CyberCats is a class of 5th graders at Loma Prieta Elementary School, a small rural school located in the Santa Cruz Mtns. These boys and girls are using technology daily as a tool for increased organization, productivity and collaboration.
Since Loma Prieta does not have the financial resources to provide a computer for every student, PDA's (personal digital assistants) are being used as an effective alternative. Each student has been assigned a PDA and every two students have access to a portable keyboard.
Organizational Skills and Time Management
CyberCats use the To Do List and Calendar to track classroom assignments and monitor due dates. Many assignments are completed in Memo Pad and organized by title and subject, thereby reducing the number of lost papers
As part of an individualized math program, CyberCats also use their PDA's to record accomplishments and to track their grades. These boys and girls are well on their way to becoming self-regulated learners
Productivity
Since the PDA is portable, reliable, and always accessible, CyberCats are more productive and consequently use their computer lab time more efficiently.
Students use Memo Pad for creative writing, note-taking and writing reports in science and social studies. They upload their work to the school's server for final editing in the computer lab. As part of their Book Club assignments, they also make lists of figurative language and new vocabulary words.
CyberCats use Sketchy to construct slide shows as well as timelines of American history. When studying matter, students will construct slides demonstrating the structure of molecules.
AvantGo is a website that enables CyberCats to use the Internet without having a PDA connected to a modem. Students select websites that are downloaded to their PDA’s whenever they perform a hotsync. In this way, CyberCats can use their time in the computer lab more efficiently and they have reduced the amount of paper and ink wasted when printing out documents found on the Internet. One of the websites that the CyberCats monitor through AvantGo is fool.com. This site gives them the current price of stocks that they "purchased" at the beginning of the school year. Students then calculate the worth of their portfolio as they record their profit or loss.Handy Sheets is used by Mrs. Regner to create custom worksheets and quizzes.Students download pages to their PDA’s using AvantGo, complete the assignment, then perform another hotsync to post their responses to the Handy Sheets website. This saves the teacher time and saves the school paper, ink, and wear and tear on the copy machine, plus CyberCats love using their cyber world to complete assignments.
PiCoMap is used to create mindmaps during the prewriting stage and for brainstorming. The CyberCats also use this free software to construct visual diagrams comparing the structure of plant and animal cells.
Collaboration
Students collaborate with one another using the beaming feature of the PDA. Students can also present their work on the TV monitor using an interface purchased with donations from parents and Margi presentation software.
CyberCats can beam their written work to Mrs. Regner for easy uploading to the class webpage. To practice editing skills, the teacher can take student-authored work, remove the capitals and punctuation and then beam it back to the class for them to proofread. This is a quick and easy way to accomplish an otherwise boring task.Students view the PDA as an extension to their everyday toolbox. They are becoming more self-reliant and self-directed learners as a result of this highly motivating and versatile tool.
One CyberCat wrote these comments:
I love having our PDA's. You can do a lot of neat things on them. I love to look up my stock on AvantGo. I like typing stories, too. You could gather up a lot of information by Hotsync and download programs and also play games. I also like to do Timelines and play Sketchy. That is why I like them and why I'm thankful for having them.