PDA Articles

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In the recent past, I thought that Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) were only used by business people to keep track of appointments through a calendar and to organize the addresses and phone numbers of contacts. As I began reading this week, I learned about using PDAs on field trips to collect data using probes and taking notes with a writing program. I began to see uses for older students in classrooms.

PDAs can provide portability that is not as easily available with laptop computers. For several years we have taken a field trip to Adams’ Wildlife Sanctuary. Each group brings a digital camera to record their findings. Each child takes a pencil and “spy book” to record their data. Recording their thoughts on the trip makes it much easier for them to remember the trip when we return to the classroom. Taking PDAs on field trips would provide a similar option that could be downloaded into a computer or printed upon our return.

When I found the examples from elementary schools, I began to rethink my views on PDAs. On page 59 in the article, Palm Education Pioneers Program Final Report (www.palmgrants.sri.com/PEP_Final_Report.pdf), some ESL teachers began to use the word wall on PDAs. This provided a portable word wall. (A word wall is actually a place on the wall where words are placed that are highly used and difficult to spell or words that will aid in the spelling of other words.) It no longer matters where the student is sitting in the room or even if they want to write in the library or in a special teachers classroom. They can have the word wall with them.

I could also relate to the student from Arlington Public Schools that couldn’t write more than a few sentences but can finish a rough draft in one sitting using a PDA. (http://www.palm.com/us/education/studies/index.html) These students are using a program called FreeWrite to work through the steps of the writing process. The article said that editing and revising with peers became more popular when the writing could be “beamed” to a peer or traded on the PDA. The students also wrote more because they were interested in using the technology. I have a few students that probably would be affected in the same way.

Finally, reading some of the suggestions from the 101 Uses for Handhelds found at www.k12handhelds.com made me wonder why I had never purchased a PDA for myself. A PDA can also be a valuable resource for a teacher in the areas of grading, organization and web use. Learning about PDAs opened a new area of technology in the classroom for me.