The Handheld Project

The College of Education received Information Technology Advisory Committee (ITAC) funding to pilot the instructional use of handheld devices in 2006. The ITAC support allowed the Learning Technology Center (LTC) to develop custom applications on personal digital assistants (PDAs) for COE faculty to explore new uses of handhelds in education and research.

The project underwent a fundamental conceptual shift in 2007 and 2008. The Handheld Project’s original goal was to help faculty develop instructional applications for PDAs. The project team came to realize that standalone PDAs were rapidly being eclipsed by the full-featured cell phone, also referred to as a mobile device. In collaboration with the College of Education Technology Vision Plan Committee, which had provided ITAC funding for the project, it was decided that the project should shift focus from the use of classroom sets of PDAs to the ubiquitous use of the cell phone that every student carries at all times. Development platforms and standards are now under evaluation, in alignment with UT’s interface recommendations for these devices.

In the meantime, work during 2007-2008 resulted in the creation of a series of Pocket PC based animations that demonstrate a variety of fundamental statistical concepts. A second project facilitates the collection of fitness performance data and the creation of Web-based reports for analysis by students in Kinesiology.