Hey everyone!
Thanks for all the replies. Of course, rather than waiting to read the two
articles mentioned (see below), I just went to the Apple Store and bought
one there. I ended up with a Palm Zire 71 ($300), which seduced me with
it’s color screen and ability to take photos! (Definitely an impulse buy,
I didn’t even go to cnet.com to comparison shop). Althought the packaging
said it was compatible with OS 9.1, I still had to upgrade to OS X (and I
still hate that stoopit dock thing!) to be able to Sync from Palm to iBook.
So far, I’m using the date book functions, to do lists, and memo pad for
basic things, but once I become more comfortable with using it, I hope to
use it more. I’m on too many committees this year, so I want to use it to
take minutes, etc. I may buy the separate keyboard to make that easier.
Some of my 7th graders have offered to teach me the finer points of the
PDA, but to them it means games (hey, I’m still taking them up on the
offer--“Blocks” rocks!)
How it’s used on the job:
Hi. I have a Dell Axim PDA. Although I use it more for my own personal
use, it comes in handy at work as well. At work, I have my list of
things to do on it. I carry it with me wherever I go so that when
teachers ask me about something, I can write it down immediately. I
also have my parent volunteer names and numbers saved as contacts. For
me, this works much better than a rolodex and, since I have it with me
at all times, I always have phone numbers handy. I could live without
it, but it's just more convenient to me to have it.
Tamara
Tamara Jordan, Media Specialist
Lakewood Elementary School
Phenix City, AL
Dear Rita,
I go to 3 schools and use my Palm to print out my lesson
plans and keep track of them as I go from school to school.
I can print out my schedule to prepare for a sub which is
great! I put in meetings, conference dates, personal
appointments. I have my phone numbers for family, friends
and vendors in it. I use the memo pad to keep track of
Printer model numbers, etc., the bar code range for books I
have on order and those that I have purchased, etc,. It has
become my brains. I also keep meeting minutes. I have had
mine for a few years and I'm considering up grading to a
color model.
Pam Gelbmann, Media Specialist
Anoka-Hennepin ISD #11
Pam Gelbmann, Media Generalist
Wilson/Madison Elem.
Anoka-Hennepin ISD #11
gelbmann@ties.k12.mn.us
I use mine to schedule classes (as well as my life) and for my to-do list.
(Not very creative!)
Nina Jackson, LMT
Franklin Middle School (6-8 grade)
Long Beach, CA
njackson@lbusd.k12.ca.us
http://www.lbusd.k12.ca.us/franklin/library
I use my Palm for;
keeping my schedule. Every few days I check my palm schedule against the
notebook schedule in the library. Then when I am out in the building and a
teacher asks me if there is an open slot in the library, I can check my
palm and put them in (with the stipulation that I check my notebook when I
get back to the library). Also, in the morning when I am eating breakfast I
like to review my schedule for the day.
student password Wwe use a program called mobile database. We export the
student names and passwords as an excel sheet, save it as a txt file,
import that into Mobile Database. Then I can look up student passwords
easily.
Phone numbers for the different tech support people I report to.
With my keyboard, I use it to take notes at meeting outside of my school.
Hope this helps.
Deborah J. Stafford
Gen. H.H. Arnold High School
Wiesbaden Germany
now proudly on the web at http://www.wies-hs.eu.odedodea.edu
Deborah_Stafford@compuserve.com
I have a palm Tungsten T and use it in my classroom. I have a clipboard
program that offers a Palm program that allows the 2 to sync. This means I
can walk around the room and take attendance, grade activities, mark
problem students etc. I use the date book a lot. I also take meeting
notes, even wrote a parent letter at the doctor's one day and then sync'd
it with word, polished it and printed. I find it a useful timesaving tool.
--
Diane Mentzer
techmom@comcast.net
How one media specialist envisions using it:
Dear Rita,
I don't own a PDA yet, and I'm also thinking of taking the plunge. One
idea I have that I don't know if is feasible is that I want to carry a
"snapshot"
of my collection with me! I know I can't load my automation package on a
PDA, but I'm pursuing my techies to see if I can set up an Excel database
of my holdings somehow..... How many times have I been at a yard sale
standing in front of 20 pristine hardback Stephen King novels labelled $1
each, wracking my brain for which ones got swiped last year? Or I'll
stumble on a great sale at Barnes & Noble and can't remember if I already
own this book perfect for the Africa project. I want to search my
collection
out in the field!
If you hear of anybody doing this, please let me know. Also, please
send me a hit of your responses.. I too worry that I'll just play
solitaire all
the time on it!
Bonnie
________________ ___________________
|| \/ ||
|| Bonnie | Fulmer, Librarian ||
|| Spackenkill | High School ||
|| 112 Spack- | enkill Road ||
|| Poughkeepsie, | NY 12603 ||
|| voice: (845) | 463-7810 ||
|| fax: (845) | 463-7817 ||
|| fulmerb@hs.sufsd.dcboces.org
(Bonnie – I don’t know what automation software you have, but if the
collection can be exported to Excel, you should be able to store that in a
PDA. There was one model I looked at that was capable of created Word and
Excel-files – no need to convert. I think it was the Tungsten C, and it
was $500.00
--RH)
articles about using PDAs in the school library:
Dear Rita;
I am the editor of Teacher Librarian: The Journal for School Library
Professionals. You may wish to read an article we ran in June 2002,
"Working With Wireless Devices: Library Applications in Support of the
Needs of Students and Teachres, by Theresa Ross Embrey, Vol. 29 (5), pp.
24-27.
We are indexed in Proquest and Ebsco if you do not have a paper copy on
hand. Unfortunately, that was one of our most popular issues and we do
not have any extra to send.
Let me know if you have trouble finding it.
Cheers,
Michelle
--
Michelle Mallette, MLIS
Editor
Teacher Librarian: The Journal for School Library Professionals
voice: 604-925-0266 fax: 604-925-0566
e-mail: editor@teacherlibrarian.com
www.teacherlibrarian.com
(this article sounds great – but every library I try Is missing this copy
(hey, it must be popular if people steal it!) and I’m trying to find a
library that has the Academic host version of Ebsco (my school has the
middle school version, and I couldn’t find it in there –RH)
There is an article in the September 2003 SLJ about Cheryl Litt, a
librarian in Bloomfield Hills, MI, who is promoting use of palms in her
school. Two websites are listed :
www.handheld.hice-dev.org
www.bloomfield.org/westhills
I have not checked out these sites, so cannot vouch for them.
Mary Jane Krajnak
Kodiak Middle School Library
722 Mill Bay Road
Kodiak, AK 99615
mkrajnak@kodiak.k12.ak.us
Rita,
I recently read an article on a Media Specialist using her PDA to make
notes
on students' progress. For example, while students are working on projects
in which library reserach is part of the grade, the Media Specialist
'walked
around' with her PDA making notes on the kids' progress versus trying to
remember later who did what - and well they did.
Another use of a PDA is to take it with you on your rounds through the
school. Media Specialists get asked questions all the time, so you could
note the questions at the moment they occur. Simply a technogical way of
keeping a pad and pencil with you at all times. Hope this helps.
Elizabeth
Rita,
I just purchased an HP iPAQ 2155. It is almost as powerful as the laptop
I purchased 3 years ago for 3 times the price.
I have only just begun to figure mine out. There was an article in the
last School Library Journal that inspired me to go ahead and purchase one.
You might start there. I intend to do some research on in school uses. I
have 2 teachers that are working on a TARGET Grant. They both got laptops
and a desktop.
I think it would be great for the next step to be the students having
handhelds that could sync to the desktop.
I see great potential, I'm just not good at implementation.
Carol McKay
Rita Hennessey
Media Specialist
Bedford Middle School
88 North Ave.
Westport, CT 06880
203-341-5110
Rita_C._Hennessey@westport.k12.ct.us
http://bms.westport.k12.ct.us/lmc
"Research is what I'm doing when I don't know what I'm doing."
- Wernher Von Braun
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