Gradeschoolers learning on handhelds

updated 9:04 a.m. ET Dec. 12, 2005

OLATHE, Kan. - Aesop's fables came beaming across the classroom and landed in Eva Hernandez's Palm handheld.  On the bottom floor of Ridgeview Elementary School, she sat scrolling, using her stylus to navigate through through "The Flies and the Honeypot." 

"Hmmm," said the 12-year-old. "I think I can animate the flies."

Eva, a sixth grader, is part of a new generation of kids using handhelds to read, write, do math, take pictures of the human eye or research Egyptian hieroglyphics — all as a regular part of their curriculum.

As school districts scout ways to engage students already accustomed to instant messaging and interactive video games, they're buying up the kind of tech tools once reserved for jet-setting corporate executives.

Educational sales of personal digital assistants, laptop computers and handheld remote controls called "clickers" are ballooning nationwide.  Last year, a survey by Quality Education Data Inc. found that 28 percent of U.S. school districts offered handhelds for student and teacher use.  One of every four computers purchased by schools was a laptop.

One of the frontrunners was Yankton High School in South Dakota, which adopted Palm handhelds in 2001 and found they improved students' grades.

Electronic learning has become so popular that one school in Arizona went textbook-free this year, instead equipping its students with laptops.  Seventeen schools outside Eugene, Ore., now use handhelds on most science field trips.

Eva Hernandez's district has spent $1.84 million to build "smart classrooms" with electronic interactive whiteboards, handheld computers, DVD-VHS players, high-definition sound and video systems and wireless keyboards and mice, all of which connect to the teacher's desktop computer.  High schoolers use their Palms to write college applications and work through calculus problems.  Nine-year-olds routinely "beam" in their homework, making the district a poster child for the digital classroom.

For Eric Johnson, who directs educational sales for Palm Inc., the manufacturer of Eva's Zire 71 model, public schools represent a $300 million market.  And as schools purchase handhelds, dozens of spin-off industries are racing to integrate themselves into teachers' lesson plans.

Ridgeview Elementary, which sits in a squat building on the edge of this booming Kansas City suburb, bought Palm Zire models for the fourth and sixth grades.  Aside from their basic functions, the handhelds boast color screens, digital cameras, Internet capabilities and MP3 players.  They can be easily hooked up to wireless keyboards.

Eva's teacher, Regan Veach, was one of the first in Kansas to embrace handhelds and now trains educators across the state.

Veach touts a new generation of educational software that makes the devices worthwhile.

MORE FROM TECH AND GADGETS

Tech and gadgets Section Front

YouTube's best viral mashups Smthg gr8 4 brkfst? Twitter's recipes British royal family joins Twitter 9 gadgets we covet Newsweek: Why YouTube may be Google’s biggest mistake How exactly does Twitter plan on making money? Boston airport tests radar to avoid bird strikes Google to introduce PC operating system Is another global superstar possible in Web era? Windows 7 is on sale. Should you buy it now? Tech and gadgets Section Front   Add Tech and gadgets headlines to your news reader: