::: The EdTech Advantage :::

I think we had a very productive session today. For class #4, I decided to combine both groups together since everyone had to use their computers for the exercises. Those who were able to attend today were: Cecille, Kathy, Janet, Rekha, Maricel, Karen, and Norman. We went through the following topics in this class: eBooks and Word Processing for the Palm Handheld.Our class today began with an enlightening moment where Cecille shared with us a personal experience that was quite eye-opening. We were all touched by her story — and wish her the best. Her sharing taught everyone a simple lesson in life: “bold opportunities await beyond open doors.” After her sharing, I started off with a brief discussion of the “keystone effect” on screen projected images and how to fix such issues. Just a quick “how-to” since I was ready and excited to start the class.

I continued with the agenda for the day by leading them to my Blog Page entry on eBooks and Word Processing for the Palm Handheld. We visited a few web sites that featured making eBooks, especially this one from GlobalClassroom.org. It’s a great web site that outlines the steps in creating eBooks on your own. There are links where you can download programs needed to accomplish this task. After a brief discussion on the steps required to make an eBook, I forwarded everyone to the eReader site where we took a quick look at the details of the eBook Studio product. This is the software for a desktop/laptop computer that allows one to create an eBook (that can then be converted, tranferred to and read on a PALM Handheld computer). It is available for both Macintosh and Windows computers. The participants downloaded the demo Mac version of eBook Studio (the Windows version is available here. The full, unlimited version is available for $29.95.)

To facilitate the creation of their first eBook, I had everyone download a .sit (stuffit) file that contained a text file and digital images about the landing on the moon. We got this file from the StrohHouse web site. We opened eBook Studio and started working with it. First, we copied the text from the “moon” file that we downloaded. It opened in AppleWorks, so we just highlighted the text, copied to the clipboard and pasted into the eBook Studio document screen. Once the text was in, we did some formatting changes — bolds, italics, underlines here and there. Then we dragged the “moon pictures” into appropriate spots in the document. I then showed the class how to create hyperlinks within the document. The thing to remember is to first create an anchor then create the hypernlink.

The class did some more “fixing” of their eBooks and once they finished this task, we saved our work and converted the eBook studio file (.PML format), into a PALM eBook file (.PDB format). After accomplishing this, I jumped into the introduction of “BlueTooth file sending”. I provided BlueTooth USB “adaptors” to those who didn’t have built-in BlueTooth networking in their Macs. It is very easy to use such devices — just plug one into a free USB port, then find the computer through the Palm Tungsten E2’s built-in BlueTooth networking preference pane. You basically “pair” the TE-2 with the desktop computer you would like to work with (sending files or HotSyncing). After everyone paired their Macs to their TE-2’s, we started “BlueToothing” our files (sending vai BlueTooth) from our Macs to our Palm TE-2’s. The process of pairing proved to be very confusing to almost everyone in the class — except for Cecille. She had already done this in the past and is quite a veteran palm handheld user (she syncs via BlueTooth and installs files into her Palm T|X via that method). She assisted in the “pairing” of the Macs and TE-2’s. I told the class that once a Palm handheld has been paired with a Mac for BlueTooth networking, this pairing is saved in the Palm’s and Mac’s “memory” — so this setting will stay unless it is erased. Thus, you really just have to pair a Mac and a Palm handheld only once. From this point, the connection can be called up anytime you HotSync or send files via BlueTooth.

After a few seconds, everyone was able to transfer their eBooks from their Macs to their TE-2’s. They tested their eBooks — scrolled up and down, checked hyperlinks, and then closed the book on eBooks! We moved quickly into the next part, which was about Documents to Go and printing. I introduced Docs to Go (DTG) — which features MS-Word and MS-Excel document compatibility. I went through the menus of the program to show the functions and capabilities. Since all participants already know how to use a word processor, it was very easy to adapt to the smaller footprint of Docs to Go. The “zoom” feature is a blessing since we had a tough time looking at the tiny text in which DTG defaults. Once we adjusted this setting, we went ahead and started typing our first DTG document. I showed the class the typical formatting options that they might use often (font types, font sizes, and other text attributes; paragraph formatting controls, and bullets and numbering controls). After they completed their typing exercise, I showed them how to save their files. (It is important to note that files saved in an SD card will not show up in the PrintBoy printing program. These files have to be moved to the main memory of the Palm handheld for printing purposes.)

Once the files were saved, I had everyone line up next to the Palm printing station I had set up — a Brother HL-2070N printer with a PrintBoy infra-red printing adapter (from Bachmann Software) connected to the parallel port at the back of the printer. This was truly a plug-and-play set up — one of the easiest set ups I have encountered in the computing world. Everyone lined up for their turn at the printing station. All they had to do was start the PrintBoy “Print” program, which opens in the print choices screen. After tapping on “W” Documents, they were presented with a menu of “doc” files to print. They chose the file they needed to print, tapped “Print”, and that was it! After about 5 seconds, the print job was complete. Sweet and easy!

I think everyone in the class realized the value of having a 1:1 ratio of student-to-computer in the classroom, especially now that they themselves have tried typing on the Palm Universal Wireless Keyboard coupled with the Tungsten E2. With such as setup, you can have students working on their documents as they are gatherd in small spaces, such as a round table.

This class (#4) was the most exciting class so far in this series of classes that I’m conducting for my fellow-teachers at St. John’s School. Everyone was happy with their products (eBooks and printouts). It was one of the longest classes so far, but it seems everyone had a good time learning A LOT of new things. And the cow leapt over the moon …