Handheld Devices

Your technology director has given you a budget of $10,000 for the purchase of handheld devices in your library. What would you purchase and why? Justify what you purchase and your creative ideas for how to use the handhelds in the library, whether by students, faculty, and/or staff.

$10,000 to spend sounds like a lot of fun! However making responsible decisions about purchasing technology that will greatly impact teaching and learning school-wide is a huge responsibility. Technology can be a great tool for students and teachers to use, but if not implemented properly it can become a distraction. Handheld devices can be great instructional tools because they are small, portable, and relatively inexpensive. However, they must also be user friendly, have useful applications and capabilities, and be easy to learn and maintain. The last thing I as a librarian would want to do is spend a lot of money on a technology that causes more trouble for students and teachers than benefits.

One handheld device I would invest in for an elementary library is a class set of netbooks. At about $200 each, netbooks offer an inexpensive alternative to laptops that have fewer bells and whistles. Most data and file storage must be kept on other portable devices, making it easy for individual users (students and teachers) to keep track of their own projects. Teachers could use netbooks to take notes and create lesson plans during staff development, trainings, and team meetings, as well as manage assessment and testing data about students. Benefits for students are numerous and include research using web applications, file and data sharing, and presenting to classmates. I would spend $6,000 purchase 30 netbooks, enough for a class set and a few extras for individuals to check out.

With the remaining $4,000 I would purchase a set of iPod touch. These handheld devices cost about $300 for 32GB of memory; I would purchase 10 iPods and use the rest of the money for accessories like headphones and downloading apps and videos. I chose the iPod touch because students are familiar with using a touch screen and it allows the devices to be more interactive, especially for younger students. Teachers can design instruction on the iPods with educational videos and games. Students can work independently or in groups to complete research or enrichment projects. Struggling students will greatly benefit from iPods because they can access the same information as their peers at their own level. Emergent readers or ESL students can use iPods for audio or eBooks to improve fluency and comprehension. The wide range of applications available for iPods makes this a versatile tool for educational use.