Course to Go: The Handspring Visor Neo
Students generally take the World Wide Web
for granted today, but even the most experienced Internet users are relative
newcomers to the realm of mobile computing. To help further demystify and
examine pervasive computing, students in "Ethics and the Internet," a course
I've taught for six years at Duke University, used Handspring's Visor Deluxe
personal digital assistants in the past academic year.
The use of the
PDAs, supported by a grant from Duke University's Center for Instructional
Technology, has helped students gain a sense of the growing fusion between the
online and off-line worlds, has sparked discussion of that phenomenon, and in
general has helped extend the classroom experience.
I use a Visor
Prism—Handspring's high-end, color model—but the monochrome Visor Neo is the
company's newer, faster, flashier model. (I assume the product's name was
borrowed from the protagonist of the 1999 film The Matrix, a high-tech favorite
of college students.) I am an advocate of lightweight handheld computers,
particularly since baggage restrictions for traveling have gotten more
stringent. Although equally praised and denigrated as executive toys, PDAs are
much more than expensive address books.
Paradoxically, though, it is the
friendly, toy-like quality of Handspring's devices that is appealing. The
flexibility of its Springboard expansion slot enables users to slide in various
modules—from presentation to wireless modem applications—to suit their needs.
Because more than 55 modules are available, the design is ideal for experiencing
the range of pervasive computing applications and their impact on daily academic
life.
The Neo is a tight package at 4.8 inches by 3 inches by 0.7 inch,
and it weighs a mere 5.4 ounces. It retails for $169, uses the Palm Inc. 3.5
operating system, and is controlled by a 33 MHz Dragonball processor from
Motorola Inc. that is 50 percent faster than that of the Deluxe. Unlike the
Prism, the Neo d'es not recharge while HotSyncing and instead runs on two AAA
batteries, which some students prefer over having to carry a recharging cradle.
According to Handspring, the battery life is six to eight weeks with average
use.
Other features include 8M of memory, a 4-bit grayscale, backlit
display, USB connectivity, enhanced address and date book, calculator, clock,
Macintosh compatibility, built-in microphone, and infrared synchronization for
"beaming" files to other PDA users.
This spring, two of my students, Scott
Manson and Ted Rosenwasser, helped assess the Neo and several test modules. PDA
neophyte Scott liked being able to enter information into his primary computer
and load it quickly through the Neo's USB connection, which, as Ted pointed out,
is 12 times faster than through the serial port he uses with his three-year-old
Palm V.
Both students admired the sleek styling of the Neo and
appreciated its expandability. Scott, who enjoyed playing Scrabble on the PDA
and also used the device for taking notes in class, found the Franklin's
Merriam-Webster dictionary module helpful.
Ted enjoyed trying out the
eyemodule2 VGA camera and modest camcorder, although he quickly reached its
limitations. Yet, being able to quickly take black-and-white photographs and
beam them to another user is a cutting-edge application.
With a few
caveats, I'm pleased with the Presenter-to-Go module from Margi Systems Inc.,
which enabled me to carry Microsoft Corp. PowerPoint presentations and run them
from the PDA. The cable, however, is quite short and useless if the projector is
ceiling mounted. And because I often make graphics-heavy presentations, I
sometimes tax the memory limits of my PDA.
I often use the
802.11b-compatible Xircom Wireless Ethernet module to send instant messages,
read e-mail, and surf the Web in a rudimentary way while holding office hours or
while at work in the library. Because I play books on tape and CD, I also
appreciate the Audible Advisor, a module that comes with earbuds for listening
to recordings downloaded from Audible Inc.'s Web site (www.audible.com).
The fact that the
students and I prefer different features and modules and used the Neo in
different ways speaks to the adaptability of the Handspring line. Pedagogically,
the Neo has provided a relatively low-cost and attractive way of encouraging
students to think outside the deskbound or address-book box.
For classes with
fieldwork, the GPS Companion module might be appropriate, and for
writing-intensive purposes, one of the lightweight or collapsible keyboards can
be a useful addition that will not break the budget. They are all easy to
use—just slide or snap in place, turn on the Visor and go.
Together
with wireless phones, MP3 players, pagers, and other portable devices, the
Handspring models we've used have helped open the experience of the course and
deepened the students' involvement with today's digital culture. Indeed,
students become attached to the devices, and letting go can be, as Scott said, a
bittersweet experience.
Wendy Robinson is an adjunct instructor at Duke University. She can be
reached at [email protected]. The syllabus
for "Ethics and the Internet" can be found at www.duke.edu/~wgrobin/ethics.
