Pocket PCs in the Schools

I walked into Edgemont Junior-Senior High School (Scarsdale, NY) just as first period began. Entering the office to meet the technology coordinator, I edged past a group of tardy students scrambling to get passes for first period. At first blush, the school seemed pretty normal. It was not until Mona Huff escorted me into a classroom that I discovered a divergence from the normal: The Edgemont students were using Pocket PCs.

Getting up-to-date with the technology

Last summer, Mona gathered her district’s science instructors to discuss implementing new technologies into the curriculum. In fact, the teachers had gone to the tech committees at their schools with separate requests to implement the use of probes (sensors commonly used in science labs) on the desktop. Mona wanted the teachers to begin immediately on a new program, but she also understood the difficulties involved with learning new equipment. That is why she opted to involve her faculty in choosing what technology to purchase. As she and the teachers researched different technologies, they soon settled on handheld devices as the answer. Specifically, they chose Pocket PCs. To accompany them, they selected Data Harvest (http://www.dataharvest.com) data collection devices and probeware. These devices fit in the CompactFlash card slot of the Pocket PCs and can be taken almost anywhere.

Mona took her rationale to the Edgemont School Foundation board and received a grant to support implementing Pocket PCs in grades 5–12. In the end, the school district purchased nearly 100 handhelds with the science probeware and data collectors. They immediately began staff development to help the teachers implement the new technology. Along with outside help, Mona stood by them every step of the way. She encouraged them to take the Pocket PCs home, explore their use, and brainstorm ideas for the curriculum.

The teachers decided to integrate the Data Harvest probe system and the Pocket PCs at least once a quarter. Surprisingly, not all the teachers consider themselves technologically savvy. In fact, one is an admitted technophobe; yet, with help he has been one of the more successful in implementation of the probeware.

Using the computing power of Pocket PCs

At the elementary school level, the teachers call the Pocket PCs “computers”—that’s why they chose the Pocket PCs in the first place. The first activity I observed was in Nancy Munno’s sixth grade classroom. In a laboratory to teach conduction, two temperature probes were connected to Data Harvest’s EasySense Flash Logger, which was connected to the Pocket PC. The students set up their experiment, started the data collection, and moved on to another experiment while they waited for the ten-minute process to be completed. This was a perfect way for students to perform more than one experiment, allowing extra reinforcement of conduction and convection concepts.

After the collection and their other investigations were complete, they moved to the desktop computers. The students quickly linked their Pocket PCs in the cradle set up on the desks, found their experiment, and printed their graphs. Students took the graphs home in order to draw conclusions based on their experiences for the day. Despite a few first-year kinks, the activity was very well received and successful. It was remarkable to see that the students were actively engaged in the experiment the entire time. When I asked if they liked using the Pocket PCs, one student grinned, “I want one of my own!”

A more interactive environment