Personal Digital Assistants – teachers prefer the personal

This paper will present the results of a small-scale project, funded by the UK Teacher Development Agency, where 13 teachers and 3 trainee teachers in one secondary school science department were given handhelds (Personal Digital Assistants or PDAs) with cameras and internet access for the academic year. The aims were: • to build capacity - enabling trainee teachers to share their mlearning practice; • to enable school based associate tutors to join the elearning community linked to the initial teacher training course and • to encourage reflective practice amongst trainee teachers by enabling access anytime and anywhere to blogs for recording their teaching experiences. However, initial indications are that not all these aims succeeded. The handhelds were viewed as personal devices rather than enabling access to a community of practice. Nearly all participants praised the personal information management functions of the devices but the teachers did not use the handhelds to access the course virtual learning environment and students did so only rarely. Email and SMS (texting) for both personal reasons and work within the school related context were more popular. Most popular were the multiple methods of recording available on the handheld: video, audio and written notes. Teachers used them to record observations on each others’ lessons, students’ work, student behaviour and trainees’ progress in teaching. Whilst the concept of blogging did not appeal and was not used by the trainee teachers, they did record personal reflections on their teaching in Word. Finally, there were clear signs that the handhelds were taken out of the participants’ pockets or bags to be used only when relevant and then replaced. This was perceived as a distinct advantage compared to desktop or even laptop based computers in the classroom with handhelds affording technology at a teacher’s side and not in their face.Graduate School of Education, University of Bristol United Kingdo

A comparison of linear and calendar travel itinerary visualizations for personal digital assistants

Various graphical travel itinerary visualization systems have in recent years been developed to allow making easier references between different events such as flights and hotel bookings on a travel itinerary, thereby addressing a problem with tabular itineraries which list travel events in a chronological order of date and time, and only allow referencing consecutive events. These graphical travel itinerary systems are based on a linear visualization of travel events. Although this linear visualization deals with some of the problems associated with tabular itineraries, it is not the only form of visualization which might be capable of addressing these issues. This paper introduces a new visualization of travel itineraries, called the calendar visualization, which relies on a more familiar concept of calendars to depict the relationships between travel events. This paper also describes an empirical study undertaken to compare the calendar and linear itinerary visualizations

Forensic analysis of digital evidence from Palm Personal Digital Assistants

Personal Digital Assistants are becoming more affordable and commonplace. They provide mobile data storage, computational, and network abilities. When handheld devices are involved in a crime, forensic examiners need tools to properly retrieve and analyze data present on the device. Unfortunately, forensic analysis of handheld devices is not adequately documented and supported.;This report gives an overview of Palm handheld development and current forensic software related to Personal Digital Assistants. Procedures for device seizure, storage, imaging, and analysis are documented. In addition, a tool was developed as part of this work to aid forensic examiners in recovering evidence from memory image files

Use of Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) in Medical Education

A systematic review of how the personal digital assistants (PDAs) have been used in healthcare professions and medical education has been conducted in order to identify current usage of PDAs in both areas. The major aim of this research is to study the feasibility of incorporating PDAs into problem-based learning (PBL) medical education. A systematic review was conducted by exploring various databases on the use of PDAs in two major areas: the healthcare professions and medical education during the period 2000-2006. Results: The needs, patterns and functionalities of using PDAs in the medical profession have been identified and categorized into different areas. What remains is to how to best incorporate PDAs into a PBL approach to medical education at the University of Wollongong

A Survey of the Economic Role of Software Platforms in Computer-Based Industries

Software platforms are a critical component of the computer systems underpinning leading– edge products ranging from third– generation mobile phones to video games. After describing some key economic features of computer systems and software platforms, the paper presents case studies of personal computers, video games, personal digital assistants, smart mobile phones, and digital content devices. It then compares several economic aspects of these businesses including their industry evolution, pricing structures, and degrees of integration.software platforms, hardware platforms, network effects, bundling, multi-sided markets

PDAS as workplace tools for science teachers

This paper reports on work in progress on a project investigating the use of personal digital assistants (PDAs) to help students make use of knowledge gained during the study of a Masters course in science education in their professional practice. We report on a review of the literature on mobile technologies as learning tools in workplace settings. We analyse this literature to suggest possible hypotheses for our study. We also describe the selection and design of activities for use on the PDAs, the evaluation strategy based on an activity theory augmented approach for the project and the issues arising during the project

Reading with new tools: An evaluation of Personal Digital Assistants as tools for reading course materials

Lightweight, palmtop devices such as personal digital assistants (PDAs) can now be used for reading electronic text, opening up their potential as learning tools. This paper reports a study that evaluated the use of PDAs for reading course materials by students on an Open University master's course. The research is grounded in activity theory, which provides a useful framework for examining how the introduction of a new tool changes an existing activity. Student perceptions of the possibilities and constraints of the PDA, as determined by questionnaires and interviews, reveal the impact the new tool had upon reading. The PDA constrained reading with limitations such as the small screen size, new requirements for navigating through the text and awkward methods for taking notes. These conditions made it difficult for students to skim‐read the text, to move back and forth within the document and to interact with the text as easily as they could with paper. Nevertheless, students welcomed the opportunity to have the course materials on a portable, lightweight device that could be used at any time and in any place. This made it easier to fit the reading activity around the various other activities in which students were involved In addition, the PDA was used in conjunction with existing tools, such as the printed version of the course materials and the desktop computer. Therefore, it was not seen to replace paper but rather to extend and complement it. The findings are discussed using concepts from activity theory to interpret how the new tool modified the reading activity

Conversing with personal digital assistants: on gender and artificial intelligence

This paper aims to explore the relationship between gender and artificial intelligence, seeking to understand how and why chatbots and digital assistants appear to be mostly female. To this end, it begins by addressing artificial intelligence and the questions that emerge with its evolution and integration in our daily lives. It then approaches the concept of gender in light of a binary framework, focusing on femininity. These topics are then related, in order to shed some light on how chatbots and digital assistants tend to display feminine attributes. In an attempt to observe these aspects, an analysis of Alexa, Cortana and Siri is developed, focusing on their anthropomorphization, the tasks they perform and their interactions. Complementing this discussion, the project Conversations with ELIZA is presented as an exploration of femininity in AI, through the development of four chatbots integrated into a web-based platform, each performing specific tasks and simulating particular personalities, with the purpose of emphasizing feminine roles and stereotypes. In this manner, this study aims to understand and explore how gender relates to AI, why femininity seems to be often present in AI and which gender roles or stereotypes are reinforced in this process