Profiles in solutions: glimpse how easy it can be to print, do a presentation, read e-mail, connect to the Internet and perform assessments with your handheld.Administering the Texas Primary Reading Inventory Texas Primary Reading Inventory Neurology An abbreviated test for dyslexia developed at the U Tex-Houston. See Dyslexia. to her 80 kindergartners twice each year was a time-consuming chore, admits teacher Kristi Bush of Norton Elementary in Mien, Texas. It involved reams of paperwork and all the associated headaches. But she was cured last winter after joining a pilot program that used Palm handhelds and specialized assessment software to administer the state-mandated test to Texas students. "The paper method seemed like it took forever," Bush says. "To perform the whole test on a student probably took around 30 minutes, and to transfer their answers to a whole-class answer sheet took another 10 minutes," she recalls. Multiply those 40 minutes times 80 students--and it's nearly six days per school year that Bush would be out of the classroom just to administer one test. Yet with the mCLASS:TPRI TPRI Texas Primary Reading Inventory (reading assessment) TPRI Tropical Pesticides Research Institute (Tanzania) TPRI Total Peripheral Resistance Index TPRI Texas Proficiency Reading Inventory application, which she learned to use in a one-day training session, the time per student was cut to 10 minutes. I was able to do both my classes of 40 students in one day," she says. "Then I was able to get back into the classroom teaching, not testing." Assessment Bush credits her Palm handheld equipped with mCLASS, from Wireless Generation, with eliminating all that thumbing through the testing booklet. It fully automated the TPRI's decision tree. All she did was tap a student's answers into her Palm handheld, and its fully scripted software did the rest of the work. Once all students finished, this kindergarten teacher just synchronized syn·chro·nize v. syn·chro·nized, syn·chro·niz·ing, syn·chro·niz·es v.intr. 1. To occur at the same time; be simultaneous. 2. To operate in unison. v.tr. 1. her handheld to the mCLASS Web site via Palm's one-touch HotSync cradle for access to her entire classes' results, along with remedial suggestions tailored to each student. "It's really just a huge, huge timesaver Timesaver is a well-known model railroad train shunting puzzle created by John Allen. It consists of a specific track layout, a set of initial conditions, a defined goal, and rules which must be obeyed while performing the shunting operations. ," Bush observes. "It helps me concentrate more on my students and getting the results I need." Saving time is just one advantage to the use of handhelds. Better data collection is an even more valuable characteristic. "Another benefit to doing assessments on a computer and having them scored automatically is that we gain more specific information," explains John Watson John Watson is a common name. Some of the more notable John Watsons include:
In light of the No Child Left Behind act's testing mandates, districts are looking to technology-based assessment for help. Notably, handhelds are positioned to assist. Students like taking tests on a handheld, teachers report. And their usage enables both deeper and more frequent assessment, if desired, because tests can be created, delivered and scored relatively quickly. Scantron--a big name in No. 2 pencil assessment--has helped lead the way with Classroom Wizard. Teachers create tests for delivery on a Palm OS-based handheld by writing original questions or by pulling items from the company's existing bank of test topics and questions. "In addition to multiple-choice and true-false questions, Classroom Wizard also supports fill-in-the-blank, short answer, and will even collect an essay question," says Joanna Goldston, marketing manager for the product. More applications for handhelds are focusing on learning assessment. For example, PAAM PAAM Provincetown Art Association and Museum (Provincetown, MA) PAAM Polyacrylamide PAAM Philadelphia Alternative Asset Management PAAM Physicians' Association for Anthroposophical Medicine (Ann Arbor, Michigan) , short for Palm Artifact A distortion in an image or sound caused by a limitation or malfunction in the hardware or software. Artifacts may or may not be easily detectable. Under intense inspection, one might find artifacts all the time, but a few pixels out of balance or a few milliseconds of abnormal sound and Assessment Manager, by GoKnow, lets teachers create a digital portfolio of all the work a student has done on a handheld, and even 'allows parents to access it via the Internet. Newcomer iQpakk, from MentorMate, goes a step further by enabling teachers to put entire lessons on a Palm handheld--notes, pictures and graphics--and then follow them up with a test. "What it comes down to is students are studying in more places. Palm handhelds allow you to take all the information in the textbook, plus immediate feedback from the teacher, with you on the bus or to a basketball game," notes Mark Johnson Mark Johnson may refer to: Academics and scientists
Connectivity Connecting a Palm handheld to the Internet, a campus or district network, or to an e-mail system can happen in several ways. It depends on both the Palm model being used and the type of Internet connection. For most Palm models, however, the one-button Hot-Sync synchronization (1) See synchronous and synchronous transmission. (2) Ensuring that two sets of data are always the same. See data synchronization. (3) Keeping time-of-day clocks in two devices set to the same time. See NTP. process remains the simplest method. Reading e-mail and Internet content on a Palm handheld when using the simple synchronization method is akin to taking home an order from a favorite restaurant. When you get your dinner "to go," you get to enjoy your favorite meal in a box. You can take it anywhere, but if you decide you want something else on the menu you have to go back to the restaurant and order again. Staff and students can also Internet-enable many Palm handhelds with an expansion card or universal connector add-on unit. Like going to a favorite restaurant to eat, real-time network access delivers a two-way, live experience; you can order from the menu at any time. For districts already invested in Palm handhelds, a growing number of third-party network solutions exist. SANdisk, for instance, will soon offer an add-on Wi-Fi card for Palms with an SD expansion card slot A socket for inserting a printed circuit board or a PC Card (CardBus card). See PC Card. . Other solutions--from Enfora, TdBeam and Portsmith, for example--are currently available. Wi-Fi, wireless networking See wireless network. using S02.11b standard, can link some handhelds to the campus LAN (Local Area Network) A communications network that serves users within a confined geographical area. The "clients" are the user's workstations typically running Windows, although Mac and Linux clients are also used. or Internet in real time. As needed as needed prn. See prn order. , staff can pull up a class schedule or a photo ID from the student database, for example, or review homework due dates. One of Palm's newest models, the Tungsten tungsten (tŭng`stən) [Swed.,=heavy stone], metallic chemical element; symbol W; at. no. 74; at. wt. 183.85; m.p. about 3,410°C;; b.p. 5,660°C;; sp. gr. 19.3 at 20°C;; valence +2, +3, +4, +5, or +6. C, features built-in Wi-Fi capability. With this kind of connectivity, the Tungsten C becomes even more viable as a low-cost alternative to a desktop or laptop computer. Bluetooth is another wireless way to go. Built into the Palm Tungsten T series models, this short-range radio-frequency connection to PCs, printers, headsets and more is just starting to break into its own. Printing and Presentations Palm handhelds do not come with built-in printing capability, a trait that goes back to the device's original use as a personal organizer. But adding the ability to print to any printer costs just a few dollars per unit. PrintBoy, from Bachmann Software, is far and away the most popular application for printing from handhelds. (Some new Palm models include PrintBoy in their software bundles.) The simplest way to print hard copies is to connect to the printer through the handheld's infrared beam. If your printer doesn't have IR, Bachmann sells an $80 adaptor An alternate spelling of "adapter." See adapter. (tool) Adaptor - (Automatic DAta Parallelism TranslatOR) A source to source transformation tool that transforms data parallel programs written in Fortran 77 with array extensions, parallel loops, and layout directives to that can enable your printer with external IR for handheld printing. Handhold hand·hold n. 1. A grip of or by the hand. 2. Something that one can hold onto for support. Noun 1. handhold - an appendage to hold onto appendage - a part that is joined to something larger users with wireless Internet or network connections can use the network to send their Palm-based document to any printer on the network. What about presentations? Smart devices have that well in hand, too. Simply load your PowerPoint slideshow or other multimedia document into the handheld. Specialized hardware, like Presenter to Go by Margi, will handle delivery and display on a large monitor or projector. Alternatively, turn any whiteboard The electronic equivalent of chalk and blackboard, but between remote users. Whiteboard systems allow network participants to simultaneously view one or more users drawing on an on-screen blackboard or running an application. into a digital live document that can be shared with Palm handhelds. Innovative solutions are the norm. RELATED ARTICLE: Customized training helps. While Palm handhelds are fairly easy to use right out of the box, the tech-savvy and techno-phobic alike have much to gain from targeted professional development. Such training usually starts with the basics, but then quickly extends into using applications suited for classroom instruction, student assessment, administrative tasks and more. Palm Education Training Providers [PETPs) are training and consulting companies Noun 1. consulting company - a firm of experts providing professional advice to an organization for a fee consulting firm business firm, firm, house - the members of a business organization that owns or operates one or more establishments; "he worked for a that have been certified by Palm, Inc., as experts in using the handhelds in education settings. These vendors offer everything from one-day seminars to multi-day retreats, depending on the needs of the teacher, administrator or district. These trainers typically offer sessions throughout the year in regional locations, but are also available to come to individual districts for customized training. Below is a list of certified PETPs from around the country: Center for Teaching, Learning and Technology Denver, Colo. Email: dan@ctlt.org Web: www.ctlt.org Discovery Learning Houston, Texas “Houston” redirects here. For other uses, see Houston (disambiguation). Houston (pronounced /'hjuːstən/) is the largest city in the state of Texas and the Email: planclos@mac.com Web: homepage.mac.com/planclos/petp.html Fitzgibbons Training and Consulting San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden , Calif. Email: bfitzgibbons@earthlink.net Web: www.Fitzgibbons.biz biz n. Informal Business. biz Noun Informal business Noun 1. InRESONANCE Northampton, Mass. Email: info@inresonance.com Web: www.inresonance.com K12 Handhelds Long Beach, Calif. Email: info@k12handhelds.com Web: www.k12handhelds.com Miami Museum of Science and Space Transit Planetarium planetarium, optical device used to project a representation of the heavens onto a domed ceiling; the term also designates the building that houses such a device. A modern planetarium consists of as many as 150 motor-driven projectors mounted on an axis. Miami, Fla. Email: petp@miamisci.org Web: www.miamisci.org/petp/ Rutgers University Rutgers University, main campus at New Brunswick, N.J.; land-grant and state supported; coeducational except for Douglass College; chartered 1766 as Queen's College, opened 1771. Campuses and Facilities Rutgers maintains three campuses. Center for Mathematics, Science, and Computer Education Piscataway, N.J. Email: harriets@rci.rutgers.edu Web: cmsce.rutgers.edu The Sage Team Penfield, N.Y. Email: sage@TheSageTeam.com Web: www.thesageteam.com Stroh House LaGrange, Ind. Email: info@strohhouse.com Web: www.strohhouse.com/palm.html Smart Technology Group St. Louis, MO Email: info@smarttechnologygroup.com Web: www.smarttechnologygroup.com/palm.htm Technology Solutions Marietta, Ga. Email: schmeltz@Technology-Solutions.org Web: www.technology-solutions.org/handeman.asp |
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