up the child's picture and identify her. This allowed her to pursue the incident the following morning. She also is able to locate a child's schedule and find them in the building no matter where she is in the building. She also was able to use her camera to document the inappropriate conditions in which a student was living with her camera. The photos were then turned over to DSS. She was amazed at how she could save time in so many ways. She expressed the hope that this technology would soon become second nature, and she would use all the applications available to her.