Students Perform Better With Handheld PDAs

Elementary school students using PDAs outperform their peers working with paper and pencil.

The findings come from a study of grades 4 and 5 students learning spelling and math. Children with handheld computers achieved higher marks on exams.

The study examined two situations where the performance of students using handhelds was compared with students using conventional learning tools. Among grade 4 students studying English spelling, those who practiced spelling with a PDA got significantly higher marks on tests than did students who practiced without computers.

In another setting, grade five students were tested on dividing fractions. Children who used handheld computers to do the exam outperformed those who just had paper and pencil.