Each student and teacher in grades four through eight at Avery Coonley School now has their own PalmOne Zire 72 handheld and a wireless keyboard, marking the realization of the school’s vision to provide a learning device for every student.
According to Jennifer Garetto and Laura Bojkovski, the fourth-grade teachers who ran the pilot program last year, the benefits are obvious – students are more enthusiastic and motivated, requiring very little instruction. Within a few days they were scheduling appointments, writing memos, writing task lists, filling in the calendar with homework assignments and due dates, and even setting the alarm to remind themselves of a deadline.
In addition, said Garetto, The students write more often and more efficiently because they have keyboards and are no longer dependant upon going to the computer lab once a week.
Before they can take their handhelds home, students must earn a PalmOne operating license by mastering a set of skills and demonstrating them to their teachers. To get a license, students must be able to enter characters using the handheld’s built-in Graffiti 2 software, beam, manage a ‘to do’ list, schedule tasks, operate the handheld’s camera, change preferences, and sign a contract confirming their understanding of how to take care of their handheld and keep it safe.
In addition to class training schemes, students and teachers will now also be able to use an online training resource recently launched by PalmOne. The company has launched a website for basic online training, the PalmOne Online Basics website, which can be accessed from the company’s education page at www.palmone.com/education.
This resource offers around-the-clock access to topics that cover fundamental uses of the personal information management (PIM) applications. ‘How to’ modules in the use of the calendar, date book, memo pad, note pad, HotSync operation, beaming and more are covered in short multimedia segments aimed at both visual and auditory learners.
