Overview: Barron Elementary piloted the use of Palm handhelds with a classroom of 4th grade students and a few 5th grade PACE students. The students were taught in a self-contained classroom, all subjects throughout the day. Each of the students was issued Palms and keyboards for use at school and home. The two teachers involved were also given a handheld so that they could plan lessons and transfer information to and from the students.

Implementation: The 4th graders at Barron elementary enjoyed using their Palms this year. They learned how to keep an organized daily schedule with the Palm's Date Book, Memo Pad, Note Pad and the To-Do List. They also used two different math programs called Monkey Math and Mental Math to reinforce and review math facts. Along with their math facts, the Palms were used to study vocabulary words integrated into their lessons. Supermemo and the Noah-lite dictionary helped the students review their vocabulary words and definitions by studying them in a flash card format. The students used Word-To-Go when they worked on their autobiographies at home.

Evaluation: The project was assessed by all involved. Teacher, parent and student feedback was gathered to provide the best analysis of student use and progress. Chnita Hardy, the 4th grade teacher involved at Barron said, "We did find that the Palms motivated the children. They liked the software and took much better care of them than we thought they would. They were quite competent on the keyboard, if not with the stylus, and were becoming adept at syncing." Both parents and students were overall pleased with the Palm experience. One parent said, "She works really fast with her Palm. Especially in her spelling words. She likes it a lot." Another said, "I was pleased that he learned new technology."

Barron Elementary School
Rose Haggar Elementary School
Plano Senior High School

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