| It’s
such a good feeling to arrive at our class and begin swapping stories
of success and otherwise. Thursday evening
class is great, relax and enjoy class and then it’s Friday! We
are still sharing tales…some are borrowed, some are blue…no
we are not planning for a wedding, just getting familiar with our handhelds.
Tony was busy troubleshooting, new handhelds, wireless keyboard problems,
and recording Giraffe scores. Melissa has a handheld at school that
is not working, Tony suggested that she delete & reinstall the
OS, and to go to palmOne
Support for any updates or for the newest version
of software. Also, if we have a keyboard such as Rick’s Belkin,
to go to the specific manufacturer’s website. Another hint that
was shared is that if you need to reset your handheld, you can do that
in the on or off mode and someone suggested that you use your stylus.
We
grilled Tony about his upcoming presentations at conferences. He’s
off to Milwaukee. Some of us would like to
purchase the book that
he co-authored with Janet Caughlin. I’ve
always found her books to be so useful. I hope it will be available
when I attend N.E.T.A. (Nebraska
Educational Technology Association) in late
April.
Palm Basics
We learned about “Tasks” which Tony described as a To Do
List. It is a great organizational tool for educators with the capability
of prioritizing from one through five. It is also possible to attach
notes, which is like adding a textbox.
“Note Pad” is
like a sticky note and you can just write on the screen, which can
be scrolled for 2 1⁄2 screens tall. It can be named or
kept as the default name that is the time and date. “Document
View” allows
you to see the note and you can get to “List View” by
tapping on done. An example of using Note Pad is to jot a phone
number
Simple word processing can be done using “Memos”.
Digging
Deeper-Contacts
Our first project was to launch contacts or address book (tap)
and beam an eBusiness Card. First, you tap your own name in list
view.
It will
open to record view. Go to the menu, tap “Record” and “Select
Business Card”. You will now have your eBusiness Card ready
to beam whenever needed. Beaming excitement! We all beamed our
cards to
each other. Tap “Contacts” in list view, go to the
menu “Record” and “Beam
Business Card”. Be careful to aim at the handheld you want
to send to. What you see is what you beam. Remember to only beam
what you want
to share. Don’t share your entire contacts list and be
sure to read what it says you are sending!
The “auto
complete” allows
the user to start a word and it will finish. This feature will
complete common words & they will
be highlighted in yellow. Tony cautioned us to be careful as
it might complete the wrong words, for example NE might become
NM. You can customize
entries in list view. Add note-tap or select command “attach
note”,
or tap “hot spot” where the note would be. You
can also rename custom fields up to 9 fields. An ex. Nickname – the
sky is the limit on uses in the classroom.
Just a reminder
you can get to Contacts by pushing the Contacts button when
the handheld is off or tap on the menu if it is
on. The entries
in Contacts can be put into categories by tapping the top
right menu by either choosing a category that is already created
or by selecting “edit
categories”. You can then name categories according
to your needs. Tony encouraged us to “think outside
of the box” on how these
programs can be used in the classroom. Customize the categories
to educational related lessons.
Proactive categorization
allows you to find a name quickly by typing a few letters (or using
the stylus on the screen)
and
it will go
to the name fast. You can also use the 5-way navigator
button
by pressing
down.
Love the shortcuts!
Tony reminded us
that menus change according to view…list view,
display view, and edit view. The “Record Menu” has
the “Duplicate
Contact” which is handy for making minor changes
and copy & paste.
Also there are 4 font sizes & can be changed by going
to the “Options
Menu” and select “Font”.
Our heads
were spinning from so much information & we were
all glad to have our dinner! Thanks to Lynn for the
beef stew, salad, & fresh
cheese curds…yes they did squeak! The Rice Krispie
Bars were so good! Our kitty conversation was fun and
relaxing.
Our after-dinner video featured
a fifth grade student at the Dudley School in Britain. Anyway, the
boy, teacher
and his
mother spoke
about how
he is no longer
bored, more outspoken and that handhelds have changed
his life. He’s
more self-confident and shares his skills and knowledge
about handhelds with other students.
Calendar
You can use the “hard button” or menu to access the
calendar. The “Agenda View” can show tasks and messages;
the “Day
View” shows time/tasks (the arrows switch
weeks); “Week View” (tap
bar to get details); “Year View”. You
can use the arrows on the 5-way Navigator to switch
days. “Go to” takes you
to any day of the year.
My favorite new
calendar trick is to tap “Option” “Phone
Lookup” and find the name of let’s
say my doctor- tap add and her name and phone #
appear in my calendar.
I just set a 5 minute alarm for all of my duties.
Tony told us about the calendar alarm feature
being great
for teachers.
If
you need
a gentle reminder for your
appointments, in the calendar go to “Options” and select “Preferences” to
choose the calendar alarm sound. When adding an alarm to a calendar event, highlight
the event, go to details and check “Alarm”. The alarm icon will be
displayed by the calendar entry. The same entry could also have a note and repeating
event icon if needed.
All day or untimed events such as a birthday will be
at the beginning of the day with (•) and can also
be set as a repeating yearly event.
Find-The magnifying
glass soft button allows you to search keywords on
your handheld.
Calculator is so
handy. (Note: Some models such as the Tungsten E do not have one,
but it can be added.)
Reminder to turn down the brightness to save your
battery!
General
Preferences (Home)
“Prefs” controls system-wide settings. Some of the General Preferences
that Tony shared with us:
Date & Time (must be accurate for syncing); Digitizer (target
once a month); Power (controls auto-off and beam receiving-can
be important to save battery);
Sounds & Alerts (sanity-savers-especially with
a roomful of handhelds-can turn sound off)
Cascade
Beaming is to beam to 1st person & they beam to
the next, and so on.
Synchronizing
Install palmOne Desktop Software, but be sure to
get the newest version from the website.
The user name
is important
and
should be unique.
Synchronizing the
handheld to the desktop computer is mirroring.
Printing out calendars & dragging contacts
to the calendar are some of the tricks you
can do with the desktop software. Just a
reminder that the term “HotSync” is
not a verb.
Tony beamed “Coconut Fern” to us. It is an anagram for “Connect
Four”. Our assignment is to keep practicing
Giraffe and keep track of the highest score.
Also, Tony asked us to blog about contacts, database
and custom
fields. See you on the 24th!
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