Handheld Devices on Campus

XXXXXXX XXXXXXX

15 percent over last year despite a slow economy. content and services for a growing number of end- Lorion and a host of educators say that Palm’s node devices—personal digital assistants (PDAs), persistent financial difficulties don’t seem to be having tablets, and embedded devices designed for single a negative effect on college sales. tasks.” While handheld initiatives on college campuses Kendall Whitehouse, director of Advanced Tech- percolate, educators and IT experts debate whether nology Development for The Wharton School of the handhelds will supplement or supplant laptop University of Pennsylvania—where Palm handhelds computers. Meanwhile, looming on the horizon are are as commonplace as telephones—is convinced that new types of portable computers based on Microsoft’s the most effective strategy is to create a single universe Tablet PC software that could shove laptops and of information that can viewed from different size handhelds aside, or at least give schools more choices. windows, depending on which type of computer is By Mary A. C. Fallon The first tablets, which can be written on like paper, accessing it. Handheldost of the nation’s 3,913 accredited colleges are being introduced this month by Hewlett-Packard For many universities, re-creating all of the institu- and universities haven’t launched initiatives Company, followed by Acer, NEC, Legend, and tion’s information so as to be viewable via a Web that recommend or require students to use Toshiba. As an alternative, AlphaSmart Inc. licensed browser that can be used by any type of computing handheld computers. Yet hundreds, like USD, the Palm operating system and in June introduced a device could prove to be an expensive and daunting are experimenting with how to enhance mobile computer called Dana, that has a screen 3.5 assignment. Equally as challenging as that great leap Mlearning with the mobile devices—hoping to times larger than a handheld screen and a full-size forward in information access, is translating anytime, leverage the coming convergence of wireless networks, keyboard. The Dana costs about two-thirds less than a anywhere access into exemplary pedagogy. Web services, and enterprise applications. Some pilot typical laptop. CSU Monterey has teamed up with Western projects, like those at Western Carolina University in Michigan University and received two grants to North Carolina and Loyola College in Maryland, are Access is the Issue develop a business plan for a wireless institute to study sputtering for lack of funds, or because they aren’t central IT experts anticipate the array of computing form how technologies are used, and to do applied research Devices to the college’s technology strategy yet. factors won’t be the driving issue; instead the focus on how wireless access changes learning and teaching. Towards a More Mobile Campus will be on how the range of computing and telephony They expect new faculty projects launched this fall Personal computing is on the move—if slowly—from Small Devices, Growing Status devices can share and distribute content and services will yield some answers by June. the desktop to a more mobile environment. Handheld “Handhelds haven’t hit mainstream yet,” says Mike anytime, anywhere. devices, connected wirelessly to the campus Lorion, vice president of education for Palm Inc. “They “All the stakeholders have to acknowledge that Applications—Present and Future network, will certainly change the way we work and are still building momentum. Mainstream is a couple of everyone wants access to resources in new ways,” says College educators can expect to be challenged by communicate. But how soon, and when? Here, Mary years away.” Palm, which has garnered the lion’s share of Gil Gonzales, chief information officer for California the paucity of academic software applications and e- Fallon offers an overview of the acceptance and use handheld sales to college students, faculty, and institu- State University at Monterey, which has a campuswide textbooks for handhelds, the lack of professional of handheld devices on campus. tions, estimates sales to higher education climbed 10 to wireless network. “Universities need to repackage their development training on integrating handheld computers and wireless access into instruction, and the snail pace of providers of course management software to enable handheld computer access to their products’ learning tools. “There has not been enough software written for academic purposes, and you can’t rely on faculty to create robust, enterprise -wide applications for handhelds,” says Ray Dannenhoffer, assistant dean for support services and director of medical computing at the University of Buffalo’s School of Medicine. For the most part, colleges with handheld initiatives rely on basic productivity software such as word processors, spreadsheets, and calculators, and the ability of handhelds to view specially-formatted Adode Acrobat Reader PDF files and a smattering of

10 Syllabus November 2002 www.syllabus.com Syllabus November 2002 XXXXXXX e-Books. students’ level of understanding at any point in time,” Junkin But there are some faculty who are exploiting the key attrib- said. “This free flow of communication keeps students involved, utes of handhelds to engage students in new ways and to assess thinking analytically about the material, and more inclined to their students’ understanding of subjects. discuss their ideas.” Physics professor William F. Junkin, of Erskine College in Because WebTarget supports multiple users with bi-direc- South Carolina modified an application called Beyond Question tional wireless communication, Junkin can gauge how well for Palm handhelds. The student-response software works in students understand a lesson by sending a set of multiple-choice combination with WebTarget Access Point, a new wireless tech- questions to their Palm handhelds, receiving their answers nology from TriBeam Technologies that extends the communi- within a second or two, and viewing their responses several cation range of the Palm handheld’s infrared ports to 50 feet. different ways. The Beyond Question modification allows Junkin to electroni- Junkin can view answers as they correspond to a seating cally poll a classroom of students using Palm handhelds and see chart, as answers from a work group, as an anonymous their responses displayed on his desktop computer in the class- histogram that shows how many students choose a particular room. answer, or as a spreadsheet that lets him quickly spot which “Because I receive immediate feedback, I can determine my students are having difficulty and which ones are ahead of their

The First Wave: Mobile Medicine medicine in the 21st century,” says Ruth Greenberg, director of health sci- The first discipline to integrate hand- vide more-informed patient care right ences academic programming for the held computers is the field of medi- at the patient’s bedside,” says Ray University of Louisville. “We believe cine. Handhelds are as common as Dannenhoffer, assistant dean for sup- that many of those skills require tech- stethoscopes at dozens of U.S. medical port services and director of medical nological familiarity. By the time our schools today. Physicians and student computing at the University of Buffalo’s students graduate medical school, doctors alike are quickly embracing using a PDA should be second this mobile, wireless technology to nature to them. For the most keep pace with their always-on-the-go part, I don’t believe having work mode and the deluge of new medical students using PDAs information that daily informs their will change how students learn practice. the practice of medicine. At Medical schools are leading the way the same time, however, I do in the deployment of handheld comput- believe the PDA is changing, ers and wireless technologies to moni- and will continue to change, tor student performance, enhance stu- the way physicians practice dent-educator communication, medicine.” improve course management, and Today, physicians use hand- ensure that students have the latest held computers to write accu- information as they move between rate prescriptions, monitor crit- classrooms, hospitals, libraries, and ical information such as vital clinics throughout their communities. signs and medication at the About one-fifth of the country’s 125 point of patient care or from medical colleges require their third- outside the hospital or their and fourth-year medical students to offices, track patient care, cal- use handheld computers. Even at med- culate a variety of health ical, dental, and nursing colleges that indices, and access reference materi- don’t require handhelds, large numbers School of Medicine and BioMedical als such as pharmacopoeias that of students own personal digital assis- Sciences. explain drug interactions. Some med- tants. In August, the University of Louisville ical textbooks have been converted At the University of Buffalo, the School of Medicine became the first into e-Books readable by some hand- largest concentration of handheld medical school to provide all of its 594 held computers. Many of the medical devices can be found in the medical medical students with the mobile colleges requiring students to use school. “Handhelds, with their instant- devices (Palm m500s). “We want to handheld computers are creating cus- on ability, are a natural for the medical ensure that our students graduate with tomized applications to track patient professions. With them you can pro- the skills they will need to practice care.

12 Syllabus November 2002 www.syllabus.com XXXXXXX XXXXXXX classmates. classroom discussions, and students developing better organiza- Wireless Technologies and Handheld Devices those applications is prompting colleges to encourage the use of “I can immediately determine if a single student or the entire tional skills. The next wave of technological change is building handheld computers and to lobby manufacturers to produce class understands the lesson,” Junkin says. “When this [anony- As always, issues bubble around support and training. momentum as campuswide wireless networks begin to prolif- handheld computers that take better advantage of the wireless mous histogram] view is displayed for the class to see, students Preparing this summer for the second year of its handheld erate. Many colleges are installing wireless access points to network’s capabilities. Currently, most handhelds require a know if others share their views. Their commitment to an initiative, the University of Minnesota Duluth found it necessary provide coverage in libraries or classrooms. About 6.2 percent of special 802.11 sled or card to access the network, or a monthly answer increases their desire to participate in the discussion, but to invest $50,000 to train computer science and engineering all U.S. higher education institutions have made wireless access access service fee much like a mobile phone. no one is embarrassed by the anonymous display of the faculty on how to better use their HP iPAQ Pocket PCs as via 802.11b, commonly known as WiFi, available everywhere on Even if a campus is totally wireless, once faculty, administra- responses.” teaching tools, and to create software applications fill the void, campus, according to The Campus Computing Project’s 2001 tors, and students step off campus, access disappears. One solu- In a similar fashion, business professor Don Sower of the reports James P. Riehl, dean of the College of Science and Engi- survey. (note to copy desk – we hope to update the 6.2 percent tion may be Bluetooth, considered a personal wireless network University of North Carolina at Greensboro relies on a Palm neering and professor of chemistry at the University of with the 2002 figure) technology, that colleges such as East Carolina University, Wake handheld computer customized with LearnTrac classroom Minnesota Duluth. “You have to invest money in faculty devel- “There has been a big leap in wireless between last year and Forest University and Carnegie Mellon, are exploring. The latest management software from eLearning Dynamics. The wireless opment if you want to incorporate handhelds in a meaningful, this year,” says Kenneth C. Green, director of the Campus HP iPAQ Pocket PC has integrated Bluetooth and some Palm application gives him the means to get student feedback during pedagogical way,”Riehl says. Computing Project and visiting scholar at Claremont Graduate OS handhelds provide Bluetooth capabilities through a tiny card class much like television networks and public opinion experts Some of the software void could be filled by course manage- University. placed in the expansion slot. analyze live audience responses. ment providers. They are inching towards making their applica- “While wireless local area networks (LANs) are in their “Not all learning happens on campus,” reminds USD’s Polling with handheld computers “has broadened the discus- tions easily readable and accessible by handhelds. infancy, and they have associated problems such as lack of ease Roberta Amber. “Bluetooth will let students and faculty go into sion participation in my classes,”says Sowers. “People have had a Chris Vento, chief technology officer for WebCT, believes of installation and configuration, security issues, and scalability the field and share documents and information and collaborate chance to see how their ideas are shared by their colleagues, and handhelds “…have potential —in the next one to two years issues, one can look ahead and see dramatic changes in band- easily. Faculty are saying they need this type of mobility.” they gain confidence from that.” you’ll see much more traction with handhelds, but it won‘t be width, price and ease of use over the next few years,” according Handhelds are still a novelty for many of the 14.5 million “Technology is not going to replace the relationship between ubiquitous for about five years.” With that perspective, Vento to Charles R. Bartel, director of operations, computing services U.S. college students. But because mobile, wireless technology student and teacher, it’s going to multiply it,” says Robert Harris, isn’t rushing WebCT into making its products handheld acces- for Carnegie Mellon University, and John C. Meerts, director of has the potential to allow people to learn and collaborate president of Paradigm Research, which recently produced a sible by tackling the basic functions like calendering and e-mail. information technology services for Wesleyan University, co- anywhere and anytime, it is expected that during the next five white paper on LearnTrac. Instead, WebCT is trying to determine what applications and authors of a next generation wireless presentation at the years we will see a big change in the way students and educators Going into the second year of a handheld initiative that level of access will differentiate them from competitors while EDUCAUSE 2002 Evolving Technologies committee meeting interact—and how information and instruction are delivered requires all first-year undergraduate, law, and medical students maintaining a focus on enhancing teaching, learning, and this past October. via a myriad of handheld devices. to buy Palm handhelds, University of South Dakota CIO assessment. WebCT expects that its first handheld-specific Wireless LANs don’t have the capacity to address high-band- Roberta Amber echoes that sentiment. She reports that USD “learning tools,” such as quizzes and polling, will be introduced width demand applications, but they can handle applications Mary Fallon is an independent industry analyst, with expertise in hand- educators have experienced an increase in the interactions this summer. such as e-mail, Web browsing, instant messaging, polling, and held computing. between students and faculty, greater student participation in small file downloads. The ability of wireless networks to handle

Headline

Product, Company Connectivity Memory Processor Weight Battery Wireless Capabilities Other Features Web site

iPAQ Pocket PC H3970 USB cradle, consumer IR and IrDA 64 MB RAM, 400 MHz Intel PXA250 6.5 oz 1400 mAh integrated Bluetooth, requires Transreflective, color liquid crystal display. Record button; 4 hot keys; side up/down buttons; navigation pad; includes software applications. Pen-and-touch www.hp.com model, Hewlett-Packard (115Kbps) and integrated 48 MB ROM Application Processor lithium polymer an attachment for 802.11b interface, handwriting recognition, soft keyboard, character recognition, voice record, inking. Supports computers running Microsoft Windows OS. Not Bluetooth(tm) compatible with Macintosh computers. Supports MSN and AOL instant messaging; Email is end-to-end secured using DESX encryption. Audio speaker, Microphone, audio out jack (3.5mm Stereo).

Palm i750, Palm* USB cradle, slot for Bluetooth card, 8MB RAM, 4 MB Motorola Dragonball 5.9 oz Rechargeable lithium via Palm.Net service, built-in Transreflective, monochrome liquid crystal display with backlight; 160 x 160 pixels. Pen-and-touch interface, Graffiti handwriting, soft keyboard, collapsible www.palm.com infrared beaming ROM*, Palm VZ 33 Processor polymer-one week power antenna, always-on wireless keyboard. Built-in dual expansion via card slot and universal connector. Supports computers running Microsoft Windows OS and Macintosh computers; OS Version 4.1 normal use network support within coverage customizable soft buttons, vibrating and LED alarms; includes software applications. Supports Microsoft Exchange, POP3, IMAP4 and SMTP and supports AOL area; slot for Bluetooth card Instant Messenger service.

Treo 90, Handspring USB cradle, infrared beaming, slot 16MB, 33 MHz 4 oz. Rechargeable lithium ion, slot for Bluetooth card Transflective, color STN liquid crystal display, backlit. Pen-and-touch interface, Graffiti (r)handwriting, soft keyboard, built-in keyboard. Secure Digital/ www.handspring.com for Bluetooth cards Palm OS 4.1 built-in, 10 days life MultiMedia Cards, phone drivers for connecting to compatible GSM phones. Supports computers running Windows 95, 98, Me, 2000, NT, XP and Mac OS 8.5 - 9.x normal use with USB port, Built-in keyboard, removable protective flip lid, key lock. Supports Blazer Web browser, One-Touch Mail (POP3), Palm SMS messaging application.

BE-300 Cassiopeia USB cradle, optional modem kit 16MB (8MB NEC VR4131, 166MHz, 6 oz. Rechargeable lithium ion, slot for Bluetooth and 320x240 pixel, 32,768 color STN. Pen-and-touch interface, soft keyboard. Type II CompactFlash card slot, expansion PC card slot. Based on Windows CE 3.0, No www.casio.com PocketManager, Casio program 280 MIPS (64 bit CPU) About 1 week of normal use network cards Macintosh support. Supports Microsoft Exchange. Stereo earphone jack. memory), 16MB RAM

Clie PEG-SJ-30, Sony USB (cable), Infrared, Memory 16MB (15MB 4.9 oz. No High resolution transflective color display, 320 x 320 pixels, displays 65K colors. Pen-and-touch interface, Graffiti handwriting, soft keyboard. Memory Stick www.sony.com Stick media slot available), expansion slot. Jog Dial navigator, Supports Microsoft Windows 98SE, Millennium, 2000 Professional, XP Home Edition, XP Professional. Supports 4MB ROM, Microsoft Exchange, POP3, IMAP4 and SMTP. Palm OS 4.1

Pocket PC E310, Toshiba USB cradle or cable, slot for 32MB RAM, Intel StrongArm 4.9 oz. Rechargeable Advanced slot for Bluetooth card High resolution transflective color display 240-by-320 pixel, portrait resolution with 64K colors, front light fluorescent lamp. Pen-and-touch interface, soft www.toshiba.com Bluetooth SD card 32MB CMOS 206MHz Lithium ion keyboard. Secure Digital card slot. Microsoft Windows Pocket PC 2002 OS, plays MP3 music files and MPEG4 video files, navigation wheel.Supports MSN Flash ROM Messenger, Microsoft Outlook 2002.

*Palm introduced its Tungsten handheld with wireless e-mail access after production deadline.

14 Syllabus November 2002 www.syllabus.com www.syllabus.com Syllabus November 2002 15