Thanks to all of you who are interested in the topic of using handhelds in the classroom.  I hope 
this discussion will be informative and helpful to you.  Please let me know if you’d like 
clarification or further information about anything.

As an introduction, I must let you know that I am definitely not a tech kind of a person!  I 
understand how to do the things I do but I could never be the tech support person at my school, 
for instance.  I tell you that just in case there are any of you out there who are thinking you 
could never do something like this!  You can!
I also realize that there are many others who are using or have used handhelds and I welcome 
your input and observations.  I know I learn the most from others!

The opportunity to participate in the handheld project grew out of earlier collaboration with the 
University of Oregon and their Center for Advanced Technology in Education (CATE).  I had 
previously been part of a program to integrate Computer Based Study Strategies (CBSS) within 
content area learning specifically for students with learning disabilities.  CBSS are a set of 
strategies that help students to organize, coordinate and synthesize their learning using the 
software program, Inspiration.  The University of Oregon handheld program was designed to 
extend this learning to the handheld computer.  The thought was that handhelds could be more 
accessible and inexpensive than computers and could help students apply these strategies more 
easily and effectively.  In addition, we were interested in seeing whether having a handheld 
would increase and improve student’s writing skills. 
To that end, I was issued a class set of handhelds to use in my inclusion 8th grade language 
arts/social studies block class.  My class was made up of approximately eight students with 
learning disabilities out of a total of 25 students.  
During August, before we were to launch the handheld project, I attended a two day workshop 
sponsored by my district.  (The university and district were collaborating in this endeavor.)  
During those two days I was overwhelmed with new knowledge!  
We covered Memos, Calendar, Contacts, and Note Pad; all programs which are standard on a 
Palm. We played around with Preferences and learned how to beam to one another.  We tried 
the applications Documents to Go and Inspiration as well as FreeWare such as Bejeweled, 
QuizWiz, Match Who, Giraffe and Silly Sentences. 
We learned how to use Graffiti (a specialized kind of writing which is done right on the Palm 
screen) as well as the embedded keyboard and an external keyboard. 
As we were absorbing all this information, my mind was always spinning with the question, 
“How can I use this in my classroom?”  It was amazing how versatile some of these programs 
could be.  For example, the Contacts application, normally used as an electronic address book, 
could be used to create a dictionary.  ‘Tasks’, another preloaded program, used as a checklist or 
a to do list became a great way to help students keep track of the steps needed to complete a 
writing or reading assignment. Even if all you had was what came standard on a Palm, you 
could adapt them to use in a classroom.  A colleague, Mindy Frisbee, and I have actually written 
a series of lessons for CATE, showing how to use these applications in the classroom.  
  
However, we were provided with additional software and so we learned to use it. Since I am a 
Language Arts/Social Studies teacher, I found myself focusing on the Inspiration and Documents 
to Go programs.  Inspiration is a wonderful program that can help anyone organize and 
synthesize information in a visual manner.  Since I had used it in its computer version, it was 
easy to make the switch to the Palm version. The Documents to Go software was very similar to 
other word processing programs and easy to decipher and use.

While my focus was mainly on reading and writing, many of my colleagues were so excited 
about the math potential.  I have not had personal experience using the Palms in math settings 
but many others have used this tool very effectively there.

At the end of the two day workshop, I was excited about the potential of the Palms in my 
classroom. We had covered so much ground and been introduced to so many tools but now we 
needed to make these devices work for us and our students. So, while I was nervous, I was 
really looking forward to using Palms and to seeing how my students would react to them.  I 
was not disappointed! Tomorrow, I’ll tell you about our classroom experience which, admittedly, 
had some ups and downs.  Overall, the positives far outweighed the negatives and the students 
showed real growth in their writing skills as well as their attitude toward school and their own 
abilities.


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