Handhelds in Education

Judith Rajala, President and Founder of EduHound.com, published an article entitled "Handhelds in Education." She begins by quoting the Center for Highly Interactive Computing in Education at the University of Michigan. The Center promotes the use of computers in education, but cites high costs as a hindrance to any extensive use. Palms have changed that; where else could one purchase a computer for less than $200?

Ms. Rajala draws from a Glencoe/McGraw-Hill article, "Handheld Devices Make Inroads in the Classroom." A strong connection is shown between PDAs and student achievement. Handhelds can be used to take class notes, keep homework assignments, write reports, share information and keep track of grades. I had not realized the depth of uses for the handheld. If a student is absent, missed class notes can be beamed to his or her PDA. If they're working on a group project, they can easily pass information back and forth. This is a great example for a way I might use the Palms in music class. During the past week, we have been writing "ragas," a form of popular Indian music. Students have to write a melody for their raga and then create rhythmic accompaniments to the melody. With palms, they could share their rhythmic and melodic compositions with other group members, and also have an easy way to develop an entire score of the music, which they could turn in to me after their performance. They could also beam their complete composition to other class members so that we could all follow along as they perform. Wow! Now I just need to find some fitting software!

The Glencoe/McGraw article also points out advantages for teachers. Assignments can be beamed from teacher to student; assessments and grades can be recorded and easily accessed. The article stresses the importance of both professional development and administrative support. I feel that, currently, I have assessment materials and evaluations in about a dozen different places. One day we do a rhythmic assessment; another time, it might be a recorder evaluation. I keep a notebook with class lists, but then make notes in other places. We are also sent, from time to time, information on individual students. If all of that could be in the PDA, with links to connect all of it, evaluation would be much easier. I also think that, in my case, I would be more consistent in assessing students; knowing it was all organized in one place would take the frustration out of the process, or at least some of it!

A third benefit is that parents can be well-informed. In some schools, teachers beam grades, behavior notes, and assignments onto the students' PDA. Parents can then access the information at night. Again, what a big help to teachers! I know a number of teachers who are forever calling anxious parents after school, to keep them informed of their children's progress. The PDAs would send the information home on the day it is recorded, so that teachers and parents could stay in touch. It would give parents time to think about the teacher's comments and might provide clearer and more concise information.

Ms. Rajala provides a number of valuable links to handheld resources. For more information, please access: http://www.thejournal.com/magazine/vault/A4469A.cfm.

Beams, Giraffes, and Too Much Fun!

I was reminded once last night during class of the frustration we all feel from time to time. Tony was up in front, explaining beaming and we're sitting at our tables, already putting the concept into play. He still has a few things to tell us, but we've gone on, beaming away, excited and overwhelmed by the ability to send something to another handheld across the table! It is wonderful to see such enthusiasm and to know that we all take that back to our schools and our classrooms. We at Willowdale are really fortunate to have a principal who fully supports technology advancement. One of our classmates, Lynn, is frustrated because her staff and/or principal doesn't understand the value of handhelds in education. If any of the rest of you face a similar roadblock, invite them to call our principal here. She is an incredible advocate!

The giraffe game was driving me crazy - I would get to about 1200 points and then not be able to make it the rest of the way because of periods, colons, and other punctuation. I worried that my first class would come in before I finished the current game. What would I do with them? Could I, quick, put on some music and tell them to relax and listen to the sounds of this month's composer? Something told me this would not work for the first grade class. With 4 minutes to spare, I reached a score of 1481. I still missed a couple of brackets, but at least I will now be able to teach my morning classes without having those lines of descending letters dance before my eyes.

One of my friends, who works at a private school, but in the development office rather than the classroom, told me it must be nice to get graduate credit for playing on a handheld computer. I pulled out my handheld to show him all that it could do - to him, it still looked like a lot of games and perhaps too much fun to be learning. But that's the point, isn't it? That's what kept me trying giraffe, over and over again, determined to reach the appointed score. It IS fun - and it encourages unknowledgable learning - learning without even realizing you're learning something.

So, I continue to be amazed at the capabilities and have many questions as I continue to work with it. I want to hook up to the internet, dock it to my laptop, use it in my music classes - all things that will come with time and patience. I am frequently asking my students to be patient when we're working on a project - I guess that's something I should practice as well!

Blogging Becomes A Part Of Life

Who would ever have thought that becoming a "blogger" would be a term connected with internet use, global communication, and earning your master's degree. When I mentioned to my 77-year old mother that we discussed blogging in my graduate class, the look on her face was priceless! She had hoped that, once I truly reached adulthood (which she thought would happen abotu 20 years ago), I would get serious about life and a career. Blogging? There's not even anything that sounds like it! Well, there are a few words: I once did a production of "Godspell" and had to learn clogging for a number; now and then we all do a little dogging; shopping for clothes could be called togging; and at Christmas I enjoy a bit of cranberry glogging. None of those have any remote connection at all to blogging.

So, what's next? The pace of technology is sometimes frightening, always exciting, and occasionally overwhelming. Just as I began to get comfortable with designing a web page for my music program, Tony suggested that blogging could be used in place of it. The seemingly boundless opportunities and challenges will, no doubt, continue to enthrall and/or scare all of us and, at times, make us all feel quite inadequate!

So, here we go. Cyberspace has birthed the blogosphere and it will be exciting to explore its many opportunities! I am very excited about this class. I look forward to discovering ways to use handhelds with my music classes and think they can offer even more interdisciplinary opportunities.