New ideas that can help educators. (Editor's Note).

School officials must occasionally feel overwhelmed by the amount of new information and technology that they need to process. So I know the thought of reading a supplement that mentions both new programs and new technology can feel like another task on a to-do list.

Here are three reasons why this issue of CONNECTING MINDS shouldn't fall into that category.

First, most of your students already have the handhelds that are talked about throughout the stories included here. Texas Instruments sells 2.5 million graphing calculators a year and its officials estimate that 60 percent of high school students in the country own one of their models. That means that your district doesn't need to free up another pile of money to buy new technology. It also means that your students, teachers--and maybe even administrators--already know how to use these machines. The stories here point out some new uses and new applications for these handhelds--including some ideas outside of science and math--but most involved already know at least the basics of how these work.

Second, TI's handheld technology can really energize children and how they learn. By putting technology into every child's hands, you can involve them in learning in ways that aren't possible with a limited number of computers. And even children who aren't familiar with TI's products quickly become comfortable using them. Students have grown up using portable CD players, GameBoys, beepers and cell phones, so the idea of learning how another handheld works, or learning new uses for a machine they know, or learning a new use for something they have, is exciting, not daunting. And these handhelds, and the programs they run, were all created for education, not business products that have been altered to try to fit the needs of schools.

Third, as the stories in this supplement prove, the power of this technology is just beginning to be recognized inside the classroom. In addition to all the typical uses the calculators perform, administrators and teachers are learning that the instant feedback option the handhelds provide might be their most powerful feature. A teacher can instantly gauge responses to questions, learning how much of the class really understands the lesson while not singling out students for wrong answers.