GLENVILLE -&160;Suzy and Johnny are in the library, busy working on assignments, when their algebra teacher sends a message from the classroom that they are going to have a quiz.

Friday, March 15, 2002

GLENVILLE -&160;Suzy and Johnny are in the library, busy working on assignments, when their algebra teacher sends a message from the classroom that they are going to have a quiz. They each use an electronic stylus to exit the textbook file they were reading and open up the quiz folder on their handheld computers.

Within minutes they have finished the quiz and Suzy takes a few seconds to check her email while Johnny goes on the Internet to download some information for his research project in social studies while he walks to his next class.

Meanwhile, back in the classroom, the teacher retrieves the students’ quiz scores from a folder on her handheld computer and emails the results to students, making individual comments to those who need special help.

Think it sounds like a science fiction story?

Think again. Students and teachers in the Glenville-Emmons school district might be doing all of those things and more, if district officials decide to implement a handheld computer curriculum in the high school.

Thursday morning, with a winter storm threatening in the background, representatives from Mindsurf Networks led a hands-on demonstration of wireless, handheld computer technology. Mindsurf is an educational software company which specializes in interactive classroom software products. Teachers and students had the chance to tinker with the technology during the demonstration.

Todd Chessmore, district superintendent, had seen a short presentation about the technology at an Minnesota School Boards Association meeting. And then Mike Kropp, a high-school social studies teacher in the district, went to a more in-depth demonstration in Brainerd.

&uot;They’re hard not to like,&uot; said Kropp. They are cost effective and easy to use, he said.

Kropp knows handheld computers like the Compaq Ipacs that were being demonstrated at Glenville would make a big difference in his teaching.

&uot;I do a lot of research in my classes, and with Ipacs I wouldn’t have to fight for access to the computer lab,&uot; he said. The units would be portable, and could be used on field trips and at home.

Kropp said students are excited about the possibility of that technology coming into use. At least one student was upset about the possibility that school might have to be canceled because of the ice storm, Kropp said.

The units being demonstrated are somewhat larger than the typical PDA, but have color flat-screen monitors. A wireless connection allows users to log on to email and the Internet from anywhere within the school. They use a Windows-type interface and carry about 90 percent of the software that most users need on a daily basis, including word processors and spreadsheets, said Mindsurf’s Hardy.

There is no time line set for any decisions about purchasing the new technology for the high school, and those decisions would only come after public input, said Todd Nelson, chairman of the G-E school board. One decision is whether to purchase the equipment outright or to lease it.

Using the technology would take some adjusting, for both students and teachers, and may be met with resistance by some, Nelson said. But he is among those in the district who are interested in grabbing hold of the opportunity.

&uot;If we can use our new technologies to improve our education, to make it easier for you to learn – why not just do it?&uot; said Kropp.