With PDA Software, Students Have No Excuse for Forgetting
Back when I was in school, a slide rule was high tech. Now, with prices as low as $150, a Palm or Pocket PC hand-held computer is within the reach of many students--and there’s software to match their needs.
I looked at three programs.
4.0Student from Handmark Inc. allows students with Palm OS devices to keep track of assignments and course details in a single program. The $20 program can track assignments for as many as 15 classes. It’s possible to calculate and track course grades or an overall GPA. The program also can predict final grades, using a variety of weighting formulas.
For $40, students can get the program plus an optional Web service at https://www.fourostudent.net, where users can check data or enter items to be synchronized with the hand-held program. Accumulated data can be archived for future reference and shared with other students or parents.
A straightforward and comprehensive interface offers many choices. Especially nice are the detail screens, including one on which particulars about instructors can be listed by name, office location, hours, phone and e-mail.
In addition to describing my academic career, Due Yesterday is the name of another class-tracking program for Palm users.
Notable in this $15 program from Nosleep Software are two elements. The first is an on-screen week-at-a-glance calendar of classes and assignments. It looks much better than the week view in 4.0Student. The other is a desktop computer program--for PC or Mac--that allows users to type in data and then sync it with the hand-held device.
The other aspects of Due Yesterday are simple to use. The teacher information entry isn’t as extensive as that found in 4.0Student, but this could be a matter of individual preference. Besides, Palms have their own address database that can handle all sorts of contact info that neither program could easily incorporate.
Due Yesterday also uses about one-third less memory on a Palm than 4.0Student, which can be important on a 2-megabyte model.
Handango, the software company that sells the programs of many publishers, offers a $50 student suite of database applications for Pocket PC users. These applications run under the HanDBase database program from DDH Software and include a class scheduler, assignment tracker, outliner and periodic table. A multi-function calculator program also is included.
Frankly, it’s all underwhelming. The database modules are good as far as they go, but unlike 4.0Student and Due Yesterday, this suite has no integration. Users have to fire up each module separately.
Given that all of the applications can be duplicated with software already on the Pocket PC, the Handango suite is one to go without.
Mark A. Kellner is a freelance technology writer and hosts “Mark Kellner on Computers” at https://www.adrenalineradio.com from 5 to 6 p.m. Thursdays.
