"Absolutely," says Elliot Soloway, director of the Center for Highly Interactive Computing in Education (HI-CE) at the University of Michigan.
These palm-sized, 5-ounce computers can totally transform the process of teaching and learning—from receiving direct instruction from the teacher to students driving the learning process through inquiry and collaboration. Soloway and his HI-CE team have seen this transformation in 3rd-grade classrooms through college across the U.S. in their research over the past three years.
"When every student has their own computer that can write, share, beam, and revise, that changes the equation. The wherewithal to produce documents, to collaborate, to get access to rich information and resources is literally in the palm of their hand," he says.
From Passive to Active Learning
This technology provides "an opportunity to change the process of teaching and learning," Soloway says. When students ask driving questions and pursue their own inquiry, they "are more emotionally engaged in the learning process."
"Learning takes place when kids are productive, when kids are active," he explains. "You can't just sit there and receive. You have to produce work. What the technology has a way of doing, especially for the technology generation which these kids are all about, is engaging them in that productive learning—they spend hours at it."
With computer in hand, students ask their own leading questions and pursue the inquiry. They can access the Internet, take water samples, analyze data, and share answers with their classmates and teacher. The teacher guides the individual learning, pressing students to engage in the materials and scaffolding the learning, observes Frank South, educational technology director for Nevada.
From Expert to Coach
Teachers become more of a 'coach,' says Linda Darling-Hammond, professor of education at Stanford University. Their role changes to "directing students to the resources they need to solve problems—a 'guide on the side,' helping students find answers online, rather than a 'sage on the stage,'" she explains.
With one-to-one access to technology and the ability for teachers to immediately see student work and responses, the teacher can be "diagnostic," Darling-Hammond says. Running records assessment software on handheld computers allows teachers to poll students, to probe for understanding as they teach specific concepts and skills. This ability enables teachers to "understand how kids are learning and access different ways to help a particular student learn," she adds.
But arming every student with a handheld computer does not come without new challenges, notes Soloway. Handhelds were recently banned in his 8th-grade daughter's alternative school when one student was caught turning the classroom TV on and off with a handheld he had programmed with remote control software.
Classroom Collaboration to Global Learning
On the other hand, when all students have their own handheld computer that can beam information and notes to each other, collaborative learning takes place. Soloway found that 7th graders create more than 100 documents on their handhelds in a year—creating one every other school day. Students create their own documents, share them by beaming them to other students' handhelds who then critique and edit the documents. "You can do this with paper and pencil, but it's awkward," Soloway says.
Research has shown that sharing and commenting by peers leads to higher quality documents and also helps student develop into a community of learners. Easy web access may also bring classrooms into a larger, global community as students collaborate with and learn from people all over the world, adds South.
Reaching the 'Tipping Point'
Soloway sees the infusion of handheld technology into classrooms as inevitable. Because of their simplicity, portability, and low cost ($130 as opposed to $1,000 desktops and laptops), handhelds are easier for teachers to incorporate into their teaching. "The barriers of entry are much lower," Soloway says, as teachers do not have to change their instructional practice to rotate students on limited classroom computers or take them to the computer lab. "They see an immediate benefit to existing practices," he says.
Little by little, the critical mass is being reached. "Classroom by classroom we're starting to see pilot projects start with the more adventuresome, ambitious teachers and administrators who are willing to explore. Once educators see how it will catch on, there will be an absolute landslide," Soloway predicts.
The Key to the Future
Seymour Papert has been studying how children learn with technology since the 1960s. The renowned author and cofounder of MIT's artificial-intelligence lab sees one-to-one computing as critical to the country's future.
"People need more knowledge than in the past and they need the ability to acquire it faster, more effectively, and with greater independence," he says. "The key is giving every kid some sort of personal, portable, and connected computing device. It should be an extension of your hand, eye, or brain."
When every student has his or her own portable computer, like a handheld, the educational process will change. Papert envisions a system in which, "instead of fragmenting knowledge into 'subjects' and segregating children by age, we will see groups formed around common interests. I see children using computers for making music, movies, robots—whatever evokes their passion."
Handheld computing may prove to the 'tipping point' for true learning.
For more information about HI-CE, see www.handheld.hice-dev.org. Some of the above excerpted with permission from Newsweek, October 29, 2002.
