Pocket PCs at School... What would you want?

[Matt Keys]

Think big huh.....<br><br>*passes out*<br><br>1. Durable<br>2. Good selection of keyboards

[RwGast]

Ya make sure u get good cases with screen protection and some student planning software preinstalled.

[Robby]

a pocketpc for students that has to support wireless LAN. <br>@migo with a wireless LAN card.

[suchiaruzu]

You have to have recharging stations at the seats. I dunno how you handle that in america/canada and especially in your school, but infrared beaming to the teachers desk would be cool (doh, 802.11 ...).<br>No Stowaway keyboards. These other ones, i dont know the exact name. look it up somewhere.<br>some special software. make them go into kiosk mode so the pupils dont play all the time. ya know, kiosk mode. nuffin works but the stuff you allow people to do. same on stuff like the cebit or the comdex. (of course that sucks, but teachers and stuff are afraid of pocketpcs. they took mine away from me several times)<br>-Shape

[Chris Edwards]

I don't think it would be like that... (recharge at each desk).. Most likely we would let them take it home, and they would worry about charging them... They would sync to a centralized server via wireless lan, so we'd have to make a rom image set up to do that, etc.<br><br>They'd be connected to the exchange server via the wireless lan for all of their contacts/email, etc.<br><br>I'm looking for ideas of use... like having the teacher set up a survey, and everyone take it on their pocket pc... instant results could be displayed via the in-room smartboard.. We have smartboards in each classroom (a projector-based board that is touch screen).<br><br>Things like attendance, etc. could be taken on the teachers pocket pc... then the attendence information could automatically be transferred to the attendence system (ms sql-based).<br><br>students could get updates of their marks whenever they want via the electronic marking system.. (also ms sql-based)<br><br>Those are the kind of ideas i'm looking for...

[RwGast]

Off the subject but chris you should play some games on the smartboard its phate, like havin a huge monitor.

[erth]

Some other infrastructure for the things yer talkin bout could be the MS Encarta Class server - pretty neat stuff.  <br><br>Or

[Chris Edwards]

Well.. actually, playing halflife on a 10foot rear projection screen with a 800watt audio system is much better ... (in our gym)

[NYIllustrator]

A pocket pc for every student! lol. My old high school woulda been rolling on the floor laughing if you ever brought that idea up at a budget meeting. They could barely afford to replace the window some kid broke.

[brntcrsp]

In class writing assignments would be fast because each student would have the PPC in front of them, type it in class and send it wirelessly to the instructor.<br><br>Notes could be distributed by the teacher via a word document or something to every student thereby eliminating the use of paper.  <br><br>Music classes could have a sample piece that the instructor needs them to listen to.<br><br>Personal Finance classes could use them to teach students about keeping a balanced account.<br><br>My father teaches 3rd grade in America and his students are required to use the internet for X hours a week/part of their computer proficiency curriculum.<br><br>Lets see...  the list goes on but I am sleepy.  Good luck Chris.  If you want to brain storm just let me know.

[Cameron]

[Chris Edwards]

Ok, I have the privilege of creating a vision for the integration of Pocket PC's into my school. Money is not that big of an issue...<br><br>What's the perfect solution for Pocket PC's in a school? What would you use them for?<br><br>Wireless infrastructure is a must.. 802.11a if possible.<br><br>Think big... Any thoughts?Last modification: Chris Edwards - 01/02/02 at 14:18:02

[chocoruacal]

I work for a small college that has all the students connected on a wireless network. Originally they planned on using HP Jornada's, but they found that it just wasn't worth it in the long run to try and use pocket PC's. They went with Thinkpad's instead, because it made more sense for the students, they didn't feel like the pocket PC's/PDAs were usefull ::shrug:: The students pay for the thinkpads through IT fees:)

[James S]

I would say PocketPC's are not as useful as you'd think in school. The screen would have to be 3 times as wide to easily write on, handwriting recognition would have to be RIGHT ON too.
Wireless notes, attendance, and all the other mentioned uses are good. But WRITING on it? That's why I bought a keyboard, writing on it isn't practical...
Those TabletPC's with WinCE2.11 on them are cool though, huge screen, keyboard, everything. Could even be used in an art class if necessary.