[human at electronetwork.org: [Reader-list] A Case for PDA Student Computing]

[Supreet]

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>>	
>>// ironically, was illustrating an idea about PDA
>>// computers and it may fit into the discussion
>>// of software that Are has mentioned... so i've
>>// written this draft essay in order to explain
>>// the images, which will be put online as part of
>>// the Electromagnetic Education Initiative (EEI).
>>// comments and suggestions appreciated. brian
>>
>>
>>
>>-- A Case for PDA Student Computing --
>>
>>this is a draft of an essay proposing the PDA as
>>the basis for an affordable educational computer,
>>and a foundation for creating digital classrooms.
>>
>>   1. A Few Basic Assumptions
>>   2. PDA Student Computing (PSC)
>>   3. PDA Student Computer Hardware
>>   4. PDA Student Computer Software
>>   5. The PSC Digital Classroom
>>
>>
>>-- A Case for PDA Student Computing --
>>
>>I had the pleasure of going to a multimedia school
>>where the curriculum explored the multidisciplinary
>>aspects of multimedia computing, such as the history
>>of computers and its relations to developments in
>>other disciplines- and stories of technology pioneers
>>who sketched ideas of what the computer _might become.
>>In another class a project explored technology trends
>>and one assignment was to imagine what a computer
>>may be like in the near future. That is the genesis
>>of this current essay, which explores a cost-effective
>>computing infrastructure that could help bridge the
>>'digital divide' through both economies-of-scale
>>hardware purchases and custom software development,
>>for primary and secondary student computing devices,
>>and their integration into current classroom setups.
>>
>>
>>1. A Few Basic Assumptions
>>
>>Before detailing what is needed, it would help to
>>dispel aspects of present day computing cultures
>>which are not needed in classroom computing, for
>>the most general utilities of computing in its
>>widest sense, as a learning device, as a support
>>tool, and not an education in itself. A full-scale
>>Personal Computer (PC), costing hundreds to thousands
>>of dollars is not required for grade school, junior
>>high, and possibly even high-school student who may
>>use it mostly for data entry, calculations, database
>>lookups, scheduling, prebuilt software packages, and
>>other basic (and some advanced) tasks. A school or
>>student may have need for more computing power for
>>Internet access, say, or as a dedicated art computer
>>(audiovisual or painting) and therefore a computer
>>lab may service these needs, or a particular classroom.

Having basic assumption that PC's are costly is wrong. A low-end or 
thinclient PC comes at around $200 (without monitor).
Art computer is a new concept to me. Computer AFAIK has been made to be a 
general purpose machine. Specific software is written to program it to do 
certain task. It still has potential to be a general purpose machine. I 
don't think you need much of processing power to run a modem and a browser. 
I have been doing it for years on my 486 box and it was fast in enough. Hell 
people did it with 386's even.


>>
>>Hundreds of dollars worth of standard business software
>>is also not needed for the general student to perform
>>basic computing tasks, and explore computing at the
>>same time. Microsoft's Word software, by itself, would
>>cost more than the software and hardware of one student
>>PDA computer. As would software from most major software

People buy there software according to utility. If you need Word to do a 
task you will buy word. Anyway a standard addon called wordpad provides more 
functionality then a standard word processor on PDA would that too for free


>>industry manufacturers. Therefore, for some specific
>>applications, open-source software developed within
>>local, national, and international school systems may
>>be codeveloped and shared, instead. Paid for by sweat-
>>equity and-or government research and development grants.
>>This alone would bring the price-per-computer, and issues
>>of constantly upgrading software to a low price-point,
>>likely comparable with current textbooks and materials,
>>possibly below current costs, over a period of years.

Who said you would'nt need to upgrade or maintain your PDA and its well 
known components for non-standard machines like laptop and PDA's is costlier


>>
>>Another aspect of traditional business computing that
>>does not work in the educational sector towards its
>>advantage is the form-factor, or the size, shape, and
>>characteristics of a full-sized PC. They are big, bulky,
>>noisy, create a lot of heat, need to be cooled, and this
>>in itself takes a lot of resources, not least of which
>>includes a monthly electric bill and needs for hiring
>>computer experts to troubleshoot the simplest to most
>>complex of problems. It is an avalanche scenario, where
>>upon purchasing a regular PC system, especially for
>>younger people, requires spending a lot of time keeping
>>systems up and running, along with constant tech support,
>>which as any computer user may know, can stop all activity
>>should enough small things go wrong at once, making the
>>focus of the classroom, the computer, and not education.

Most computer labs I have seen are run by students themselves. Then all this 
talk about heat dissaption is conserned. There are machines modelled to be 
low on noise. Examples are VIA c3 and crusoe processors are low voltage and 
low heat rocessors.


>>
>>With that out of the way, it is now appropriate to delve
>>a bit further into the concept of a PDA Student Computer.

To push further would be more appropriate.

>>
>>
>>2. PDA Student Computing
>>
>>For those unfamiliar with the acronym, a PDA is also
>>known as a personal digital assistant. They have been
>>around for years, basically re-branding the electronic
>>organizers with scheduling and organizer functions into
>>miniature computing devices that are now capable of
>>running custom programs, such as astronomy, drawing,
>>language translation, and other programs.

Those programs are still harder to get than a PC. Introducing another 
platform would be developers would have to support another 'minority' 
platform just like mac. These products would always be coslier then the PC 
line.


>>
>>The proprietary operating systems of these PDAs include
>>the Palm OS, Windows CE, and occasionally open-source
>>Linux with some models. The PDA hardware is made by a
>>diverse group of manufacturers, and a lower-end price-
>>point is near $100 US, with color screens in the $200-
>>$300 US range. Battery life is still an issue, but new
>>models oftentimes come with rechargeable batteries,
>>and most also include slots for removable digital
>>storage cards, and wireless networking capabilities,
>>for PDA-to-local-area-network and PDA-PDA connections.


Battery life is a big problem which would hamper the whole visiualization in 
real world.
Then there are many security and privacy issues with wireless computing 
unless implemented carefully. 
Instead of all this cards etc etc, why not just get a PC a proven reliable 
platform.


>>
>>Most PDAs use a touch-screen with a writing stylus,
>>which at times is the most efficient method of navigation
>>or data-entry, and other times a keyboard is needed. In
>>response to this need, a foldable keyboard industry has
>>sprouted up in response, and is a vital accessory which
>>can turn a PDA into a basic student computing system:

A PDA stylus is not half as proven as a standard PS/2 keyboard. Plug any 
brand of cheap $3 keyboard and get going. Average PDA keyboard is around 20 
times more costly.

>>
>>IMAGE 1: PDA student computing (25 kilobytes)
>>http://www.electronetwork.org/temp3/studentpda.gif
>>* temporarily online, please download if archiving.
>>
>>All the issues inherent in traditional computer, from
>>price to size to portability, to troubleshooting and
>>tech support tend to a whole different approach to
>>student computing that- it is proposed- PDA Student
>>Computers are superior on most every level at which
>>students are prepared to use them in a cost-effective
>>way, in comparison with full-fledged computers whose
>>resources may never get used before they are outdated.

If the interface is standardized you could easily provide support. In case 
the interface is standardized by the technology itself. Not to many 
programs, not too much memory and not to many interfaces to upload programs 
and data.

On a PC platform which is very extensible, there are hundred different ways 
of changing the way you you compute. This becomes a problem in case of 
providing support. But the bright side is some PC's can do things which the 
manufacturer never thought it would be able to do.

Cheap third party tools is best feature of a PC. 



>>
>>
>>3. PDA Student Computer Hardware
>>
>>As mentioned, with hardware available today, off-the-
>>shelf technologies could be used, or specifications

A PDA technology is anything but of the shelf. You can count on your 
fingures the PDA manufacturers. 
I don't think you are getting ARM or motorola dragon ball in any computer 
mart.

>>for an educational computer, designed to meet the
>>specific needs & requirements of educational computing
>>could be designed and mass manufactured on such a
>>scale as to bring the price-point down from those
>>of commercial models, through uniformity and bulk
>>purchasing, and possible leasing of these handhelds
>>until a major hardware revision is available to make
>>an upgrade cost-effective.Else, in such a system a
>>phased-in upgrade could happen in school districts,
>>or specific test classrooms, in order to experiment
>>with the PDA Student Computer as a model for digital
>>classrooms, and to explore their full potential which
>>today is being downgraded because the consumer market
>>is tending towards mobile phones with PDA functionality.

Student computer etc etc would be used to purchase costly computers so that 
it becomes cheaper. wow thats a nice logic. 
I think it would more interesting seeing US army making bulk purchase. Which 
would make the mass production possible and PDA's would get to the point 
where they would priced according to there utility. I would prefer buying a 
PDA for schools if it comes at sub $50 price with a keyboard and a 
networking system. 

>>
>>Yet, PDAs are unique as a small form-factor system
>>which could be put into a young person's backpack,
>>safely transported from school to home, and last for
>>several years, as a basic supplementary computing
>>system. The Hardware would not be designed for the
>>Internet, WWW, text messaging, or audio and video.
>>Instead, it would be like a notebook and textbook
>>and calculator and class-schedule and gradebook,
>>drawing pad, word processor, dictionary, translator,
>>science experiment kit, programming tool, and general
>>educational device, which young adults may begin to
>>learn the basics of computing with, and expand upon
>>this knowledge with larger and more powerful systems
>>on their own time or in a different lab with Internet
>>access, while the PDA computer could be stored away
>>and setup quickly during any class, for support work
>>in the service of learning, where it performs its
>>tasks as an infrastructure for various daily lessons.

Don't you it would be better if students carry a USB momory stick. Because 
whole reason for going mobile is to use computer while you are going from 
school to home or vise versa. 

>>
>>And, as easily, this diminutive device can be ignored
>>even as it sits on a desk, or be left to idle without
>>having to worry about tech support or other issues
>>that would require an expert to fix on the spot. The
>>hardware could also be brought home, thus helping all
>>students have access to the devices, and possibly to
>>learning software, homework, and programs which they
>>can learn at their own pace, and in interests which
>>are particular to their learning interests, at a young
>>age, without requiring that all students do the same.

For any form of usage it would need to be synced with a PC at regular 
interval. Which means a computer at home is needed which means that you are 
pushing the purchase from school to home rather than not buying a computer 
scenerio. Then at school as well you would need a computer per 3 students 
for them to sync there work which they did hypothetically when they were 
mobile. I think 1 computer per 3 students is the ratio in schools anyway so 
you are not doing any major benefit by purchasing PDA's which are cost hit 
itself apart from the cost of maintenance of added computing equipment. 
Think of AMC's. Well somebody is going to make loads of money out of this. 

>>
>>To do this would require a standardization of the
>>PDA Student Computer, and a competitive market for
>>various companies to develop better and better devices
>>so that as more schools sign-on to affordable digital
>>classrooms, they also benefit by technological advances,
>>and by lower prices and higher performance in contracts.
>>
>>
>>4. PDA Student Computer Software
>>
>>PDA Student Computers need an operating system (OS) that
>>can use both proprietary and open-source software programs.
>>This is for two important reasons. One being that these
>>computers need to connect to larger PCs, from time to time,
>>and thus need an interface to do so which is cross-platform
>>and stable. A proprietary OS might be preferred by certain
>>commercial or pre-existing software companies who want to
>>cross-market PDA educational software in existing markets.

USB and IEEE-1394 and serial port are three interfaces which are used for 
reliable syncing. I think there is nothing proprietry in them. Most 
open-source software I know support this.

>>Whereas an open-source OS would enable custom programming
>>by schools and universities to be used, at no- or low-cost,
>>by thousands to millions of students in schools across the
>>world, without the worry of paying for software and constant
>>upgrades.

Who said open-source is no or low-cost. It may not be the case

>>The goal of the PDA Computer software is stability,
>>and the OS would not be constantly upgraded so as to require
>>upgrading all software, if at all possible. Only a major and
>>planned upgrades would be allowed for PDA Student Computing
>>hardware and software, to ensure longevity of systems, and
>>their stability, and benefits of large scale deployments.

Thus regimentizing students to use specific kind of software and nothing 
else.


>>
>>It is possible that the US Military or other government R&D
>>labs have developed some technologies for field use that may
>>be beneficial to the software (and hardware) of PDA Student
>>Computers, and these would also be explored, as a way to
>>pool resources to do as much as possible with the least
>>amount of wasted resources.

Maybe that would also benefit the PC market

>>
>>An example of proprietary software that may be used in
>>various grade schools might be a language program which
>>helps translate meanings of certain words or sentences.
>>The best vendor for such programs may be a commercial
>>software maker who ports their program to the PDA as one
>>of many platforms. In each grade, or class, one or two
>>such programs may be critical, and could become 'leased'
>>or 'purchased' software, under some mutually beneficial
>>agreement which is cost-effective while getting the most
>>out of a specific product. Its contents may be a history
>>textbook, or mathematics training and learning programs.
>>And a private company may produce a superior product to
>>justify the investment, as part of a school's curriculum,
>>which may be stored on a permanent digital card, or may
>>be transferred to the PDA for a specific class, replacing
>>textbooks, paper, and handouts for some (but not all)
>>classes, and also allowing learners to bring their work,
>>and questions, home with them, and work on them there.


Well this could be something US govt could finance. Research into language 
translation and grammer. 

>>
>>Collectively developed custom software would also be a
>>critical application for PDA Student Computing, and it
>>would be able to leverage millions of students and others
>>in middle and upper educational systems to create software
>>for younger students, as part of their education. So too,
>>young students using the PDA Student Computer could begin
>>to learn the basics of computer programming, along with
>>other areas of discovery and development, through their
>>own first steps in programming their own ideas in software.
>>
>>For example, if a Linux or other OS was used, open-source
>>programmers could possibly develop programs that are both
>>school- and student-specific, for class or individual
>>projects, or science-fairs, say. Also, 'experiments' could
>>be designed and conducted virtually in PDA software, such
>>as with learning basic electronics, with an electronics
>>laboratory complete with breadboard for creating circuits.
>>Or, devices could be attached to the USB port on the PDA
>>Student Computers to use for measurements or other goals
>>in a lesson plan, in support of learning initiatives. Also,
>>many of the best resources such as dictionaries and other
>>devices exist in the open-source community which would be
>>superior in price and comparable in functionality to a
>>commercial product, and therefore, this open-design is
>>essential in the social-economics of PDA Student Computers.


How does it relate to PDA anyway. Could do all this with any computing 
platform with USB. BTW most PDA's are not directly capable of using USB


>>
>>
>>5. The PSC Digital Classroom
>>
>>The biggest challenge in bringing a PDA Student Computer
>>(PSC) into the present-day classroom environment, in terms
>>of technologically, would be finding a way to safely wire
>>a room for rechargeable power plugs available at each desk.
>>The form-factor of the PSC in creating a Digital Classroom
>>would enable current furniture to be used, no additional
>>hard wiring in existing building walls, and an ability to
>>store the devices safely in protective cases when not in
>>use. This means that, with today's technology, and a low-
>>cost computing budget, most every school would be able to
>>leverage whatever moneys are allocated for student computing
>>to greatest effect, at least expenditure, and with greatest
>>flexibility and utility versus a corporate PC or commercial
>>computing vision, sold as an educational solution when
>>almost all of its computing power will be wasted on all
>>but the most intensive users.


It would be biggest scam ever



>>
>>The Digital Classroom consists of a few basic features,
>>and this model is applicable for most every classroom in
>>most every grade in primary and secondary schools, assuming
>>that those older with use the PSC devices to greater effect,
>>and intensity, where full-scale labs may become necessary
>>for Internet-related work and audiovisual and other study.
>>
>>Image 2: The Digital Classroom (94 kilobytes)
>>http://www.electronetwork.org/temp3/classroom.gif
>>* temporarily online, please download if archiving.
>>
>>The Digital Classroom consists of a few major components.
>>One is each student having access to their own PDA Student
>>Computer (PSC). Each PSC would have wireless capabilities,
>>and each desk would be equipped for recharging the devices.
>>The wireless network would be commanded from a wall-mounted
>>wireless base station, which could send PSC signals to a
>>wireless printer, or to the teacher's full-scale PC system,
>>which could then be put up on a classroom digital projector,
>>all in real-time, through local area network. Homework and
>>other resources, like learning materials or programs, could
>>be transferred onto digital storage disks and given to each
>>student to open, use, and take home to work on the materials.


Most marketing teams of major manufacturers sell this dream. In real world 
it does'nt work as smoothly


>>
>>In addition, the storage cards could be changed or updated
>>by the teacher through a card reader. Students could also
>>beam their work to the wireless printer for print outs and
>>other assignments, and with programmed software automation
>>such tasks could be done in an instant, through the touch
>>of a button, instead of having to manually collect, collate,
>>and store such information. More permanent works could be
>>archived via CD or placed on USB keychain drives for PSC
>>information to be transferred to home or lab computers.
>>
You never bothered to tell about all the other assesories requied like a USB 
keychain. 


>>This functionality comes on top of basic PDA software which
>>is either included in an OS or could be achieved with little
>>or no cost through existing solutions, and that is the basic
>>scheduling, to-do lists, word processing, calculator, alarms,
>>and other built-in programs which in many ways could help a
>>student acclimate to intensive information environments that
>>are inherent with computer passwords, URLs, names, dates,
>>notes, and other data which may be electronically organized.
>>
>>In all, to summarize the PSC Digital Classroom as described,
>>it is an available, malleable, robust, affordable, open-
>>ended, upgradeable, efficient and perfectly sufficient
>>computer system for use in primary and secondary schools.
>>It has most all the functionality that makes computers
>>worthwhile in investing in, for student education, if the
>>goal is to supplement the learning process, and open new
>>horizons related to personal educational computing. Its
>>costs are a fraction of what commercial and corporate
>>computer systems cost, such as laptops, whose power a
>>student is unlikely to need or use to justify the cost.
>>So too, issues of software, hardware, and needed changes
>>or PC systems are not an issue with PDA Student Computing
>>systems, and the PSC Digital Classroom. With this approach,
>>the computer is not the focus, the student is, and students
>>have what they need to learn and explore, and if they need
>>more they can use their own resources to go further in depth,
>>but everyone would have access, versus only a few students
>>in a few schools, with basically equipment re-branded and
>>sold as educational computing rather than designed for it.
>>
>>Please consider this idea as one possibility in the future
>>of basic educational computing, and one present-day way to
>>bridge the gap existing between those with computer resources
>>and those in need of gaining fundamental computer literacy.
>>If the priorities are clear enough, and the needs are able
>>to be standardized for group-bargaining, manufacturers and
>>others may be able to work together for such a device that
>>uses the best of public and private resources to benefit all.
>>
>>[end]
>>
>>Brian Thomas Carroll
>>Architecture & Electromagnetism
>>Research, Design, and Development
>>Electromagnetic Education Initiative
>>http://www.electronetwork.org/works/eei/
>>
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>>
Could you just post cost per student estimate for this kind of 
infrastructure. 
etc and supreet

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