Putting Knowledge in Their Grasp

Students at a Newport Beach intermediate school will soon stop passing notes in class. Instead, they’ll beam them.

All 625 seventh-graders at Ensign Intermediate School received hand-held computers last week.

With the personal digital assistants, once the toys of tech-savvy executives, the students will be able to download books, write reports and quietly exchange written questions and answers with their teachers.

And those who care as much about appearances as they do academics will be able to check their hair, thanks to software that makes the device’s screen reflective.

These high-tech teaching tools come courtesy of a $700,000 state grant awarded to the Newport-Mesa Unified School District to increase the use of technology in the classroom. Other school districts, including Orange and Capistrano, also received technology funds grants, which they are applying toward laptop computers.

Newport-Mesa chose PDAs, which are almost as effective and, at $209 each, significantly cheaper.

“We wanted to deploy technology such that every kid had a chance,” said Steven Glyer, director of educational technology for the district. “It does almost everything a computer does today, and we can do that at 1/10th the cost.”

The first of the hand-held computers were handed out Tuesday to students in English and social studies classes. By early March, more than 300 sixth-graders at TeWinkle Middle School in Costa Mesa -- the district’s other middle school -- will also have PDAs, making the distribution one of the largest to students in California.

“This is the future. Here it is,” said Principal Edward Wong of Ensign Intermediate. “Our goal is to increase student achievement. If another tool is going to help it, let’s do it.”

In Sandy Asper’s English class, students already have begun writing essays on their PDAs, using miniature keyboards that plug into them. Their assignment is displayed on the board: write a five-paragraph essay about a favorite book. As students begin writing, the classroom quickly becomes a symphony of clicking and tapping.

Once finished, students beam their completed work to Asper’s PDA. The technology is similar to that of a television remote control, in which digital information is carried through an infrared light beam.

“I can’t tell you how excited I am,” said the 32-year veteran teacher. “It will be infinitely better.”

Asper said a question can now be answered simultaneously by all students, instead of the old-fashioned way of raising hands. She will be able to determine how many students knew the answer.

For instance, when her students read books downloaded onto their PDAs, Asper will be able to beam a reading question that will appear on their screens. Students will beam back their answers.

If the project is successful and students improve their test scores, school officials said the use of hand-held computers will be expanded next school year into math and science classes.

An increasing number of schools are relying on sophisticated technology to help students. In November, all 950 students in Pleasanton High School in Texas received Apple iBook laptops. In Jefferson County, Ky., laptops were presented to all 2,800 students at four underachieving high schools.

Students at Ensign Intermediate knew all year that this day would come. Officials decided to wait longer before buying the hand-held computers so they could provide students the newest model. On Thursday, the latest recipients marveled over their state-of-the-art device.

“I think it’s a lot better than pen and paper,” said Austin McCullough, 12, as he browsed applications, stylus in hand. “The less paper and binders you have, the lighter things are.”

As administrators taught students how to use their PDAs, they also reminded them of the care they should be given. “Consider it a $200 egg,” Mark Wagner, the project’s coordinator, told one class.

If students lose or break their PDAs, they are responsible for replacing them. The district has set aside money for families who cannot afford replacements.

Education experts say that if such technology is used wisely, it can boost student performance and motivation. But they say a planned curriculum is necessary to get the most out of the device’s high-tech wonders, such as its ability to download books from the Internet or display Powerpoint presentations.

“Just because somebody has a computer doesn’t mean that they’re going to be downloading Shakespeare,” said Mark Warschauer, professor of education and information and computer science at UC Irvine. “It’s another tool that adds to the repertoire of what people can do in school, but it’s not a magic bullet.”