Palm Project

2 comments change, Classrooms, handhelds

Mar 28

I’ve been involved in a handheld computer project in our school division. It’s been exciting and interesting to observe this. The best part for me is that the teachers recognize the evolution that needs to take place. The realize that early success centers around efficiency and organization, what Alan November calls automating. They understand the real learning comes from informating.

There is a fundamental shift of control with informating. Relationships change, schedules change, the use of space changes, and, most importantly, responsibility shifts to the person who is closest to solving the problem….Automating reinforces the current relationship of control. Informating leads to empowerment. (xxi, Empowering Students with Technology, Alan November, 2001)

These teachers recognize, they are there, but they want to be. The handhelds are simply one tool that can lead them. The work of folks like Tony Vincent have proven that there is the potential of these tiny devices to support a shift in learning.

Have a look:

[tags]handhelds, palm,teachers,learning,alannovember,tonyvincent[/tags]

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  • http://edtechupdate.blogspot.com Jim

    Dean, I noticed you are using Tungsten E2s. Have you had any touchscreen “issues” i.e., difficulty getting the screen to register exactly where you’re touching it? A school I work with has what I believe are a bad batch of E2s. On several of their Palms it is almost impossible to re-calibrate the touchscreen correctly– I’ve seen it described as “Mad Palm” syndrome. Especially near the bottom of the screen and into the silkscreen area, the calibration is off, despite our best efforts to calibrate the screen correctly.

  • http://ideasandthoughts.org Dean Shareski

    Jim,

    To my knowledge we haven’t had any of these type of issues. The teachers have had minimal technical issues.

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