In the corner of his desk a word appeared and began marching around
the perimeter of the desk. It was upside down and backward at first,
but Ender knew what it said long before it reached the bottom of the
desk and turned right side up.
THIRD
Ender smiled. He was the one who had figured out how to send
messages and make them march - even as his secret enemy called him
names, the method of delivery praised him.
- Ender's Game, Orson Scott Card
There have been desktop computers in schools for over 20 years, but
very few personal computers. They were always school computers,
usually in a computer lab or on the side of the classroom. Rarely on
the student's desk.
Card foresees a future where the computer will be the desk: a
work surface with a keyboard, stylus input, a messaging system, and
more. The desk is networked, so students can send files to home
computers. And sometimes the desk is portable, something to work with
anywhere.
That's still more science fiction than reality, but laptop computers
are starting to bridge the gap between impersonal, shared desktop
computers and the idea of one student, one computer.
Survey Says
A couple articles in the past year speak directly to laptops being
used both in and out of the classroom.
The most recent, Study: Laptops Improve Learning on MacCentral,
discusses a study by Microsoft and Toshiba where 450 students had
24-hour-a-day access to portable computers, and computers were fully
integrated with classroom work. Findings included:
- Seventh-graders with laptops spent ten times as much time using
computers outside of school as did seventh-graders who had desktop
computers at home. Ten times!
- Laptops led to an improvement in work quality, especially writing
skills.
- Students with laptops developed better problem-solving and critical
thinking skills. They also tend to use more resources in their
research.
- Students with laptops developed a more positive attitude about
learning.
- Teachers spend more time interacting with students individually and
less time lecturing.
As MacCentral notes, Apple had a great computer for this very
market. The eMate combined Newton technology with a more traditional
laptop-style design for under $800. But the eMate died when Apple
pulled the plug on Newton.
The second article, eMates Still
Popular in Schools, (MacCentral), shares the experience of the
Fairfax (VA) Mantua Elementary School, where each fifth-grader was
issued an eMate. As in the more recent Microsoft/Toshiba report,
teachers found use of the laptop improved the teacher's ability to
cover a broad range of topics and the student's ability to report on
what they learned.
The article also discusses eMate use in Arkansas and Tennessee.
Students Need Handheld Computers
Students learn better and learn more when they have a computer they
can use in the classroom, at home, in the library, or in the field. The
best computer for students will be rugged, compact, affordable, and
accept both keyboard and stylus input. A color screen would be nice,
but isn't essential, if that's a key to keeping the price down.
At nearly $800, the eMate hit the high end of the price scale for a
student portable. Although rugged, compact, and able to work with both
a keyboard and a stylus, the price was probably the main reason it
didn't take off.
But the eMate was designed a few years ago. What could Apple do
today to prepare a portable our sons and daughters could use during the
1999-2000 school year?
First, stick with what worked on the eMate: infrared networking, a
tough clamshell case, and a good size for kids. But instead of using
the Newton OS, make it a Power Mac inside, using either the inexpensive
603e processor or the potent G3. Then give it a lot of flash memory for
storing programs and files.
One improvement would be a 640 x 480 pixel screen capable of
displaying thousands of colors. This is the same size as the monitors
we've used for years, so software will comfortably fit the screen. (800
x 600 would be even nicer, but only if the price is right.)
With the Mac OS and infrared networking, the ClassMate would be a
perfect partner for the iMac or PowerBook G3. With file sharing enabled
on the bigger Macs, the ClassMate could easily upload and download
programs. In fact, each classroom might have a central file server for
students to download assignments and upload projects.
But Apple has to miss the $800 mark by a wide margin, coming short
by at least $200, if it wants to penetrate the education market. At
$500-600, not only would schools consider it a good investment, but
parents would also see it as an investment in their son's and
daughter's education.
But Is It Realistic?
I don't know component prices, so I don't know how realistic this
is. This would make the ClassMate cheaper than the Palm VII - and
probably a good deal more capable. It would also be direct competition
for the Windows CE handhelds, which use a sibling of Windows 95 and
Windows 98.
But as far as I know, none of the portables is designed for the
education market - a market Apple has dominated for two decades.
The competition: full-sized, relatively fragile Wintel notebooks
with CD-ROMs and hard drives at $1,200 and up; small but overpriced
machines like the $3,000 Toshiba Portégé; lightweight Windows
machines like the tiny Toshiba Libretto; and the less capable Windows
CE computers.
None offer the rugged design of the eMate, which is essential for
survival in the backpack. The smallest ones don't run a major OS, but
instead use a lite version of Microsoft Windows - and have tiny
keyboards the prevent touch typing.
I'm hoping Apple will announce a worthy successor to the eMate,
something marrying the Newton eMate features with the PowerPC and Mac
OS. The work done on the consumer portable would pay extra dividends if
Apple could create a true student portable at a family-friendly
price.
Steve, am I thinking different enough for you?
