COMBINING BLOGS.....

I am combining all of my blogs to one place, Kathy Schrock's Kaffeeklatsch, as of today (July 14, 2005). I will leave the archived information up here about the handhelds, but will not be adding any additional information.

Please change your booksmarks or RSS feed to

http://kathyschrock.net/blog/

Thanks!

--Kathy

UK Handheld Forum

There is a new online forum for reading and sharing thoughts and ideas about handhelds in education which is located here:

http://www.handheldlearning.co.uk/community/forum/

Kathy

PalmOne and PocketPC

Just a couple of notes for you PocketPC users out there. I have added comparable, free if I could find them, PocketPC applications to the POWER in the Palm of Your Hand page. You can find them listed here (http://kathyschrock.net/power/) along with many other articles of interest.

One new device that is poised to come out on the market is the Synosphere BlueDock, which allows you to use a PocketPC as a desktop replacement. (http://synosphere.com/)

Kathy

Tungsten T5 is Out!

The new Tungsten T5 is available as of this week. It has lots of internal memory, can act as an external hard drive for your desktop, has a large screen, and can do much more. Check it out at http://www.palmone.com/

-Kathy

Ideas for Use of the Handheld Software in the Classroom

Lesson plans for the use of the handheld computer in the classroom are located by clicking on the comment link below. These lessons were created at the end of a two-day workshop of DoDDS Schools in Germany in August of 2004.

Kathy

Free Multilingual Dictionary

Here is a link to the TrueTerm free multilingual dictionary. It includes basic words in English to German, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, French, Italian and Portuguese and back again.

http://www.trueterm.com/5454/5589.html

One interesting world language tie-in might be to download the French version or Spanish version for students in upper level classes to use. They would then receive all of the definitions in that language instead of English.

Kathy

Using a Palm Handheld as a Web Cam or Video Camera

I think this application, Palm Webcam (http://www.clievideo.com/default.asp?item=3&intProductID=4) might have some use in the classroom for those creative palmOne users out there!

It is made up of two parts. One part is an executable that runs on a Windows-based PC, and one PRC file that runs on a Zire 71, Zire 72, Treo 600, or any number of Sony Clie handhelds with cameras.

Using a USB cradle or USB cable, you launch the program on the handheld and the PC and you can use the camera on your handheld as a live Web cam or live video camera. It works as a Web cam in any application that can use a Web cam or can capture live video! (I just made a little movie using Windows Movie Maker!)

There are a couple of resolutions to choose from, and the frames per second rate is not high (it depends on the resolution you choose), but it is a neat little thing to experiment with!

I think you have to try it out to really get the idea! There is a 14-day trial and the software costs $18.95 to register.

Kathy

New palmOne Handheld Models

The two newest models in the palmOne line are the Zire 31 and the Zire 72. Both of them include the small USB and power adapter connector. The Zire 72 includes a still (1.2 megapixel) camera and 320x240 video/audio camera, a fast processor, Bluetooth, headphone jack, SD card slot, and a great color screen. The Zire 31 would be a good choice for schools since it is low-cost, color, includes an SD slot and headphone jack. It does not have the stellar screen of the 72, but, for students or newbies to the handheld world, it would be a good entry level model.

Sony, maker of the Clies here in the US and abroad, has announced that they are pulling out of the handheld market in the US. They make a whole line of Palm OS handhelds (some of which include built-in 802.11b), so you might start to see some really good prices on the Clies as they are phased out in stores online and in your area!

Kathy

End of the School Year

I am sorry I have not posted much lately. I have been posting most of my links to sites on the POWER page (http://kathyschrock.net/power/). I will continue to post items of interest there, and will take a break from posting here for the summer months. Those of you with permission to post here, feel free to put up your thoughts, links, and ideas to share with the rest of us!

-Kathy

Zire 72 is here!

I have my hot little hands on a Zire 72 already.

Things you might be interested in:

A lot lighter than the Zire 71
No universal connector; same set-up as Tungsten E.
Kind of rubberized-feeling front (blue) that makes it secure to hold.
No slider- the 1.2 megapixel camera lens is right on the back. Does video, too...how cool is THAT going to be!!!!
Does Bluetooth.
The BoxWave miniSync cable that I use with my Tungsten E will work with the Z72. It includes both the power and USB sync cables off one end and USB off the other.(http://boxwave.com/products/minisync/index.htm)
Comes with a cute little nylon case that is a little larger than it and has a flip-over top.
I did not have to install Palm Desktop. It worked fine with the Tungsten T3 version.
Plastic stylus is very light. I hope a metal version comes out.
You can put a background picture (and fade it out) on both the Today screen and the regular screens (Main, Unfiled, etc.)
There is the ability to see a year view, as well as the Today, day, week, and month view.
The processor rocks! A Kinoma movie ran really well!
Works great with the wireless (infrared keyboard).
The BlueChat and Blueboard applications worked great with the Tungsten T3.
VersaMail, WebPro, Docs to Go, and a full personal version of PowerGraph come on the CD.
I stopped on the way to school and took a few pictures of the windmill in town. The lens senses the sun when you point at the sky so the pictures are a bit dark. I tried to shield the camera from the sun, but I needed a third hand to do that, so I was not really successful!

1. 1280x960 (http://nausetschools.org/storage/zire72/1280x960.jpg)
2. 640x480 (http://nausetschools.org/storage/zire72/640x480.jpg)
3. 2x zoom (http://nausetschools.org/storage/zire72/windmill_2x.jpg)
4. Plaque on the ground (http://nausetschools.org/storage/zire72/plaque.jpg)
5. Short video tour of my office (asf format) (http://nausetschools.org/storage/zire72/officetour.asf)

--Kathy

Synosphere Blue Dock

Take a look at this cool thing...

http://synosphere.com/gallery.htm

Kathy

Assessment Tools

I have been trying to assess how much or little impact handheld computers have on the achievement of students this year.  If anyone has different rubrics, surveys or assessment tools, I would like to hear about them. 

Jason

Handheld Computers in High School

Some great information from Jason Cring on the use of handhelds in the secondary school environment can be found here: http://schoolcenter.hilton.k12.ny.us/education/components/scrapbook/default.php?sectiondetailid=3345

Kathy

Technology Cartoon

A cute handheld cartoon!

http://www.fno.org/feb04/febcartoon.html (Thanks to Mark Standley for sharing it with me!)

-Kathy

Good Site!

Here is a link to a good site with lots of Palm-related handheld links. <http://k-12.pisd.edu/handhelds/>

Kathy

Projection Devices and the Handheld

I often get asked for the pros and cons of the two main presentation devices for the handhelds. Here is my opinion on the suubject.

The Margi is easy to use, but it limits the size of your presentation since the presentation has to fit on the handheld itself. It connects to the handheld via the SD slot. If you are planning to use it for mirroring and an occasional smallish presentation, it would be fine. I use the Margi for mirroring when I train teachers and students.

Handheld Articles

Here is a link to some additional articles about the use of the handheld in education. A bit old, but still some good stuff! <http://www.edteck.com/palm/news.htm>

Kathy

Kathy's Tungsten E "Review"

I received my new Tungsten E today (Okay, I now own the just about the entire line of palmOne handhelds!) It is a very nice device. The screen is as good as any palmOne handheld, it has 32mb RAM, it includes stereo sound, and comes with a CD chock full of add-on applications (full versions!) including Handmark's Mobile DB, Kinoma Producer and Player, and Dataviz Documents to Go, among others. I did not have to install Palm desktop since I already had the version for the T3 installed with the built-in Outlook conduits.

 It takes a bit of getting used to having a device without the universal connector, but I quickly got past that. It worked perfectly with the Veo camera, the Pitch Duo presenter unit, and the palmOne wireless keyboard. Having to handle both a HotSync USB cable and a power adapter takes some juggling, but the power adapter came with tips for world travel, so that's a big plus, too!

Kathy

Cobalt OS (OS 6)

There are some screen shots of the new Palm OS, called Cobalt, on this page, in case anyone is interested.

http://www.palminfocenter.com/view_story.asp?ID=6542

Kathy