Handheld Devices in the Classroom

When I was in education all the rage was technology in the classroom. The rage wasn't technology in general but rather hand held devices or palm pilots of some variety. Although I have been removed from a classroom for a couple of years now nothing has changed. PDA's do not aid in learning.

I'll start with the devices themselves. In my experience there was a company that offered up devices as part of a grant. The device was nothing more than a palm pilot with a full keyboard built in. Actually worse than that because the screen was smaller. It reminded me of an old electric typewriter. These devices were supposed to revolutionize teaching. How? Good question. No one knew. I was looked down upon in these camps or meetings when I would put down the devices. I was seen as a downer or pessimist when in reality as a problem solver I was looking for answers. A palm pilot will not increase test scores unless the answer key is on it. In the sessions we had to learn how to integrate these devices into the classroom we basically learned how to install drivers and beam things. We learned how to teach how to use the device not how to use the device to teach.

In reality as a business man I saw through the grant. The company that offered up the devices was using the grant group as beta testers. As a technologist they were eager to hear my likes and dislikes on the device so they could go back to the lab and make changes based on me. "Mr. Christensen would you like it better if it was wireless?" Part of the grant was a requirement for such opinions and updates. Hand helds in the classroom is a marketing scheme for technology software and hardware companies to make a buck on an unsuspecting consumer. Generally schools do not know anything about technology so they are easy pickings. Some one comes along and offers an article saying hand helds will raise your scores and boom you've just sold a bunch of hand helds.

Now for the education part. I have ready many studies and reports on this topic. All give good examples of how they are used. But those examples do not show in aid in learning or test scores. They show a convenience factor. Like the science student that uses a device to measure the air in a lab for its content. Its a tool. It didn't help you learn about air just tell you what was in it which you should have been taught before going to the lab. Some students use the palms to track food intake for nutrition tracking. That's great but you could keep a journal. Again not learning just more convenient.

I have yet to see how these devices help educate children. They generally learn the device not addition material. I don't know how to make these devices useful in teaching or learning. I didn't have a technology device in my programming classes and those were for how to learn to program a computer. I do not see this as a solution to teaching, learning, or low test scores.

Dude where's my order?

Ever wonder what happened to the "Dude you're getting a Dell" guy? He's a waiter. Engadget reports. Check out the link here.

New Vista Commercial

Two Awesome Freeware Picks

Need to completely wipe a hard drive? I mean really wipe it down? Well dban is for you. Google dban to find links to download and installation instructions. It has department of defense level deletion and its free. Just be sure to back up before running this program on and drive you care about. It can not be undone. Remember just hitting the delete key does not remove your data. It just removes the data’s address. If someone really wanted your data they could get it. Not with dban however. It really erases the data.

Second is a iso burning software. I recently downloaded Ubuntu Studio to do some audio video work. Since I don’t want to spend money I picked Ubuntu Studio which has some pretty powerful software and its of course free. I would love to use a mac for my projects but I have not seen what makes a mac so expensive. If Apple is reading this feel free to send me an macbook and prove me wrong. Anyway the download for Ubuntu Studio was 800 plus mgs in the form of an iso file. All I had was software for burning iso’s to a cd not a dvd. So I went hunting around and found ImgBurn. Its free and works great. Google it and download if you need to burn a large iso file to dvd.

Writer's Strike

So Hollywood's writers are on strike. Why you ask? Well they are unhappy that they are not getting a cut of profit from new avenues of distribution including season dvd sets and full online episodes.

My take on this is that its ridiculous. Writers sign a contract and agree to a salary. When its time to review that salary (yearly I assume) then ask for more money. Don't strike because the company you work for is honoring the contract you signed and agreed to. If you don't like your salary get a different job. You don't strike you quit. I can't believe tv companies are putting up with this. Writers are not honoring their contracts that should be grounds for firing. Bring in replacements - I'll write some episodes. Time to move on Hollywood. Good thing about all this is I'm watching less tv now.