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The only sound was the gentle clicking
of keys on compact keyboards, with an occasional chime. "I love
that sound," said Mrs. Elaine Bailey as she explained that the
chiming sound meant that her students were emailing their writing
assignments to her.
Mrs. Bailey and her students are
participating in a pilot program at Meadowbrook Middle School in Poway
Unified School District that puts a computer into the hands of every
student. Each of these wireless, networked computers has internet
access as well as access to an internal email system. Students use
them in their classes and then take them home to do homework.
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| Spelling was next on the day's agenda,
and these students took their spelling test on the handheld
computers. Following that, Mrs. Bailey presented a lesson on a
writing project. Students worked independently on their computers,
and then shared their work with each other. The kids
"beamed" their writing to other students, made comments on each
other's work, and then "beamed it back". |
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"I think technology is just the coolest!.....The more
you use these, the more you realize what you can do with them." says
Mrs. Bailey, and her students agree. One student commented,
"School is much easier with these, you don't have any papers to
lose." Another student added, " These really help you stay
organized. You can use them in other classes too." |
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| Getting organized is a dilemma for many middle school
students, but these kids are able to record, prioritize and have reminders
about their assignments. They can store their assignments, and learn
how to manage their files. The kids say it is fun to organize on
their iPACs.
In the weeks that they have had these hand-held computers, the
classroom has drastically reduced its consumption of paper. Most
assignments have been emailed to Mrs. Bailey and she emails her comments
back to her students.
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All the students in the class can be online at the same
time. Use of Internet activities is easy, as a trip to the computer
lab is unnecessary. The students simply log on and effortlessly
harvest online resources or do online activities that align with
standards.
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The iPACs and their keyboards, which fold up, are easy
to transport in the blue cases that each student has. Homework
every night is to recharge the battery, so that everyone is ready for the
next day's lessons. |
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These students have also downloaded an e-book, War of the
Worlds. Not only do the kids not have to carry another book around
now that it's on their iPAC, but they have the complete text of the book
to copy and paste into their reflections on the book. They can also
check meanings of words in the book as they read, by touching their
stylus to the screen. A pop up window will show that word's meaning. |
| For this student there is nothing better that relaxing with
a good e-book on his iPAC. |
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