My 1st Blog Post- Handhelds in School

Image Sources: Massachusetts Department of
Elementary and Secondary Education and www.successlink.org/technology/

This is my very first blog post, so I am kind of nervous to actually publish this, but I am also really excited to be starting my first blog! Even though this is for my ETD class, I plan on using this blog after the class is over.
For my first topic related to technology in the classroom, I viewed and read about a 5th graders typical day in his classroom with personal handheld devices for each student to use throughout the day to support and enhance his or her learning. Taylor is from Mr. Vincent's 5th grade classroom. To view the website that I refer to throughout this blog. I also found this video that talks about the benefits of using handhelds in the classroom. Another school in Kansas City, Missouri is also using handhelds in their classrooms, and this website provides more detailed information and stats about the usage and effectiveness of handhelds in the classroom for student use.



I think that technology in the classroom is going to become extremely important and prominent starting in the the next few years and getting more and more necessary and encouraged as time goes on. Taylor's teacher, Mr. Vincent accepts the role of technology in his classroom, and really embraces his opportunity to take the minimum to a higher level.
Mr. Vincent enhances student learning by using handhelds to further explore classroom topics, such as spelling, math, reading, social studies, and science. Each subject has different programs on the handhelds that the students use. I want to mention a few of my favorites now.
Each day a different student gets the role as the "Roving Reporter". The reporter takes photos and notes throughout the day and then takes home his or her handheld to create an article about their day in Mr. Vincent's class. The next day, the reporter synchronizes his or her handheld with a desktop computer, which is copied to Mr. Vincent's computer. Mr. Vincent then turns the article into the 5th Grade website for everyone to read! I think that this is a GREAT way to integrate technology into the home and classroom. The students each get a turn to create their own article and they use technology to help them accomplish what is expected.
Another program that I thought was useful for both the students and the teacher is MathCard.
MathCard is like the timed fact tests that students take to addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division, only on the handheld, and not with pen and paper. MathCard records each students score after two minutes, which makes it extremely easy for Mr. Vincent to just walk around and record each students score!
The final program that I really want to talk about is Quizzler. Quizzler allows Mr. Vincent to create quizzes to help students prepare for upcoming tests. Taylor talks about playing Quizzler Tic Tack Toe with a partner. One person launches Quizzler on their handheld and the other launches Tic Tack Toe. Each student then takes turns answering the questions that Mr. Vincent created to help them study, and after each right answer, they get to mark an "X" or "O" on Tic Tack Toe. This is really cool to me because it encourages learning, but the students think that they are playing a game!
In the future, I hope to enjoy many of the benefits that technology will bring to my classroom. Hopefully handhelds (or something similar) will be available to me because I would really like to expand on what Mr. Vincent has created in his classroom in my own classroom.