Handheld Learning - learning with mobile and ubiquitous technologies

In the hands of innovative teachers who have been using technology in active learning settings for years the handheld has a way to go, but surely has some promise and those ideas are beginning to emerge. However, these teachers are used to the glitches of technology and take them in stride. Within the general population of teachers, however, there is a feeling like they “give up” computing ease when they use handhelds. I have heard the comment “these are like looking back to the Apple IIe environment.” While I know they don’t really mean that, what they are saying is that handheld computing tends to feel too cumbersome compared to the computer environment they have become used to. There are too many different things needed to make the current tool seamless for learning and learners. With this in mind here is what I believe are some standard tools for using handhelds in education. (PalmOS environment)

1.Wifi capabilities with BATTERY LIFE!
2.Color Screens
3.Memory, Memory, and Memory both RAM and cards
4.A keyboard solution that works for the flexibility of not being at a desk or hard surface. (students frequently use a handheld in their lap)
5.Multi-tasking with more than one app open at a time on the handheld.
6.Exchanging files with a networked device by drag and drop.
7.Charging solutions that are simple and don’t require multiple cords or cradles.(AlphaSmart Danas are charged with a single usb cord a computer’s usb port)
9.Being able to print from any application when you purchase the application, making it a handheld function, not a software dependent third party solution.
10.Abolishment of fatal exception errors for commercial software and various Palm OS devices
11.Easy solutions for getting student work into the hands of the teacher from a variety of apps. Hotsyncing is cumbersome for a teacher to access multiple student files. (See PAAM by GoKnow Software)
13.Easy viewing of webpages—ability to eliminate the horizontal scroll and see read the page information.
14.Assessment software that interfaces with handhelds to provides instantaneous feedback for teacher and student.
15.Education software designed so that students can work on separate files and when beamed the files are merged.
16.Multimedia viewing/capabilities are standardized.
17. Interoperability with other digital devices used in learning

I know that much of what I ask for in my toolkit is already available in some fashion. But as I work with teachers, the problem is that it is not necessarily seamless and user friendly, yet these are common tasks that educators have grown to expect from a computing environment. I value all the perspectives I have read here in this discussion and I strongly believe that much of what has been done with learning and technology can be done using handhelds---at a lower cost to the taxpayer!

This is a really interesting list Christine - not least because it highlights some of the really important features needed for consistent classroom use.
A few comments that I'd be interested to develop within this forum:

There are many input devices for PDAs - from data sensors and image catpure to keyboards and styluses.  Considering an affordance of handhelds is that they allow mobility (which includes working on your lap) - is the keyboard necessary?  I ask as, although I use an attachable keyboard for my PDA, younger users (who aren't used to keyboard writing) may prefer other input methods.


A really important point - and I think one that can be developed to incorporate sharing work with other students, groups and agencies outside of school as appropriate.  Giving the learner control over access of their work and easy opportunity to share and work collaboratively is really important.  Interesting to think about the best way to work collaboratively with PDAs (for instance bluechat & blueboard on the Palm) - what software/connectivity issues this raises.

A great list that I hope we can add to through this forum. 

Incidentally, I looked at some of the lesson plans on your site (hyperlink in "introduce yourself") -  you are working with some really exciting teachers!