The future in hand

Marisa O’Neil

Gone are the days of students passing back purple-tinged, chemically

scented worksheets hot off the mimeograph press.

And at some Newport-Mesa middle schools, laser-printed,

photocopied sheets may also become obsolete. Thanks to a $700,000

technology grant, seventh-graders at Ensign Intermediate School and

sixth-graders at TeWinkle Intermediate School are tapping, using

shorthand graffiti and beaming their assignments on brand-new,

hand-held computers.

“You can do about everything on the Palm Pilot,” 11-year-old

TeWinkle student Maria Hernandez said.

The Palm Pilot Tungsten E hand-held computers -- 1,000 of them -- rolled out to the students in February, after months of training for

teachers. With a color screen, wireless keyboard, word processing

programs and Internet capabilities, the units are the district’s

attempt to get technology into the hands of as many students as

possible, said Steven Glyer, director of educational technology.

This year, students and teachers have just started to get up to

speed and discover the computers’ capabilities. Though the students

will have to hand them back in at the end of the school year for next

year’s students to use, the teachers will be able to further delve

into their capabilities next year.

“Year one is just getting them in kids’ hands,” Glyer said. “Next

year, day one when kids show up at school, the teachers will be much

better positioned to implement them right off the bat. Next year

we’re going to see some huge growth in how they’re used.”

Maria and other students in Maggie Ostler’s sixth-grade math and

science class are using the hand-held computers to do homework

assignments, brainstorm ideas and fill in worksheets.

Beaming assignments

To pass out the high-tech worksheets, Ostler went to the student

in the front of each row and pointed her computer directly at theirs

to beam the document to them. Those students then turn around and

beam it to the student behind them.

Filling in the blanks of the worksheet involves tapping on the

unit’s screen with a stylus and either typing the answer in with

on-screen keys or using the stylus to write it using shorthand

graffiti.

“I’m getting used to the graffiti,” 11-year-old Vanessa James

said. “But I don’t know how to do Ts.”

Vanessa said she uses hers to play games, draw and do her

homework. Because her home computer is broken, it still allows her to

get her assignments done.

Maria does her homework assignments and schedules assignments on

her tasks list and has put her friends’ phone numbers on her

hand-held computer. Lots of students, she said, play games on theirs,

too.

“But Mrs. O confiscates them if she catches us,” she said.

Sometimes the students do get distracted during class, playing

games or doing other non-school-related things on their units, Ostler

said. But part of the payoff is that they are excited to use them for

their assignments, too.

A lighter burden

Ostler can now upload information from each student’s hand held

into her computer and check it from home with an Internet connection.

Before they had the units, she had to carry home 60 notebooks to

grade.

Using the computers has motivated her to think of new teaching

methods to incorporate them into her lessons.

“And when we can’t get into the computer lab, my kids still get to

use technology and learn the skills they need,” she said.

Plans for next year include updating the networks, allowing all

students to have Internet access from their seats or buzz in for

game-show-style quizzes.

Early critics of the program questioned the idea of giving

middle-school students $200 pieces of equipment that could be lost or

broken. Each student had to sign an agreement that they were

responsible for the unit.

Loss and damage rates have come in below the 10% for which the

district had prepared, said Mark Wagner, the project’s coordinator.

District officials talk to parents of children who’ve lost the units

to determine how to pay them back.

Children of families who can’t come up with the money have the

option of community service for the district, Glyer said.

“We’ve been pleasantly surprised that parents have been so

cooperative when their children are responsible for the damage,”

Wagner said. “People seem to recognize that this is a good thing for

their student’s education.”

* MARISA O’NEIL covers education. She may be reached at (949)

574-4268 or by e-mail at marisa.oneil@latimes.com.