The "Children's Machine" (also called "2B1") is about to go into "test" production any day now. Also known as the $100 Laptop or OLPC (One Laptop Per Child), it is expected to actually cost $140 dollars. The computer will be sold to governments who are willing to adopt a one laptop per child policy. Countries like Brazil and Nigeria and states like Massachusetts and Maine are committed to or extremely interested in the project. The 2B1 will not be available for retail purchase, at least for a while.

The 2B1 has a keyboard but can also function as a handheld tablet. It's been designed specifically for education to have a low price, long battery life, and free software. It uses the Linux operating system, includes Wi-Fi, an SD slot. Like Palm handhelds and Pocket PCs, the 2B1 does not have a hard drive. Instead, it uses flash memory to reduce power consumption. In fact, the specifications for this computer closely resemble that of a handheld.

Recently a demonstration of the operating system for the OLPC has been posted to the Web. Click below to view the six minute video.

 

Search YouTube for more OLPC videos and check out The OLPC Wiki for more information. The project looks promising and will have implications for all learners as governments realize that students deserve these kinds of learning tools.

Kathy Schrock wrote a two-page article about eBooks in the current issue of i.e. magazine from SMART Technologies. E-Readers: Can Electronic Books Help Reluctant Readers? starts on page 10. Certainly the answer to the title of the article is a resounding yes!

Kathy mentions Dr. Terry Cavanaugh's book, The Digital Reader: Using E-books in K-12 Education. The book is full of advice and resources for teachers. It offers a list of five strategies for high school teachers to support reluctant readers. Though, these strategies can surely be used for all readers. Kathy briefly explains the strategies:

• Offer a wide range of reading materials.
• Use pre-reading techniques.
• Incorporate large-print materials.
• Engage multiple modalities.
• Teach important vocabulary.

Kathy summaries why eBooks are great for students: "The use of electronic books and the myriad of features available, can be of help to all students. The ability to access reference material while they are reading, highlight text with a virtual highlighter for note-taking and studying, and create a side note within the e-book to come back to later, are all key factors that enhance student's reading ability."

You can download the Autumn 2006 edition of i.e. magazine in PDF format. You can have a paper edition mailed to you by subscribing for free here.

Labels: ebooks, palm, pocket pc

Steve Dembo from Skokie, Illinois posted the presentation Mobile Learning Redefined as part of the 2006 K12 Online Conference. Here's the description of Steve's 43 minute presentation:

Students are bringing their cell phone, iPod, Palm handheld, and PSP to school and we respond by forbidding their use or treat confiscation. However, these are the tools of the new generation and educators must change and consider how to utilize and embrace these new online learning tools. In this session you will learn about how video can be brought to handhelds and phones, how to create websites designed for portable devices, and how the mobile internet is making information more accessible than ever. You will explore what students are using and how these tools can be harnessed to support good teaching. You may even learn how to convince your principal you need a handheld!

Here are some of the highlights:

The March 2005 Kaiser Foundation Report found that of 8-18 year olds, 9% own a laptop, 12% own a PDA, 37% own a mobile phone, 53% own a mobile gaming device (like Sony PSPs and Nintendo DSs). All of these devices can access the mobile internet. Schools are putting out big money to provide learning tools to students. Steve suggests schools use the tools "students are hiding in thier backpacks."

Steve details the capabilities of the Sony PSP, Nintendo DS, mobile phones, and PDAs. It's amazing what these small and inexpensive devices can do! Steve notes that most schools are banning these devices.

What can you do with the technology your students already have? Steve shares these examples:

• CellFlix Festival - Video from a cell phone was edited on a computer, and then final product viewed on a phone. The time limit was 30 seconds. This makes for very focused digital story telling. Check out the website. Steve shows an example of the human life cycle in 30 seconds made by a student. With mobile phone cameras, you have more cameras so that not as many students have to share camcorders.
• Mobile Web Search - You can search the mobile internet with slimmed down versions of popular websites (Google, AOL, and Technorati).
• Mobile Web Reference - LookWayUp.com for definitions, Answers.com for encyclopedia access, and LangToLang.com for translations (one word at a time), ConvertIt.com for measurement, currency, and time zone converters, Google Mobile Maps gives you the same images from Google Earth on your mobile phone, Wapedia.org gives access to the Wikipedia,
• Semacodes -Semacode reading software is required. Use your mobile's camera to take a photo of a semacode (which is a three-dimensional bar code). The semacode is read and then the software launches a website on your mobile phone. This is much faster than trying to enter a URL using a phone's keypad. Steve tells about a palace the uses semacodes to link to Wikipedia entries about the features and history of the palace.
• QuizFaber - Create simple multiple choice quizzes on the internet that can be taken on mobile phones with QuizFaber. You need a Windows computer to make the quiz.
• United Streaming - This is not a free service, but many teachers have access to an account. Most of the website works fine on a mobile device. The videos won't stream, but the images, articles, and quizzes from the website work just fine.
• Photos to Go - Flickr is free for up to 100 photos. There is a mobile version of Flickr.
• Mobilicio.us - Mobilicio.us is the mobile version of del.icio.us for keeping bookmarks. Type your bookmarks on a desktop computer and then access them on your mobile device. Del.icio.us mona is a program you can download for a mobile phone that allows you to bookmark from your phone itself.

  Steve summaries his presentation by saying, "It's not about the new technologies... It's making use of what they [students] already have in their pockets."

• Podcasting - You can podcast from most devices with a microphone. Gcast.com allows you to call a phone number to leave a message. The audio is published to the web as a podcast instantly.
• Mobile Blogging - "Moblogging" is updating your blog from your mobile device. Most services have a way for your to email or text in your entry. To read blogs on your mobile phone, there's LiteFeeds. Steve's favorite (as is mine) is Bloglines, which renders just fine on a mobile device.
• Mobile Homes - Winksite.com provides a home page for your cell phone with customized content. You can include calendars, blogs, polls, articles, and more. It's quite complicated but provides a lot of features. Mob5.com has very few options but the web pages look very slick on a mobile phone.

Steve's Mobile Learning Redefined is a Windows Media File that is 43 MB in size (so be patient as it downloads). The presentation has great visuals and examples. Steve has supporting links listed at the end of this post. From your mobile phone, check out some of the links at mob5.com/teach42.

Labels: mobile internet

The Wolverhampton Local Authority in the U.K. has been using Pocket PCs for a few years. They call their project Learning2Go and the students and teachers involved are doing amazing things with their tiny computers. Recently Learning2Go started a blog and podcast. Although the podcast is available in iTunes, Wolverhampton learners can use FeederReader on their Pocket PCs to subscribe to the blog and podcast. Here's the description of FeederReader from its website:

FeederReader is a full-featured RSS Aggregator with podcast listening and watching ("podcasting" or "podcatching") and enclosure support, running on Windows Mobile. It is designed for downloading and reading RSS feeds on Smartphones and Pocket PCs without the assistance of a host computer. You can update the feeds when the device is connected to the internet (i.e. through a LAN or Mobile Phone) and read them while offline.

Learning2Go has posted video tutorials to show how to manage feeds in FeederReader. FeederReader is available for download and requires free registration. Once installed, you can subscribe to newsfeeds and podcasts. Besides the Learning2Go feed, try subscribing to the Our City Podcast feed. New episodes have been posted this month!

Labels: pocket pc, podcasting

Just as they post manuscript and cursive alphabets for student reference, many handheld-using teachers post Graffiti 2® alphabet and number references in their classrooms. I created a PDF that anyone can download, print, and cut out. Posting the Graffiti 2 strokes with the alphabet reference classroms already have is great for students. They don't have to access the help screen or fumble for handouts; it's only 60° head turn away.

The PDF I've provided only has letters and numbers. Chris Cuppett, a technology integration coach from Wicomico Schools in Maryland, has made a document with 18 more Graffiti 2 strokes, including many for punctuation and mathematics. You can download it here. Chris sent me some photos of how he posts the Graffiti strokes outside of his office. Click for larger photos. (Chris is author of the new book, Handheld Applications for the Classroom, FYI)

Labels: palm

SUMS Online offers software that is used in over 700 schools in the United Kingdom. The software consists of many math activities in Adobe Flash format. SUMS software works on Mac, Windows, and Pocket PC computers. Check out the sample activities SUMS offers in The Playground. SUMS activities are correlated with U.K. curriculum. The company is in the process of making their activities more U.S. friendly. Unfortunately, the software doesn't have built-in management or progress tracking. But, the software does offer valuable practice with interesting activities for students.

In fact, SUMS will give the first K12 school to apply from each recognized USA school board area a free two-year subscription to their online service (value $160 per year) along with free use for two years of the Pocket PC versions of the software (value $1 per handheld per year). Contact David McAll (david@sums.co.uk) at SUMS Online before Dec 31st 2006. The free offer will be the "Americanized" versions of SUMS activities, though you can see the U.K. demos in The Playground.

Full Disclosure: I work independently from any company. I do not receive money from the products I write about on this site. The exceptions are my book and other books linked to from this site through Amazon.com.

Labels: pocket pc