March 2005 — Features
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Are PDAs Pedagogically Feasible for Young Children?
Final remarks. The beneficial aspects described here may undermine the full potential of PDAs such as communicating or beaming. However, issues of management and equity may create a barrier to use a PDA as a communications device or as a home-school collaboration tool.
A Kindergarten Teacher's Perceptions of PDA Use in the Classroom
Prior to the exploratory study with her students, the teacher (we'll call her Ms. H) could not articulate the potential of a PDA in her classroom. However, in the post-interview she suggested ways of integrating the PDA into her curriculum. After working with the students, we showed video of the activities with the children to Ms. H as she shared reactions and watched them interacting with the handhelds. Her perception on the potential of the PDA for her classroom is summarized below:
PDAs for support of writing activities. Ms. H was interested in the area of literacy as an added dimension to writing. She mentioned a letter identification game, for example, would be a good activity for her kindergarten students. Contrasting the Palm with a desktop computer, she felt a PDA could facilitate fine motor control development. Holding, tapping and writing with a stylus were consistent with the well-coordinated, fine muscle control of handwriting using paper and pencil.
However, handwriting practice and literacy work with a paper-and-pencil medium is not a favorite activity for children (Barrera, Rule and Diemart 2001). The Note Pad (a program that provides a blank screen which is designed for writing/drawing with a stylus) appears to be a good motivational tool in literacy learning for kindergartners. The structure of Note Pad is open-ended and interactive, with a possibility for instant revision. Since young children's learning is embedded in a playful context, the Note Pad may provide a meaningful framework for their literacy learning. The Note Pad writing can be integrated in free writing and drawing journal activities, as well as in structured handwriting practice. Also, the Note Pad can be synchronized to desktop computer files, so writing can be done outside of the classroom and transferred to a desktop computer.
PDAs as communication tools with parents. Ms. H acknowledged the benefits of the PDA when it can be taken home by children and used as a tool for collaboration and communication between home and school. However, she preferred to keep the PDA in her classroom because of equity issues. Kindergartners would have a hard time understanding why some peers would take the PDA home while others would not. Also, Ms. H expressed concern with security issues out of the classroom.
PDA as an assessment device. Ms. H noted that one male student demonstrated problems with fine motor skill development, including poor scissor skills and pencil manipulation. This student also struggled with short-term memory, attention, letter identification and problem-solving skills. In the video, however, he recognized the letter Z and said “Z” as he tapped on it. In a letter-identification assessment a week earlier, he was not able to identify any letters of the alphabet. Related to attention and following directions, he did not exhibit “off-task” behavior with the PDA. Ms. H interpreted that he focused well with the PDA because it mimicked play . He remembered to use the “home” button to get back to the home screen as well as tap the “erase” key to erase his picture in Note Pad. This led Ms. H to consider the PDA for assessment purposes.
