The Detroit News featured an article about GoKnow’s educational software for handhelds. “Innovative Software Paves Way for Learning” by Tom Henderson makes the case for handhelds in classrooms. There are many great quotes from one of my heroes, Dr. Elliot Soloway. Among the quotes from Soloway is: “We've got data from Detroit that are incredible. It shows that African-American boys are absolutely hooked on the technology. They won't read books, but this [handheld computing] hooks them."

Also, there is more data that handhelds can help disadvantaged students achieve on standardized state tests. Bob Melton with Putnam City Schools in Oklahoma is quoted, "Over the last two years, the two middle schools using handhelds have improved at a faster rate on the test than the three other middle schools. It was a significant increase. They're now on a par with the other three schools."

If the incredible stories in the Detroit News’ article gets you excited about the possibilities of one-to-one computing, then how can we get a handheld in the hands of every student? Kosmo Kalliarekos wrote a public memo to U.S. Secretary of Education Margaret Spellings entitled “A Computer on Every Desk.” Printed in the February issue of Edutopia Magazine, Kalliarekos offers the case for each student having a computer. Although he focuses on laptops, the same argument could be made for handheld computers (with a cheaper price tag!).

Virginia’s Henrico County began a one-to-one computing initiative in 2001 that gives every middle school and high school student an Apple iBook.

The Richmond Times-Dispatch has printed the results of a survey commissioned by Henrico County’s school board. It’s the first in-depth look at Henrico’s program that gives middle school and high school students an Apple iBook. 20,409 students were surveyed in addition to parents and teachers.

Among the survey’s findings:

88% of students surveyed said they bring their laptops to school every day, but less than half – 41 percent of middle-schoolers and 45 percent of high-schoolers – used them at home every day. Students do seem to use the computers at home some of the time, according to 91% of parents surveyed. They said use averaged 1.8 hours a week.

Roughly one in four students who responded to the survey said they use their iBooks to play games at least twice a week.

Just less than 20% of teachers said they use an iBook every day. Half of the system's teachers spend less than a quarter of classroom time on instruction involving the computers, but 78% think iBooks make schoolwork more interesting for students.

61% of administrators said the filtering system on iBooks is not effective in keeping students from getting onto inappropriate Web sites, but 56% of parents said they are confident that the filters do work.

More than half of students needed to have their iBooks repaired during the school year.

I searched the web, but I could not find a complete report on Henrico’s study. Perhaps complete results will be available to the public soon.

Now, here’s some findings about handhelds:

96% of teachers agreed or strongly agreed that handhelds are “an effective instructional tool.” Source: SRI Palm Education Pioneers Study

88% of parents agree that using handhelds has had a positive effect on their child’s attitude toward school. Source: Columbia Public Schools

83% of students agree that they work harder when they use their handhelds. Source: Columbia Public Schools

97% of students viewed the Barrien County, Michigan handheld project as improving learning. Source: Barrien County Schools

98% of the time, students brought their handhelds to school. Source: An estimate from my own experience with fifth graders—they wouldn’t dream leaving them at home!

I don’t have a number for the number of handhelds that need to be repaired, but it certainly is much less than half, as in the iBook survey.

Henrico’s laptop initiative has cost the school district a total of $43.6 million over four years ($26.5 million to lease the 26,000 computers). According to my calculations, it would cost only about $6.7 million to purchase 26,000 Tungsten E handhelds with keyboards and some software. Extra equipment, professional development, and technical support would add a couple more million dollars. So, for less than one-fifth of the cost of the laptop program, Henrico might have had higher teacher, parent, student, and community satisfaction with handheld computers instead of laptops. Of course, these studies are from different schools, grade levels, and surveys, but it’s something to ponder…

Just as we have done for the past few years, my Handhelds in Teaching and Learning graduate class keeps an online Class Log. An educator from our class is the “Roving Reporter” each session. His or her job is take notes and photos throughout class. Within a week, the reporter sends me an email with his or her article. I combine the article with the photos. Also, I link the text of the reporter’s article to the web sites, videos, and software discussed in class. Having a Class Log is great for students if they miss a class, want to review what we have learned, or need to visit a web link referenced in class. It’s also a great writing and thinking activity for the reporter.

Currently there are three logs on the Class Log page… More logs to come as we progress through the class.

New this semester, I’m having each class member keep a weblog. After each class (and when they feel like it), participants in Handhelds in Teaching and Learning reflect upon the ideas presented in class in their own online journals. Also, many of the assignments from class, such as article and software reviews, will be posted to these blogs. As an extra bonus, many of the recipes from our fabulous dinners can be found in these blogs. Please add comments to our weblogs—that’s one of the reasons why they are there!

Use Bloglines to subscribe to these blogs so you can keep up-to-date. You might just feel like you’re a part of the class!

Larry Linson, third grade teacher in Fort Wayne, Indiana, sent me another eBook to add to learninginhand’s eBooks page. You might have downloaded his students’ Rhyming Words eBook . His new eBook, Hogwarts Encyclopedia, is a great companion for students reading any Harry Potter book. He has an illustrated version of the eBook that takes 522k of RAM. The smaller version is text only and is a skinner 44k. Download both versions together in this zip file. The eBooks are free for classroom use. Check out another book by Larry: Albus – A Hogwarts eBook.

You can make your own eBooks quickly and easily using eBook Studio for Mac or Windows ($29.95).

A short article, "Students Get Mini Computers," appeared in the Los Angeles Daily News on Sunday, February 6. It explains how fourth graders are using Tungsten E handhelds at El Dorado School in Lancaster, California.

Although brief, the article has some great quotes from students and from their teacher, Jesus Gomez. My favorite is from Mr. Gomez: "I always had a vision of having a computer lab in my classroom. This is probably the easiest and closest avenue to do that."

Read the article here.

Last week I presented at the Wisconsin State Reading Association’s annual conference. I was impressed that a reading conference would invite me, because I have only spoken at educational technology conferences. I was thrilled to attend a conference that wasn’t devoted entirely to technology. Just as in classrooms, I think technology should be interwoven into the curriculum areas, not a separate subject. In fact, the theme of the conference had to do with weaving (sort of). It was “Reading: The Tapestry of Our Lives.”

The reading conference had concurrent sessions dealing with every aspect of literacy, including technology. Although there were not many educators in my “Literacy in Hand” session, it was very worthwhile. One participant has already spoken to her superintendent about purchasing a set of handhelds. She explained that she had “tunnel vision” when it came to handheld computers. She knew they probably had limited uses in the classroom. After spending two hours learning about handhelds, she could see an array of possibilities.

I spent one afternoon at the conference’s Cyber Café where teachers could check their email. I was available to conference-goers if they had questions about handhelds. I only had two people visit me in the café that afternoon who were interested in handhelds. In an effort to keep from being bored, I approached two teachers who had spend nearly an hour sitting and chatting near the café. They explained to me that they had pretty much heard it all when it comes to reading. They were hoping to take away practical new ideas they could use in their schools. However, the current line-up of sessions didn’t present them with anything they felt they could learn from. I decided to plop myself down between these two reading teachers. I pulled out my trusty handheld and began to show them HandDBase.

In the classroom I’ve used HanDBase (available for Palm or Pocket PC) to make my own databases for anecdotal notes for reading, writing, math, and behavior. What’s nice about making my own databases is that I can customize them for my students and for my skill indicators. HandDBase is so convenient for recording notes about students’ reading because all I have to do is tap the screen a couple of times. I created a pop-up menu for student names and indicators in the database. I set up the database to automatically place a date and time stamp on each entry. I left a place for me to record a checkmark if I retaught the skill. There was also a place to record any notes I might make. In list view, I can see all of the database entries in HanDBase. I can sort the list by student, which is helpful when preparing for report cards or parent conferences. I can also sort by indicator and date. Sorting the database by indicators assisted me in developing needs groups. I also explained that many reading teachers love the mCLASS Reading Software from Wireless Generation, especially its assistance with running records.

After taking a couple of minutes to share all of this with the two teachers, they were very excited about how a small device could help them do their jobs better and more efficiently. They had no idea of the possibilities of handheld technology and never considered using it. These two teachers, who wanted to take away something practical and new from the conference, got their wish. I don’t know if they will actually pursue using HanDBase or mCLASS Reading Software, but at least they know it’s out there! Many teachers may never go to an educational technology conference, so I hope that more and more content-area conferences will spread the word of the usefulness of handheld technology in schools.