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Palm Education Pioneers Program (PEP)
Recent years have seen increased interest in the use of handheld computers for K-12 education. Up until this time, however, schools that have been adopting handheld computers have been doing so without the benefit of systematic research on the effective uses of handheld computers in the classroom. The Palm™ Education Pioneer (PEP) program was created to remedy this situation. The goals of the PEP program were (1) to determine whether classroom teachers find handheld computers a useful educational tool, and (2) to aggregate the knowledge base of a large set of teachers using handheld computers in their classroom.
Through the Palm Education Pioneers (PEP) program, classroom sets of handheld computers were awarded to over 175 K-12 classrooms throughout the United States in a highly competitive program. The PEP program was administered and evaluated by SRI International's Center for Technology in Learning (CTL).
PEP teachers were overwhelmingly positive about the use of handheld computers in their classrooms. Approximately 90% of PEP teachers stated that handhelds are an effective instructional tool; that handhelds have the potential to have a positive impact on students' learning; and that they will continue to use handhelds in the future. PEP teachers found that the key benefits to students were increased time using technology, increased student motivation, increased collaboration and communication, and benefits from having a portable and accessible personal learning tool. Key drawbacks included inappropriate use (especially of beaming), technology management issues (particularly synchronization issues), usability issues (particularly using the Graffiti software program for long text input), and equipment damage.
The PEP final report provides information for teachers, administrators, and researchers who want to learn more about the potential of handheld computers in the K-12 classroom.
9/2000 - 9/2002 (past)
Funders & Clients
Partners
- Archdiocese of Dubuque School System, Dubuque, IA
Beaufort County School District, Beaufort, SC- Concord Consortium
- Fremont Union High School District, Sunnyvale, CA
- Kent State University, Research Center for Educational Technology
- The Gulf of Maine Aquarium
- University of California, Berkeley, WISE Group
- University of Michigan, Hi-CE Group
- University of Nebraska, Omaha College of Education, Office of Internet Studies
Publications
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Roschelle, J. (2003). Unlocking the learning value of wireless mobile devices. Journal of Computer Assisted Learning, 19(3), 260-272.
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Tatar, D., Roschelle, J., Vahey, P., & Penuel, W. R. (2003). Handhelds Go To School: Lessons Learned. IEEE Computer, 36(9), 30-37.
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Crawford, V. & Vahey, P. (2002). Innovating the Use of Handheld Technology in K-12 Teaching and Learning: Results from the Palm Education Pioneers Program. Presented at the American Educational Research Association Annual Conference. New Orleans, April 1-5, 2002.
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Crawford, V. M. (2002, April). Understanding the impact of handheld technology on teaching and learning: Evaluation results from Round I of the Palm Education Pioneers Program.
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Crawford, V. M., & Vahey, P. (2002). Palm Education Pioneers Program March 2002 Evaluation Report. Menlo Park, CA: SRI International.
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Vahey, P. & Crawford, V. (2002). Palm Education Pioneers Program Final Evaluation Report. Menlo Park, CA: SRI International.
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Vahey, P. (June, 2002). Handhelds in K-12: Reports from Palm Education Pioneer Research Hubs—Introduction. National Educational Computing Conference. San Antonio, TX, June 17 - 19, 2002.
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Vahey, P. & Crawford, V. (2001). Palm Education Pioneers program round I preliminary evaluation report. Menlo Park, CA: SRI International.
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Research Areas
Evaluation
Learning Environments
Technology Development