Yankton High School

Participants: Mary Ticknor, prinicipal; Jill Mikkelson, English; Jason Oswald, Algebra; Carri Hales, Physical Science; Debra Specht, Spanish

Our journey began when the building principal and technology director attended the three-day handheld computer workshop sponsored by the TIE office during the 2002-2003 school year. Both Mrs. Ticknor and Mr. Mitchell had been using IPAQs for the past few years and were interested in learning more about the use of handheld computers in the classroom. After the training, it was clear that handheld computers were an economical way to provide a one-student-to-one-computing device ratio.

The next step was finding a few YHS teachers who would be willing to bravely venture into the world of handheld computing. Enthusiasm for the project was found among four ninth grade teachers, Carri Hales (Physical Science), Jason Oswald (Algebra I), Jill Mikkelsen (English) and Deb Specht (Spanish I). Those four teachers committed to summer training in order to implement the handheld computer project in the fall of the 2003-2004 school year. Next, the Yankton School District purchased approximately 80 Palm m130 handheld computers along with keyboards, cases, and application software. Seventy-five incoming ninth graders were randomly selected from the pool of students who had chosen to enroll in each of the four courses mentioned above. Using an interdisciplinary team approach, these seventy-five students were shared among the four teachers. The students were issued a Palm, keyboard, and case for their exclusive use during the school year. An informational meeting was held with parents during the fall ninth grade orientation program. Parents and students voluntarily signed a contract committing to half of the replacement cost of the Palm in the event of loss, theft, or serious damage.

In the meantime, we became aware of a grant opportunity though the South Dakota Department of Education specifically supporting the use of handheld and wireless technologies in the classroom. Because the Palm teachers and students were organized into a team, the four teachers had already begun to collaborate on the development of interdisciplinary units based around the South Dakota content standards, which utilized handheld computers. We wrote our grant RFP around our interdisciplinary unit concept, and originally requested funding from the state to purchase the necessary technology to be able to connect our Palm m130s to our wireless network. Our original request did not meet the state’s guidelines, so we revised our request and were able to purchase 30 Tungsten C handheld computers, which have network access capability built in.

The Grant Project - "May the Force Be With You"

The Curriculum Unit
Video of Science Lesson

We have also utilized the Tungsten Cs in another technological adventure here at YHS. We are in the midst of a sixty-day trial period using Discourse software, a classroom lesson delivery and feedback system. We are experimenting with Discourse on both handheld computers and laptop computers in several different content areas and grade levels.

It has been an interesting year investigating the ways in which twenty-four hour access to technology impact student learning. We are truly pioneering the use of handheld computers in the classroom. Not everything always works the first time we try, and we often learn as we go right along with the students. In order to assess our handheld computer project, we are in the process of comparing the grades, attendance, and attitude of the Palm students with non-Palm students and will post the results after we obtain year-end data.