James's Weblog

Last night’s BayCHI meeting had a talk by Scott Weiss, author of Handheld Usability. He mentioned, among other things, a couple of additional points about PDAs versus physical calculators:

• Instant gratification. Calculators turn on and are ready to do their thing immediately. With a PDA, you usually need to tap some sequence of physical and virtual buttons just to start the calculator program.
• Batteries not included. Many four-function calculators and some scientific ones don’t need batteries at all, instead relying on solar cells.

On the other hand, he noted that PDAs can be better for specialized programs for common tasks. For example, a program can display the sales tax or 15% tip automatically for a given value.

Coincidentally, the 2004 PalmSource Developer Conference is going on this week. During one of the presentations yesterday, a speaker from palmOne suggested that students use PDAs instead of physical calculators. Ugh. That brings me to my next point:

I don’t see a lot of benefit to having computers in the classroom, especially in schools full of upper-class children who probably have computers at home already.

I think the one big win is if every student has a laptop or PDA with network access, students can provide real-time, anonymous feedback to the instructor. Peer pressure discourages students from asking questions, even good ones.

I’m sure there must be a good low-tech alternative, but I can’t think of one. A locked drop-box isn’t real-time, making it difficult for students to correct the instructor. It also isn’t very anonymous; students submitting questions might be seen by others, and it’s not that difficult to distinguish students’ handwritings.

(I wish that I had thought of setting up an anonymous feedback form while I was a teaching assistant. I don’t think I got my due share of “James is a stupid-head” remarks.)