The viable alternative: handhelds; why the personal computer of choice in K-12 ought to fit in a student's palm

School Administrator, April, 2003 by Cathleen A. Norris, Elliot M. Soloway

Upwards of 80 percent of the time spent on the inventor project was supported by software on the child's handheld computer. Note how this scenario has a great deal in common with a scenario in a business setting, where coworkers, using computers appropriate to their context, interact to produce a report, proposal or conference program.

Instructional Effects

What evidence exists that a 1:1 ratio of students to handheld computers can make a difference in the classroom? While it's still too early to expect standardized test scores to be affected, we still find provocative effects on teaching and learning.

Briefly, here are some results we have seen in working for the past two years in schools in Michigan and Texas, from 3rd to 9th grade, where students used their own personal, handheld computers:

* Students are productive. In looking at what children had on their handheld computer after using it for the school year (September to June), we found students typically had produced more than 100 documents during the 180 class days.

* Students revise their work. Inasmuch as the documents (concept maps, text documents, drawings and animations) were easily accessible, students actually revised their documents, often multiple times, based on teacher and peer feedback and based on their evolving understanding.

* Students revisit their notes, Inasmuch as their class notes were readily accessible--vastly different from trying to find a specific sheet of paper in their binder three weeks after it was written--we observed students actually reviewed their notes in studying for tests.

* Students collaborate. The personal area network, facilitated by a handheld computer's infrared beaming, makes it easy for children to share work by, for example, beaming notes to a child who was absent from class or beaming artifacts for peer comments.

Next Steps

We believe that the handheld computer will have more of an impact on teaching and learning in K-12 education than the Internet has had. While there might well be wonderful material on the Internet, the access to that material in school is severely limited. However, having their own computers, ready-at-hand, enables students to be productive by generating artifacts, around which substantive collaboration can take place.

That said, careful research is needed to document the strengths and weaknesses, the affordances and the challenges of this emerging class of technologies. Moreover, in order to move these technologies beyond the early-adopter classrooms into mainstream classrooms, curricular materials are needed along with professional development and assessment materials. It will take considerable effort and resources if handhelds are to realize their potential.

Cathleen Norris is a professor of technology and cognition at University of North Texas, Matthews Hall, Denton, TX 76203. E-mail: Norris@unt.edu. Elliot Soloway is an Arthur F. Thurnau Professor in the (enter for Highly-interactive Computing in Education at the University of Michigan.