kitchen table math, the sequel: AlphaSmart

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

AlphaSmart

Terrific gadget, though they've stopped making the one I have.

AlphaSmart

If you're going to have "technology in the schools," this is the thing to have.
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11 comments:

Linda Seebach said...

I have one too, for note-taking, on Catherine's recommendation some while back. I bought it because I have neurological damage to my hands and it is difficult for me to write anything more than brief notes. But it is so far superior to handwritten notes that I wish I had had one years before. Legible, searchable, can be transferred to your computer or printed out.

Had it a year and a half and I'm still on the first set of three AA batteries.

October 10, 2007 at 8:08 AM
LynnG said...

This actually looks like a great idea for my daughter, who has borderline handwriting. It may be worse than that. I think her handwriting tested somewhere in the bottom 5% for kids her age.

But she loves to type and can type with the best of them.

Can you easily edit while you are typing? Can you go back and forth, delete, cutandpaste?

October 10, 2007 at 8:53 AM
Catherine Johnson said...

I have one too, for note-taking, on Catherine's recommendation some while back.

Hi, Linda S!

That's so cool!

I'm thrilled to hear that.

They really are terrific little machines. I'll have to re-post all my fun articles about them...

Hey---have you joined ktm-2 yet?

(And have I put a link up to your blog???)

I better check.

October 10, 2007 at 9:13 AM
Catherine Johnson said...

AlphaSmarts were designed by people who had worked for Apple.

I hate the new design, though.

I have the old curvy one, with the tiny screen.

The Dana, which Ed got, was a bust. (That's the one that can hook up to the internet and function as a mini-computer.)

He ordered the very first model, however, so they may have gotten the bugs out. But if you're thinking of getting one, I'd check around for reviews.

We don't have a Neo, but I THINK it's pretty much the same thing as the AlphaSmart, and those things are great.

The only glitch we've had with the AlphaSmart is that the keypad can wear out -- perhaps a little sooner than a keypad on a computer would??

I don't know.

Replacement keypads are pretty cheap, iirc, maybe $25. And they're simple to install yourself.

If you order an AlphaSmart, be sure to get a simple zippered case for it, too ($10??)

I stopped using mine for months, and that REALLY gummed up the keypad.

Most adults (and perhaps kids) will leave the thing lying around and forget about it because they spend their time on the computer, not the AlphaSmart. So the case is good.

Last but not least, I use the USB cord to transfer material. Works great, very simple, no problem.

Don't know how well the infrared works, but I might be tempted to experiment with that whenever I replace this model, just so I have one less thing to keep track of.

October 10, 2007 at 9:17 AM
Catherine Johnson said...

I would DEFINITELY order one for a child with poor handwriting.

Yes, absolutely, you can cutandpaste, etc.

The NEO probably has better editing features than the AlphaSmart, which is primitive BY DESIGN.

It's going to be fine for a kid (it's fine for me).

I do find that whenever I go back to the AphaSmart I've forgotten the basic editing commands.

That's not a problem, either. The most important commands are on the back of the AlphaSmart, and everything is pretty obvious.

October 10, 2007 at 9:19 AM
Catherine Johnson said...

Fantastic customer help, too --- which you won't need.

I've needed it only because Andrew is HELL on an AlphaSmart or any type of equipment. I think he did manage to break one.

Also, speaking of people who are hell on machines, when I let my own keypad gum up I talked to them about that.

One last story...Andrew somehow managed to lose a bunch of caps to his keypad.

That could have been a whole THING, but the technician came up with an answer. She said she'd just sell us a bunch of key caps so we didn't have to replace the keyboard every time he started losing caps.

October 10, 2007 at 9:22 AM
Catherine Johnson said...

from the AlphaSmart web site:

Unparalleled run-time. NEO gives you up to 700 hours of operation on 3 AA batteries!

User friendly. Just turn NEO on and go. Instant on/off, one button file access, and auto-save features get you on task quickly and eliminate accidental data loss.

Ultra-Portable and rugged. NEO’s light weight (barely 2 lbs.), thin base, and streamlined contours allow it to be easily transported. Its rugged design stands up to difficult conditions―even when it’s dropped or knocked around.

Affordable. NEO costs a fraction of standard laptops and offers a remarkably low total cost of ownership compared with other computer technology.

Versatile. NEO integrates effortlessly with any text-accepting program via supplied USB cable and includes a feature-rich word processor with spell check, thesaurus, Spanish-English word lookup, and more.

all true

this sounds exactly like the old AlphaSmart

very, very simple to use -- but I think the screen may be a bit bigger, which is good. (I can only see maybe 4 lines of text at a time on mine.)

October 10, 2007 at 9:23 AM
Catherine Johnson said...

looks like 5 lines of text on the screen, compared to just 4 on my screen

that's an improvement

you'd probably be amazed to find that 4 is fine, though

October 10, 2007 at 9:26 AM
LynnG said...

This sounds really great, especially the easy linking to computers.

I think I'll run it past some of her teachers, just to be sure that it isn't going to be a problem, but I can always try calling out the big guns in OT/PT.

If she were working on a paper in class, she could probably print it out right there, right? I might need to talk with some IT people on this, but it sounds like a decent solution.

Her biggest problems come when she is enthusiastic about a subject -- she writes so quickly that she can't even read her own writing -- it slopes up and down, getting smaller then bigger, slopping under and over the lines, smashing into the sentence above, and all rounded letters (a, o, e, c, d, and b) looking exactly the same.

You get the idea.

October 10, 2007 at 9:51 AM
Catherine Johnson said...

It's 6 lines!

4 to 6, depending on font size.

These things are just dandy.

great, great, great

We desperately need handwriting remediation around here.

Maybe we can get to it when we stop flunking algebra.

October 10, 2007 at 7:37 PM
Catherine Johnson said...

I'm not sure whether you can print directly from the AlphaSmart, only because I've never tried.

It's extremely simple to transfer text to any computer; the computer doesn't need special software to be intalled.

October 11, 2007 at 4:54 AM

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