Article Review

Rick Jacobi
Article Review
January 16, 2005

I read the article, “Handhelds Motivate Teachers and Students in Oklahoma Schools.” This article by Elizabeth Crane told of the positive effects that handhelds are having in different schools in Oklahoma. The article can be found at www.districtadministration.com


The article first looked at Shawnee High School who received a federal grant for $211,000. With this money they were able to purchase enough palmOne handhelds, printers, and software licenses for its freshmen class in the fall of 2003. With the support and enthusiasm of the teachers the program was successful. The students took ownership of their handhelds seriously and became motivated to complete their assignments. An interesting point mentioned, was that many of the students had an improved attitude, which they believe is due to the use of the handhelds.
The students have gone beyond what their teachers expected in the area of technology. Mentioned in the article is one student who programmed his unit to assist him with his Debate Team. Other students have purchased extra memory cards to increase their ability to save class work to a portable format in order to use any palmOne handheld.

Parents were also been surprised at how their students became more responsible in taking care of their handhelds. Through an application called Palm Artifact and Assessment Manager (PAAM) teachers are able to review a student’s progress and to check on assignments. Parents are also able to log in through a password protected Web page and view their child’s work. The school has found that students are taking fewer shortcuts and issues such as plagiarism and cheating have decreased due to the PAAM putting their work on a public site. The school hopes to have enough money to purchase palmOne handhelds to the sophomore and freshmen classes.

In the Putnam City Schools the goal was to give its students access to technology 24/7. They also wanted their school to be a model for other schools nationwide no matter what technology was already in place. Over a four year time span, with federal grant totaling over a million dollars, the school was able to give students in grades 9-12 their own handhelds that were checked out to them. Eighth graders at two schools were provided with units that stayed in the classroom and faculty members were also given their own handhelds.

I found it interesting how students in Special Education Classrooms were also motivated to focus on their school work when they had the handhelds to keep track of assignments and complete class work. A list of homework assignments kept on handhelds were better communicated to parents who in turn were able to read what their child needed to be working on at home.
In the middle schools handhelds were implemented due to the ease of managing such a large project with less number of students. An interesting fact mentioned was the socio-economic status of the schools. Both of the middle schools where the project was implemented had over 50 percent of the students receiving free lunch and the population was described as transient, largely minority and at high risk for dropping out. Even though there was no data to support that the handhelds were helping with the academics there were signs that the handhelds were helping. Such signs included the students performing as well on an eighth grade statewide test as students who attend a more affluent middle school. The handhelds have helped to build confidence and competence in the students and this in turn will creative positive outcomes in their schoolwork.

The reoccurring thought in this article that I feel is important is that the handhelds motivate both students and teachers to better master their schoolwork and tasks. As the Science Curriculum Specialist for Putnam Schools Bob Melton summarized, “Handhelds enable quality teaching. They’ve helped us to deliver better and richer teaching and learning experiences.”