Discussion Reviews
D4 #646 Chapters
1 & 2
Week 1: Some of the benefits of Handheld |
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1 Discussion. Some of the benefits of Handheld computer (HH) activity in the classroom include the following: Projects are wonderful learning activities. The HHs facilitate project oriented learning because it gives each student his/her own mobile computer as a personal aide. The features of HHs as far as educational tools go, are not that unique from small PCs (i.e. Sony Vaio). Both are "small" computers; both are communication devices, both are portable (to different degrees). Applications such as streaming audio/video, data gathering/processing/reporting, can be done in both environments. Transaction processing takes on a new dimension in the HH community not (usually) associated with PCs. Transaction processing between HHs is more like "process control" applications where computers control machine behavior, based on real-time input factors. Only in this case the "machine" in question is another HH. These transactions are the "HI" (highly interactive) in Dr. Elliott Soloway's HI-CE. Certainly a unique feature of the HHs is their cost. This important factor will make the experiments now underway to produce high valued educational products (HI-CE, Concord, etc.) successfully integrate with our current curricula, naturally. The educational value ("bang-for-the-buck") will be demonstrably too great to resist. I don't know precisely how one would measure the size of this "bang." That is why I described it as "demonstrably too great to resist." This "bang" is another illustration of the"threshold" theory, described elsewhere. We will know when we are there. We just may not know exactly when we arrived. So what are the significant differences that suggest how one might exploit the HHs? First (and formost?) is the different degrees to which these computers (laptops and HHs) are portable. Clearly HHs can be used in places and in ways we might never have considered. It is not just portable; it is "extremely portable." This in itself however is not enough of an argument to intergrate HHs into all curricula. It is the combination of its "extreme portability" with each of the other features that gives the HH its uniqueness. For a long time we've been able to gather and process data, but now we can do it at the source of the data much more easily because of the HH's "expreme portability." We have been communicating via voice and video (and text, IM) for some time; but now, because of its extreme portability, we can do it at the place and at the moment of the activity. We've been able to communicate in a classroom network (school-wide, district-wide, world-wide) with other members of our network, but now we can create networks and exploit their collaborative potential, in places we would not (could not?) have considered before, because of the HH's extreme portability. This extreme portability includes unique capabilities not available on a small PC. Even a small PC (usually) requires "set up." This set up may be nothing more than setting it down and turning it on, but it is not meant to be ubiquitous in the students other activities. HHs on the other hand power on/off, beam to each other, stream video in/out and collect data - all while students are on the move. "Finger buttons" enable these features. The HHs in this scenario are truly ubiquitous. They are more than computers at this point they become "smart tools." Just like a generic remote control unit one can buy at a Radio Shack (or one of the new ultra-programmable units), a smart tool can be programmed to BE whatever the student wants it to BE in any given activity. These benefits of HHs allow us to build, more easily, collaborative projects and multi-discipline projects. These projects can (should) be outside of the classroom. Like all learning tools, these tools should be tailored to the specific intelligences of each student. That is, each student may exploit a different benefit of the HHs. All of this takes careful up-front planning. The greatest barrier to the intergration of HHs into our schools is the resistance to technology exhibited by many schools' faculties. Although this is changing as a new generation of teachers and supervisors takes control of the schools, there always is tension between an older administration and a younger one. Technology is always advancing. Other barriers are money. While HHs are much cheaper than PCs they still represent a line item in the budget and often they are in addition to PCs not instead of PC. Faculty needs to be trained. Clever in-service staff development programs must be implemented. The more technology-oriented faculty should be used more in a mentoring role to speed up the integration of HHs in to the curricula of all subjects and in all grades. |
D6 #649 Classroom
Uses of HH Handhelds in the Classroom |
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| http://www.educationworld.com/a_tech/tech083.shtml | ||
| D8 #647 Ubiquitous Handhelds | ||
| Ubiquity 1) The Concorde Consortium: When I read articles issued from this group (especially if it is authored by a member of the Tinker family) I cannot decide whether I am reading legitimate research and observation or if it is a marketing newsletter. It seems to serve two purposes at times. 2) I am confused about all the fuss over ubiquity - as if this is a unique problem of the HH community. It makes me think I'm missing something. The problem of Ubiquitous learning devices is not unique to Handhelds, nor did it begin with the introduction of the many still-unused Macintosh computers that are sprinkled in classrooms around the country. I believe the same problem exists in any field that is supported by technology? Is not the medical profession for instance swarming with new devices and technical procedures every year that promise to dramatically change how we deliver health care. The technology (ies) is developing so rapidly, that we are often overloaded with devices and toys without applications to exploit them. I understand this point. In almost every profession, there is a "race" between the hardware engineers (those who design and build the new devices) and the appliction developers (the subject experts who exploit the new technology). The computer industry went through its own version of this dilemma in the 1950's - 1960's (and again in the 1980's - 1990's). Over the past 3 decades this counter-balance in the computer industry between hardware and software engineers has shifted - more than once. But: natural market forces have driven the process in the past and I suspect will again in the future. That is there needs to be a certain level of applications (threshhold) before these devices (any technology) can become indespensible. 3) I hope that I will be exposed to some creative INTERACTIVE HH software. I know that Hi-Ce is developing such applictions. But so far in the readings that I've done, all of the uses for HH's are related to data-gathering, recording observations, note-taking, measurement-readings, reference checking, etc. In other words they all exploit the "size" and mobility feature of these tiny jammed-packed computers, but I have not seen truly interactive applications (yet) where the students' (HH's) interact with each other and each interaction results in another responsive interaction. This is a great benefit of HH's (any pc), to be able to take on a "personality" (a well defined/programmed system of behaviors). Like the SIMS applications, we spoke about some time ago, I want to see what multiple-HH interactive learning games Elliot Soloway (and others) has created. I'm sure I'll remember this naive comment when the course is over in a couple of months- after I've been exposed to the myriad of available software. (Or maybe not?) Of course I'm making these early observations without the benefit of discussion and debate. I look forward to being proven wrong and discovering a treasure trove of interactive, simulating (and stimulating) HH educational applications. Jerry Jerome Garfunkel 172 Tinker Street Woodstock, NY 12498 jerry@jeromegarfunkel.com 845 679 0770 |
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D9 #649 Chapters
3,4,5, A, B |
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| D10 #672 Curriculum http://usight.concord.org/curriculum |
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| The U Sight link entitled "Handheld
Computer Activity Suggestions" contains six areas of possible activity with hanhelds. After you have reviewed each of these areas: 1. Which one(s) do you feel that you would like to implement with your students or within your school? 2. Which activity would provide for the greatest learning opportunity for your students, i.e. at your grade/subject level? Post your answers to the above questions in the appropriate area(s) of this discussion board. Come back and post your reactions to the writings of fellow students. |
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D11 #673 Palm Educational Website |
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| The U Sight link entitled "Handheld
Computer Activity Suggestions" contains six areas
of possible activity with hanhelds. After you have reviewed each of these areas: 1. Which one(s) do you feel that you would like to implement with your students or within your school? 2. Which activity would provide for the greatest learning opportunity for your students, i.e. at your grade/subject level? Post your answers to the above questions in the appropriate area(s) of this discussion board. Come back and post your reactions to the writings of fellow students. |
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Saturday, August 14, 2004 7:00 PM
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Handhelds
Article, Video, Book Reiviews |
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| The Concord Consortium,
Concord Org The
Handheld Computer as a Field Guide All quated citations are: |
HH used to provide form and structure for
some students. Projects include "...(i)dentifying characteristics
with checklists and database applications." First interactive HH application is the GPS mapping tool (i.e. MapTapAtlas)
but still not inter-HH collaborative. Occasionally they will process data
in the field and use the processed data immediately in the field - exploiting
the uniqueness (mobility) of the HH.. |
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