October 4-6, 2006
Lima, Peru

Classroom Uses of Handheld Computers

Main Presenter
Dr. Cathie Norris
Professor, Department of Technology and Cognition
University of North Texas

Co-Presenter
Dr. Elliot Soloway
Arthur F. Thurnau Professor, Department of EECS
College of Engineering, University of Michigan


Handheld computers can have an important impact on teaching and learning in the elementary and secondary classroom. While professional development and extended classroom experiences are needed in order to use handhelds effectively, this workshop will give attendees a taste of what children can do with handhelds in the classroom. We will provide each attendee with his or her own handheld computer (limited to 35 attendees) and we will use education-oriented applications produced by GoKnow, Inc. (www.goknow.com). Attendees will use the handheld-based software to create a compound document – a document that is made of a text document, a graphics document, web-research documents, etc. After this hands-on exploration, we will hold a Question and Answer session with attendees.

Attendees need bring no equipment to the session; handhelds will be provided.

AV required: Project for a laptop computer; Internet connection (wired or wireless).

Dr.Cathleen A. Norris is a Professor in the Department of Technology and Cognition, College of Education at the University of North Texas, in Denton, Texas. Dr. Norris' efforts in research, teaching and service all have a common focus: integrate learning technologies more effectively into classrooms, in K-12 as well as post-secondary education. Cathie is a Past President of the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), the leading international organization for technology-minded educators. From 1991 to 2001, she was the President of the National Educational Computing Association (NECA) that organized the premier conference, NECC, on technology in K-12..

Dr. Elliot Soloway For the past ten years, Elliot Soloway and his colleagues in the Center for Highly Interactive Computing in Education (Hi-CE) - now composed of over 60 undergraduate and graduate students - have been exploring the ways in which computing and communications technologies can be the catalyst in bringing a constructivist, project-based pedagogy to science classrooms. The Hi-CE group is developing science curricula that embeds technology into the everyday experiences of students and teachers. The Hi-CE group is also developing professional development workshops and materials that support teachers in carrying out these project-based, technology-pervasive curricula in their classrooms.

Back to CATE 2006 Home Page

© Copyright 2005 IASTED www.iasted.org