Use of Handheld Devices and Personal Digital Assistant (PDA) in Higher Education The personal digital assistant (PDA) and handheld computers have been around since the mid-1990s, but only in the last few years have they made their way into higher education. Medical schools across the country have thoroughly embraced the gadgets as a requirement for medical students. One by one, undergraduate programs are jumping on the PDA bandwagon, starting slowly with pilot projects and PDA requirements for students in the computer science and engineering schools. EDUCAUSE has identified papers, presentations, and Web sites concerning the use of handheld devices and PDAs in higher education that may be useful to the higher education community. Many of these links have been contributed by EDUCAUSE members. If you have additional resources you would like to include on this page, send the information to: [log in to unmask]PDA Programs at UniversitiesDeveloping
an Enterprise Wireless/Palm Computing Strategy This paper describes some of the innovative health-related PDA projects under way at VCU, which include a project involving medical students who were given PDAs loaded with various medical reference software to use in their work with patients, a Nurse Anesthesia project that uses video clips of procedures downloaded to PDAs for quick reference by students in the field, and a creative use of PDAs and scanners to record attendance during grand rounds in the Department of Surgery. Palm Computing at Virginia Commonwealth University This session also concerns the VCU PDA projects at the School of Medicine. This session was presented at 2001 Seminars on Academic Computing. Mobile Devices (Palm OS, Pocket PC, Windows CE Handheld) Project In the fall of 2001, the University of Iowa's Information Technology Services, in partnership with the University Libraries and the College of Business, researched interest within the university community for services and support of mobile devices (Palm OS, Pocket PC, WinCE handheld devices). The project has concluded the investigative phase. This page includes links to the project description, executive summary report, and other resources. Palm Initiative: A Two Year Experiment Session presented at the CUMREC Conference, 2002. The University of South Dakota was first in the United States to provide Palm handhelds to all freshmen, medical students, and law students. The university worked with Palm to implement the program and select software for use in coursework. This presentation will describe the process, what is working, and what is not. The Pittsburgh Pebbles PDA Project The Pebbles Project at Carnegie Mellon University is exploring how PDAs, such as a device running PalmOS or the Microsoft Windows CE or Pocket PC operating systems, can be used when they are communicating with a "regular" personal computer, with other PDAs, and with computerized devices such as telephones, radios, microwave ovens, and factory equipment. Pocket PCs in the Learning Environment: The UMD Experience Session presented at the EDUCAUSE Annual Conference, 2002. The University of Minnesota Duluth College of Science and Engineering (CSE) issued Compaq iPAQs with 802.11b wireless capability to 252 engineering and computer science students and 50 faculty in fall 2001. ITSS provided wireless networking and iPAQ configuration, distribution, training, and repair. CSE faculty developed applications and class assignments. The presentation described experiences and plans. UT@2015: A
Pocket PC Experience Support Policies and Service Level Agreements for PDA UsersPDA Support
Policy PDA
Service Level Agreement PDA Support
Policy PDA Support Policy
Supporting
and Integrating PDA Technology on Campus PDA Resources and Articles Concerning Medical Student UsersThe Personal Digital Assistant: A Doctor's Best FriendThis resource serves as a quick primer on PDA's and their potential uses in medicine, specifically, for rotations. PDA based
client/server NICU patient data and charting system PDA
Bibliography PDA
Headquarters at the Library of Health Sciences PDA Resources
University
of Rochester Medical Library PDA Resources General Resources for PDA Users in Higher EducationHow PDAs WorkThis "How Stuff Works" site includes information on how PDAs work, what they can do, features, where to buy, manufacturers, FAQs, cool facts, books, and much more information. pdaED.com This site includes articles, news, discussion forums, and product information on PDAs. PDA Symposium: The
New Academic Essential Purchasing a
PDA?
Other Online Resources from EDUCAUSE
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