The Country Project: Using Handhelds in 6th Grade

[Editor's note: the authors of this article work for (or have participated in research on) the GoKnow solution as noted in their bios at the end of the article. Also, Dr. Soloway is on the Technical Advisory Board at Data Evolution, which produces the Cathena described in the sidebar.]

Providing computers for kids

There is growing recognition that to truly gain the learning benefits from computing, a child needs his or her own personal computer on a routine, day-in, day-out basis. While it might be nice to provide a laptop computer for each of the 55,000,000 K-12 children in the U.S., that isn't going to happen; the total cost of ownership is simply too high. But in fact, a laptop isn't necessarily needed. With handheld computers in the affordable $100-$300 range, we can easily picture each and every child with his or her own mobile, networked, handheld computer.

In what follows, we fill out a bit more of that picture by describing how a 6th grade classroom in one American school is using handheld computers to facilitate learning. In particular, we provide a snapshot of how Ms. Monique Shorr has her 60 students, each using an HP iPAQ 2200, complete the "Country Project."

• In the Country Project, each child picks a country to study. They then have to create a report about that country. Students take between two and three weeks to complete the Country Project.
• Ms. Shorr's classroom is a handheld-centric classroom: while each child has his or her own handheld computer as their primary computer, there are also three Internet-connected computers in the back of the room, and the class has access to a lab full of Internet-connected computers.
• Each handheld is equipped with GoKnow's Handheld Learning Environment (HLE); HLE is a educationally-oriented, task-focused environment running as a shell inside the Windows Mobile OS. Students also use GoKnow's device manager, PAAM, to back up files from their handhelds to the PAAM server. They can then access those files on a desktop PC using a standard Web browser.

Let's first focus on the core set of learning activities that are supported by the handhelds as the children complete the Country Project. Next, let's see how handhelds are especially useful in helping Ms. Shorr's 6th graders learn.

Learning Activities Impacted by the Use of Handhelds

Using the handhelds enable the students to engage in multiple activities in the Country Project, including:

• Web-based research: Rather than going to the library, where students are typically by themselves and awash in library resources, students in Ms. Shorr's 6th grade class pop a CompactFlash card into their Pocket PC and use the Internet to find information resources about the country they chose for their report. Because the children can move around in the classroom, they can see what how every other student is tackling the assignment. Synergy happens: students share the Web resources and angles they discover with each other.