PDAs...
Becoming increasingly accepted for public display
By Erin LaMourie
Features Editor

They are everywhere. Students and faculty are trading in the traditional paper planners for the high-tech Personal Digital Assistants. The hand-held computers provide a way to organize and share files with a personal computer, and of course, a way to play games. They can even be a hybrid cell phone and PDA.

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But what are they besides a really expensive planner?

For Angela Nolen, a senior biology major, her PDA became a high-tech address book and provided a way to pass time with games.

Nolen said she bought a PDA her freshman year of college, hoping it would help her become organized.

But, she said, the PDA was difficult to use.

“It was really hard to input information quickly,” she said. “I was used to just writing notes here and there.”

Scott McCray, a senior finance and accounting major, said he tried a traditional planner, but then purchased a PDA in hope of being more organized.

McCray said it was worth the cost. The PDAs start at about $100 and increase in cost based on features.

Nolen said she thought the price was worth it if the PDA was used.

“When I bought (the PDA) I paid about $150,” she said. “For the price, it worked OK, but it was not worth if for my purposes. It would be a good deal for someone who would use it.”

Bob Seal, TCU librarian, said PDAs can also be used for a note pad, to-do lists, e-mail, e-books, dictionaries and downloading text from The Web.
It can also be used as a word processor and full-size keyboards can be added to make typing easier.

“It is not as easy to use, but it is useful if you are away from your computer, in class, and need to take notes,” Seal said.

McCray said PDAs provide more portability than laptops.

“They are not a substitute for a computer but are very useful in addition to it,” he said.

The chemistry department may try to use PDAs in labs to help assist in grading and to save paper, said Jeff Coffer, professor of chemistry. Coffer said students usually write data on two to three pages torn out of lab books, which are sloppy and often hard to grade.

“I would like to get away from (paper) and use spreadsheets on hand-helds,” he said.

Students would receive PDAs and record their data on spreadsheets. At the end of lab, data would be synchronized and downloaded to laptops for grading.

Coffer said he would prefer laptops for students, but because of space and cost issues, the PDAs are more practical.

But the PDAs are not the perfect solution. The screens on PDAs are small and it is impossible to view the entire spreadsheet at once. It is also important to be sure students’ spreadsheets can be downloaded in efficient time.

Coffer said his goal is to test the program in a large scale, a freshman lab of about 40 students in spring 2003.

Seal said PDAs could also offer students hand-held forms, class schedules, Frog Calls and campus calendars.

Seal said the library is hoping to use the technology to send messages to students’ PDAs about when books are due.

He said it may even be possible to access the library catalogue with the hand-held devices and said students can use PDAs to access information needed in their major.

Seal said he hopes the university will provide support for PDAs just as Information Services and the Help Desk provide for computers.

Bill Senter, manager of technical services, said TCU’s Commission on the Future included plans to support PDAs, but it was not yet a high priority.
He said support will happen at some point, but he is not sure when.

“If (PDAs) started being used in academic sectors, in the classrooms and labs, I could see (the issue) being more aggressively supported,” Senter said.

Senter said the process would be gradual, requiring software costing from $20,000 to $30,000 and additional training of staff.

He said faculty and staff can currently link to their e-mail accounts.

If the TCU Help Desk provided support, consultants could assist students in linking to their e-mail.

Seal said that though TCU does not provide support for PDAs, a hand-held users forum meets in the library monthly to discuss the latest developments in technology and share tips.

Seal said as the popularity of PDAs spreads, they have the potential to help students, faculty and staff to become more organized.

“For a lot of people, it’s worth the money just for the calendar,” he said. “If a person really wants to be organized it can be valuable.”

McCray said he is happy with his investment and has seen it successfully help his organization skills.

Nolen said she finally decided to sell her PDA to someone who would make use of it. She said she is still struggling to be organized, but realizes for her life, a spiral notebook is easier and works just as well.

Erin LaMourie
e.m.lamourie@student.tcu.edu

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