$50 Handhelds?? for elementary students--not a PC!

I've always used the word "handheld" to be synonymous with "handheld computer" so when I saw several articles and reviews touting a $50 "handheld" I had to do some more checking. Elementary schools in at least seven cities (500 in Chicago) are piloting this "handheld computer" to help teach reading and math. Although the device is just $50, the reading and math software that the machine is designed for (the only thing it comes loaded with is a management system) costs $20 for each program PER STUDENT. The cost just doubled.

The Chicago-based Innovations for Learning, (a non-profit organization) bills it as “the world’s most affordable solution” for giving a "computer" to every student. I would argue with that statement, but after reading more about it, the device may have its place in the classroom.

The “teachermate,” features a 2.5 inch color screen (get out your reading glasses!), 512 megabytes of internal memory, an SD slot for expandability, a built-in microphone and speaker, and a battery life of four hours. It weighs 1.2 pounds...seems heavy for such a small device. Along with the device (I just can't call it a computer!) you can buy a special case ($300 plus S &H) that allows charging and data-sync of 30 units at a time using one AC outlet and one USB cable.

The strength of the device is in its reading and math software programs also developed by Innovations for Learning, which says it created the software first but was looking for an affordable, scalable way to deliver the software to every student. According to Seth Weinberger, executive director of the nonprofit:

“Our organization has been stymied over the years by the same roadblock faced by all educational software makers—the inadequacy of personal computers in K-2 classrooms, “There are too few computers in the classroom, too many of them are broken, and too many of them are hand-me-downs. Public schools do not have the funds to provide sufficient computer resources to the young students who need them most.”

These problems led the group to develop an inexpensive solution that would be intuitive for young students to use. According to an eSchoolNews article,

"The teachermate is lightweight and portable, yet the images on its screen are highly visible. All you have to do is switch on the power button and it’s ready to go. A row of three colored buttons on the top, a circle of arrows to the right, and a big blue “enter” button on the left make up all the controls. The software’s learning games are simple and have fun noises and actions for kids to look at. There’s also a dog character named Max who dances and plays instruments for students when they complete a game successfully. The device comes with lightweight earphones and has places for a USB cable and an AC cord."

Steve Dembo, in his Teach42 blogpost about the device had a chance to speak with Seth and shared the following about it:

"I loved the idea of the Sync and Store case for its simplicity, but I didn’t realize how critical it was to use these devices effectively. The idea is, once per week the teacher goes into the classroom management software and marks off where each student is for reading and math, at a class, group, or individual level. Then, the device will load up lessons that are specific to that students’ level! The device won’t have the entire year stored on it. Heck, it won’t even have the entire unit. It will have just the lessons that the individual student would need for that week. VERY targeted. Of course, the flip side is that students’ answers/responses are recorded and uploaded to the teachers’ computer at next sync so they have a solid idea how the student is doing.

Another tidbit that almost blew me off my chair was how they’re using the microphone. The example he showed me was the Teachermate displaying an image along with a sentence below it. Then, using the built in speaker, you would hear a person read the phrase aloud. After hearing it read aloud (highlighting the words along the way), the student would repeat it back. The microphone would record the student reading it. Then, it would play the original voice reading it, the student reading it and the original once again. So the student had the ability to compare their own reading and inflection to the original! Not only that, but those recordings? They also get transfered over to the teachers computer so he or she can HEAR how the student is doing. Just think how powerful that would be to be able to break out during conferences and share with parents.

But wait, that’s not all! After reading a story (or watching an animated story), students can even choose characters from the story, stamp them on the screen, type out their own story via the onscreen keyboard (yucky, but kids are doing it anyway on their video game systems all the time), and then NARRATE IT using the microphone. The whole thing is saved and can be transfered over to the teachers computer. I know what you’re going to ask next, and no, there is no way to publish those just yet, but it’s on the list for 2.0."

So...where do I get my hands on one!? I tried Amazon.com and although it's listed, it also says "not yet available." It's on my wishlist, even though it's not really a PC...or even a handheld (as I've always defined it.) Maybe I need to change my definition???