Hi, Marilyn, and all,
I'm visually impaired, and have been delighted to know that I can use a Palm, because I can hold it as close to my eyes as I need to. I never bothered to learn graffiti, since I prefer the stylus. I do have a keyboard, but, again, have had no real reason to use it (I just use mine as a planner and a keeper of documents I don't want to lose, to back up my jump drive). However, I have gone through several versions of Palms because of technological problems. One I tried to use on another computer and it wouldn't do anything ever again. I tried everything. One just stopped hotsynching, and another had its on/off button break. Maybe I'm just hard on mine and these kids are way better at this than I am, but despite the correlation laptop/handheld, they're still not cheap, and if you're using a program as you describe that requires a lot of screen space, I'd suspect you'd need one with a color screen, good backlighting and resolution. I'd also like to learn more about students
 with disabilities finding it "painful" to write: could you elaborate?
Best,
Bonnie Odiorne, Writing Center Director, Post University


----- Original Message ----
From: Marilyn Williams <williams_ma at 4j.lane.edu>
To: technology at nifl.gov
Sent: Thursday, April 19, 2007 10:07:53 AM
Subject: [Technology 939] Handheld discussion day 3


We’ve talked a little about some of the benefits, obstacles and outcomes of the Palm project but 
I’d like to expand on some of those today.

I’ll start with the negatives.  I don’t think it’s possible to use technology without running into 
obstacles!  Something always seems to freeze or crash or disappear into Neverland!  However, I 
think those situations have been pretty minimal considering how much the Palms are used.  One 
problem is that if a Palm loses its charge completely, the information, and any new applications 
which you installed, will be lost.  The way to get around this is to have students regularly 
HotSync (upload their files to another computer) their data and then it can be retrieved.  This is 
a good lesson for students and does more to remind them than telling them over and over to be 
sure to keep their Palms charged. Palms do freeze on occasion and, again, if you haven’t backed 
up data, it’s lost.  Sometimes, they can be reset and the info is still there but sometimes it’s 
gone.  On the plus side of that scenario, a student can easily retrieve general information, like a 
worksheet or vocabulary list, from someone else. Palms are small, which is a benefit but they 
can easily be left on a desk, on top of the locker or in a pocket.  So far, knock on wood, we’ve 
always had Palms returned to us. At this point, some of our keyboards are wearing out and have 
lost some of their keys. The stylus is also easily mislaid, misplaced or lost, as well. 

That being said, the benefits have far outweighed the obstacles, in my opinion.  Those of you 
who work with students with learning disabilities have probably found that writing can be 
especially painful.  I often experienced a lot of frustration on the student’s part in trying to get 
thoughts recorded. Then, after finally getting something on paper, any revision or editing 
suggestion which involved erasure or rearranging was very difficult.  I found that students were 
much more willing to alter their writing when doing it in an electronic format.  It’s much easier 
to copy and paste or cut and paste than it is to erase and remember what you wanted to write.  
Students also use colors to highlight places they want to reconsider which is an effective peer 
revision tool.  One strategy we use a lot is to develop an outline in Inspiration (sometimes I give 
them the topics and they fill in the details and sometimes they come up with everything on their 
own) and then transfer the outline to Documents.  Once in Documents, they just write their 
paragraphs from the outline that they can refer to easily. Then, they delete the outline and 
they’ve got a paragraph (or 2 or 3).  Once written, their work can be beamed and printed and 
look just as good as anyone else’s.  

I think the Palms have really helped generate more equity in my classes.  Sometimes it’s a not 
so academic student who is helping to figure out how to troubleshoot a problem.  Every person’s 
work can be easily read and shared by others. Papers don’t become dog eared and left on the 
floor as they are all stored in the Palm. Some students, and their parents, worry about the cost 
of replacing their Palm if it’s lost or damaged.  So far, we’ve only had to deal with this once and 
we had the student come in and do some kind of work for us at school.

I hope you’ve gotten a glimpse into the potential of using these devices in a classroom.  Please 
let me know if I can clarify or expand on any of the information I’ve shared.

Thanks!


Marilyn Williams
6th Grade Language Arts/Social Studies
Kennedy Middle School
Eugene, OR
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