Re: Target>Portable keyboard/wordprocessors

[Lone Pine School <lpe@OEONLINE.COM>]

We have several Alpha Smarts in our school, which students and staff can
take home to use.  They seem fairly durable - at least none have been
broken so far, and they are being used by kids as young as third grade.
They serve the purposed of allowing kids to type up their compositions
without having to be at the computer.  However, there are some limitations.

1.  They must be downloaded into an opened wordprocessing file on a
computer before they are printed.  Kids often forget to open the file
before they disconnect the keyboard (to connect the Alpha Smart), so they
have to reconnect, disconnect, and connect again.  Usually, I end up
doing it, as the connections are so fragile - we've already had to
replace a couple of keyboard cables.

2.  Because you can only see a few lines of text on the Alpha Smart, a
LOT of editing usually has to be done once the file is transferred.  For
young children, the time saved by typing ahead of time can be fairly
minimal, given all they have to do to make the page look the way they
want it to before they print it.

3. The batteries don't last very long.

The kids do like using it, and do like to take it home, even when they
have their own computers.  Must be the novelty of it.

Good luck,
Denise Moll
lpe@oeonline.com