The AlphaSmart Neo is a simple, battery-operated keyboard for writing. This new special needs version of the keyboard will speak text aloud, useful for augmentative communication but also for students and adults who need to hear their text read back to them to better edit it.

Makers of portable keyboards

Makers of portable keyboards

Perfect Solutions
2685 Treanor Terrace
Wellington, FL 33414
800-726-7086
perfect@gate.net

Makers of portable keyboards.

Customer Service and Sales
888-274-0680 (toll-free)
7:00 AM to 6:00 PM CST, Monday through Friday, excluding Holidays.
info@alphasmart.com

Technical Support
888-274-2720, 6:30am – 6:30pm CST
support@alphasmart.com

Now that I’ve been using an AlphaSmart for a few years and have met hundreds of other users both in and out of the education world, I’m amazed at how limited people’s imaginations are about using this most revolutionary tool.

Yes, students being able to do electronic composition instead of writing in a spiral notebook and transcribing onto a computer at school is fantastic, and certainly enough, but there’s so much more that can be done with an AlphaSmart keyboard.

Below are some ideas for using AlphaSmarts that you might not have thought of. Most of them are things that YOU can do, not your students. Oh, you don’t use one yourself?

Use the AlphaSmart Yourself
In June, at NECC, at the AlphaSmart focus group meeting, I was amazed at how few people in the group actually seemed to have experience using the AlphaSmart to do their own work. All of them had experience using it in a classroom, but few seemed to take one home themselves or use it for their paperwork at school.

So, I recommend that those of you who like this tool actually try using it yourselves. Most of the rest of these ideas come from that idea.

Take Notes at Meetings
This seems obvious but I’m amazed at how many people fire up PowerBooks and ThinkPads at meetings for simple note-taking chores. Laptop computers are battery hogs and/or need AC support, take longer go start up, have noisier keyboards, and have more software resources than are needed for simple note-taking chores. I take my AlphaSmart to every meeting I attend where I plan to take notes.

Tip: Put notes you are bringing to the meeting in F1 (file 1) and take notes in F2 (file 2). You can switch back and forth easily by hitting the F1 or F2 keys.

Collect Names and Addresses
Pass your AlphaSmart around a room to collect names and addresses instead of having people fill out a form that will eventually have to be transcribed into a computer. This way you’ve got the information in text form from the start and can eliminate a time-consuming step. Obviously, you can collect ANY kind of information this way.

Make AlphaSmarts Available for Checkout at Libraries
The library connection seems obvious to me but I have a hard time convincing librarian friends of mine to try this. Make 10 or more AlphaSmarts available at the circulation desk for in-house checkout. Students and other people doing research can take them into the stacks or sit down at tables with them and do their work. Then, they can take them to the library’s computer area and upload into a text file and save it on disk to take home.

Or, have the AlphaSmarts available for checkout to take home and eliminate the middle step, allowing people to take the information directly home to their computers.

Use Alphasmarts on Airplanes Instead of Battery-hog Powerbooks and Thinkpads
Face it, when you walk down the isle on many flights and see people using laptop computers (mostly non-Macs I might say), at least half the time they’re playing solitaire. Okay, you can’t play solitaire on an AlphaSmart, but you can do your writing. So, carry both: a laptop for playing solitaire and an AlphaSmart for doing the real work.

Seriously, I never take my PowerBook out on planes, preferring to write with my AlphaSmart. It’s smaller and when I’m sitting in coach (most of the time until I become rich or famous) it affords me more room to move. The batteries last long enough so I never think about them running out. I can use it for a while, then stow it at my feet (I’d never put my PowerBook down there), and it will definitely become a conversation piece with the computer-using business person sitting next to you who:

* makes fun of it as a toy
* makes fun of it as a toy but is really envious but afraid to show it
* is secure enough to show interest and asks you where you got it
* won’t leave you alone to do your work because he/she has to have one immediately!

Take Notes at the Beach
Okay, summer is over (boo!) but for those of you who live south of say DC, you still have a bit of beach time left (after school). Take your AlphaSmart to the beach and catch some rays while you dump your thoughts about the crappy novel you’re reading because you spent a fortune on the hardcover edition you HAD to have.

Move Your Writing Environment to a Warmer or More Scenic Place in the House
This will sound like I live in the “country.” Well, I do. And, we heat our house with wood. In the morning, before the wood stove has generated enough heat to warm the chilly upstairs part of our house where the office is, and while I’m sipping coffee, stoking the fire, and watching the Weather Channel seeing if I’ll be able to fly to place x to make a living, I almost always have my AlphaSmart with me making notes about what I’m going to be doing upstairs when my office defrosts.

Record Brainstorms More Spontaneously
I always get my best ideas when I’m as far away from a way to record them as humanly possible. I think this must be a law of physics.

Laying in bed at night or in the morning: easy to have an AlphaSmart sitting by the bed, ready for action. Be careful what kind of action you interrupt.

In the shower: you’re on your own here, maybe Ketan and Joe will make a yellow, underwater AlphaSmart someday.

But anywhere I get a brainstorm I can sit and record it. Being able to work away from AC is important and really does affect your work style.

If I want to do some writing and sit near our stove, or sit near the window facing the pond, or, sit near the window where the bird feeders are so I can think about what it is I want to write but also track the comings and goings of our goldfinch population, the AlphaSmart is the tool that allows me to do that. And I can do it without much thought: just pick up the AlphaSmart and move to the new location and get to work.

Lately, I’ve been spending time outside cutting firewood. Cutting trees down is a dirty, noisy business and I love doing it (don’t cringe, environmentalists, we’re not clear-cutting, just thinning a lot of forest around our place). Invariably, right in the middle of this process when I’m totally dirty, sweaty, in my kevlar chaps, gloves, and visored helmet, I’ll have a brainstorm. Sitting on a log (out of the way of falling trees) is my trusty AlphaSmart. I can take the gloves off, fire it up, dump a few thoughts in, and get back to work.

My wife would kill me if I ran into the house with mud on my shoes and wood chips flying off my back just to write a few notes that came to me outside. Actually, she already has yelled at me many times for this so she loves the AlphaSmart too because it keeps our house clean.

The AlphaSmart keyboard is a small, lightweight electronic writing tool that can give people many of the benefits of a portable computer without the complexity or expense.

I like the AlphaSmart keyboard. I also like my Macintosh computers, including a PowerBook. For many of the writing tasks that I do every day, the AlphaSmart is a better choice than my PowerBook. It’s also a better choice for many of the students and adults I work with who have learning disabilities.

Simple Operating System
The most compelling reason to use an AlphaSmart keyboard is that it has a simple operating system: you turn it on, do some writing, then turn it off. There is nothing to read on the screen to open or save a file. There is nothing to memorize to operate this computer. You turn it on, use it, then turn it off.

For students and adults with learning disabilities, separating writing from the operation of a computer, even an easy one, is a good thing in that it allows for more writing and less concentration on the writing tool.

Inexpensive
The AlphaSmart is inexpensive. Because of this, more people can own one who might not be able to afford a desktop or portable computer. Expense is part of total access to computing, it’s part of the interface between computer and human.

Also, the low cost of the AlphaSmart coupled with its ease of use makes it a more casual machine to carry around and with this, can come more use.

Long Battery Life
The AlphaSmart can get up to 200 hours on two AA batteries (the new AlphaSmart 2000 can get up to 300 hours on 3 AA batteries). The better alkaline batteries will give you more life. This means that thinking about battery life as you sit down in a library to take some notes is no longer an issue.

Compatible
The AlphaSmart is compatible with most desktop computers in that it generates plain text and emulates a regular computer keyboard. This means that it could be used as a go-between between a Macintosh at home and a Windows machine at school or work. Just send the text from the Macintosh to the AlphaSmart and then send it from the AlphaSmart to the PC. Then, after you’re done working on the text on your PC you send it back to the AlphaSmart. Of course, because the Macintosh will read PC disks you might also use a disk to get the same effect. But, you can’t work on a disk on the school bus!

Access Features
AlphaSmarts have a few access features that some people will find useful:

• You can control (turn off) auto-repeating keys.
• You can turn on a sticky-keys feature that allows you to use the shift and other modifier keys without holding two or more keys down simultaneously. You can press the keys sequentially.
• You can turn on a slow-keys feature that acts as a software keyguard preventing accidental key hits for people with coordination or spasticity problems.
• The AlphaSmart key layout can be changed to Dvorak from standard QWERTY and the machine can be configured for either right or left-handed typing.

Conversational Writing
Have students start a story on an AlphaSmart and then, after two minutes tell them to stop and pass their AlphaSmart to the next person to their right. Everyone in the class now has someone else’s story. They read the story in front of them and continue where the last person left off; taking the story in a new direction or continuing along the same path. This continues until the AlphaSmart you started with is in your lap.

To keep the language clean tell the students that you will ask them to read the stories aloud when the exercise is done (it’s fun to do this anyway).

Send Study Questions or Vocabulary lists back to the AlphaSmart
Make up a series of questions or a vocabulary list on your desktop computer and then, send it to each student’s AlphaSmart so they can take it home with them, write between your lines, or open a new file to write in.

Use the AlphaSmart’s different files for different things
The AlphaSmart has 8 different files (storage places) that can be opened by pressing buttons on the keyboard. Each file is opened by a corresponding button: F1, F2, etc. Because the files are separate memory spaces, you can put different things in them.

• Put your daily schedule in one file
• Put a name and address list in another
• Put a to-do list in another
• Jot down jokes friends tell you in another
• Keep your assignment list in another
• Put course notes in another
• And you have two more to do what you like with…

If you’ve found an innovative way to use the AlphaSmart please comment on this article.

Most public libraries today offer computer access for word processing and Internet searching. This computer access usually takes the form of one or more desktop computers in a fixed place in the library. The computers can’t be taken out into the stacks and there are usually people waiting to use them. Users of the library’s desktop computers often feel self-conscious, knowing that others waiting to use them.

Here at the North Bend Public Library we have solved part of the above problem by using 8 AlphaSmart keyboards. When someone needs to do some writing without being connected to the Internet, they can check out an AlphaSmart, take it anywhere in the library and do their work without anyone looking over their shoulder or pressuring them to hurry up.

Our library kicked off our AlphaSmart 2000 program for the public in September, 1999. By publicizing the availability of the AlphaSmarts on local television, in the City of North Bend’s newsletter, and through in-house flyers, we let our community in on the fact that we have alternatives to our computers for taking notes and doing other writing-related work in our library.

How I Discovered AlphaSmart
I bought an AlphaSmart keyboard in 1998 on the advice of my friend Richard Wanderman. When I brought my AlphaSmart into our library, staff and patrons seemed interested. Richard and I talked for the next year about the use of AlphaSmarts in my library and others.

In June 1999, Richard suggested that I ask AlphaSmart, Inc. to help us embark on a year-long experiment to make the AlphaSmart available for public use in our library so we could act as a model for other libraries.

My personal use of the AlphaSmart convinced me that it would find its way into the hands of enthusiastic library patrons. Many of the patrons who have used the AlphaSmart here like it very much, and most of them expressed a desire to own one.

Now that we have had the AlphaSmarts in our library for over a year, I am satisfied that they are an integral component of the technologies (online public catalog with remote access, and computers for word processing, the Internet, and educational games) that we offer the public.

Getting Started: AlphaSmart, Inc. Donation
AlphaSmart, Inc. generously provided the North Bend Public Library with:

* 5 AlphaSmart 2000s
* 3 PC Y Cables and 2 Macintosh cables
* 1 Get Utility CD
* 2 PC Infrared pods
* 1 Mac infrared pod
* 1 serial printer cable
* 1 parallel printer cable

The library bought a “Grand Stand,” plastic music stand, perfect for displaying an AlphaSmart at the public service desk. The library agreed to make the AlphaSmarts available for the public, and to evaluate our experience a year later.

We later received an AlphaSmart 3000 to add to our collection.

Once they arrived, I gave our staff a training session, which took 10 minutes. Prior to that meeting, I connected the AlphaSmart cables to our public access computers (PCs and Macs) and to two staff PC’s in our workroom. Staff quickly adapted to using AlphaSmarts for writing tasks.

Soon we displayed AlphaSmarts at our service desk, hoping to interest the public. By doing regular publicity, we soon had students checking them out. People in general were intrigued by them. We frequently gave short demonstrations, which were enthusiastically received.

Checking Out AlphaSmarts for In-Library Use
Beginning in late 1999, and through the summer of 2000, the library let patrons use the AlphaSmarts anywhere in the library. Use of the AlphaSmart was steady, and patrons liked it.

Checking out an AlphaSmart is easy. Each unit is bar coded, and checked out like a book. Our library uses an Innovative Interfaces circulation system. All the patron has to do is hand us a valid library card. During the first 6 months, we allowed two hours of in-library use, with the time renewable as needed.

What does the Public do with AlphaSmarts?
The AlphaSmart is used in the stacks or at tables for note-taking from books, magazines, and the Internet. Or it can be used for sending documents out into the world via email. Since an AlphaSmart is very lightweight and portable, we’ve had them in use in virtually every public and staff space in our building.

The Get Utility
Using AlphaSmart’s Get Utility software that we installed on most of our public and staff computers, it’s also easy to copy information from a web site or word processor and send it to an AlphaSmart.

Library Staff Use
Staff members enjoy using AlphaSmarts to write lists, book orders, or for sending numbers into a spreadsheet. We’ve used them to continue writing projects during slow periods at the public service desk.

I frequently use one to write reports and press releases. I also take my AlphaSmart around southern Oregon to other libraries, writing up notes or minutes in committee or professional association meetings. Returning to the library, my documents are ready for sending to a desktop word processor for final printing and saving.

Checking AlphaSmarts Out of the Building
Last summer, seeing that AlphaSmart use by patrons had tapered off, I realized that we should see if we could generate more interest by letting patrons take them home.

Our AlphaSmart Checkout program prompted some changes in our procedures. We cataloged all AlphaSmarts, bar coded each one, and gave them a one week checkout period, with a one-time, one-week renewal available upon request.

Because the library uses a collection agency for unreturned items over $100 in value, we had to establish an age limit. In Oregon, parents are responsible for the actions of children under the age of 18. Our AlphaSmarts are for people 18 and older.

We found that in practice, due to the age limit, parents didn’t mind coming in to check-out an AlphaSmart for their student son or daughter.

We bought two AlphaSmart carrying cases. Each person checking out an AlphaSmart gets a complete package in the case:

* AlphaSmart keyboard
* Connector cable
* User’s manual
* Cable setup flyer

Before checking the AlphaSmart package out on our online circulation system, we have the patron read and sign a Check out/Check in form. The patron signs to indicate on checkout or return that all contents indicated on the form are in the case. We inspect the case and its contents every time the AlphaSmart is checked out and later returned to the public service desk.

AlphaSmarts have checked out almost every week since we began our checkout program. The patrons are happy users, and are pleased that we let them take them home or to school. Before writing this, I checked and found that two AlphaSmarts were out in circulation. Two were in use by library staff in staff offices.

2 – 4 AlphaSmarts being checked out by patrons and staff each week gives a good idea of the interest in them at our library. During our year-long AlphaSmart Program, AlphaSmarts were checked out or used by staff well over 200 times.

Library Director’s Role
My coordination of this program had three key aspects:

1. Learning about the AlphaSmart myself so I could educate my staff and the public. Without personal experience, it would have been hard for me to lead a program like this. And, because part of our experiment involves our staff, it was and is important for the Director to take part.

2. Training public service staff in the use of the AlphaSmart.

3. Designing and implementing an on-going publicity program. I encouraged the public to try AlphaSmarts through the library, by doing publicity through local news media, our city newsletter, and in the library.

Our children’s librarian also designed an attractive flyer that we posted on our bulletin boards, at the public service desk, and at public access computers.

Examples of the Ways AlphaSmarts Helped Patrons and Library Staff

* A new reporter in our area, a “stringer” for the state’s largest newspaper, The Oregonian, wrote her article on the AlphaSmart, then sent it for publication through e-mail, with the AlphaSmart connected to a library desktop computer with Internet access. She was thrilled to make her deadline, since she had just moved to town and her computer had not arrived. I helped her do this, and saw her article published in The Oregonian the next day.

* The technology librarian for a neighboring public library heard about our program. She borrowed an AlphaSmart, took it to Portland, Oregon to the annual conference of the Oregon Library Association. She found it useful for taking notes during workshops.

* A parent checked out an AlphaSmart, and saw it as a wise choice for his son, a student in junior high school. They intend to buy one for him, instead of a laptop.

* Our city recorder plans to buy an AlphaSmart. She was impressed with it after seeing me use it to take minutes at a meeting.

* A high school student became frantic when she found all of the library’s computers in use by others. This happened on a Sunday afternoon. She had a report due the next morning. I showed her how to use an Alphasmart, and she was elated to finish her report, and get it printed when a desktop became available.

* A library staff member quickly became an AlphaSmart convert. She bought one for her daughter to use at college, and one for her mother. The daughter uses it regularly, especially when her desktop is in the repair shop. Another staff member bought one as a gift for her husband, an avid letter writer.

* Another user liked the AlphaSmart because it’s quiet. Unlike a desktop computer, the AlphaSmart has no fan and is nearly silent.

A Successful Experiment: Portable Keyboards for Library Users
I consider our experiment with the Alphasmart very successful. The AlphaSmart is a convenient tool for writers of any age: library patrons as well as staff.

Most importantly, having AlphaSmarts increases our ability to be of good service and offer good value to library users.

Barbara Heinisch is an Associate Professor in the Department of Special Education at Southern Connecticut State University.

During the Spring 2000 semester the Connecticut AlphaSmarts in the Schools Project took place at Southern Connecticut State University and several school in the state. The purpose of this activity was to increase the exposure of AlphaSmarts in Connecticut’s schools. My work in the Adaptive Technology Lab at Southern includes performing adaptive technology evaluations for children referred from school districts from around the state. Frequently when the use of an AlphaSmart was suggested during an evaluation, the child balked at using something that would make him yet more different from his peers. It was only occasionally that a child thought it would be ‘cool’ to be the only student to have one. Often, neither the child nor the school professionals participating in the evaluation had ever seen an AlphaSmart. My own son. a high school student who types well but has chicken-scratch handwriting liked the AlphaSmart, but was reluctant to use one in school, stating, “Only the special ed kids use those,” My goal in doing this project was to make the AlphaSmarts more visible in schools so that children would see them as welcome tools to help with their learning.

The people at AlphaSmart Inc. were very supportive, and paved the way for 30 of my students to have AlphaSmart 2000 loaner units for the course of a semester. The criteria to be granted a loaner were that a student be taking a college level class requiring notetaking and that he/she work in some capacity in a school. Students also knew that they would be required to give me feedback several times during the semester. My hope was that those who had the AlphaSmarts for the semester would expose their fellow students to them as they took class notes with them, and that they would introduce them into their schools, resulting in children becoming familiar with seeing others use this type of technology tool on a regular basis.

There was a third criterion I hadn’t counted on: my students had to guarantee their loaners with a credit card – this was certainly fair, but it made some of the students who had been interested decide not to participate. In the end, only 11 students took advantage of being loaned an AlphaSmart for the semester. The reluctance to participate was due partly to the guarantee issue, and partly to a fear of technology. When I approached many of the students with the idea, I was surprised at how often people told me they weren’t really good with technology. They were afraid they wouldnt be able to use it well. There are apparently more barriers to students’ using technology than I had thought.

The participating students were required to be affiliated with a school in some way. Three are teachers; four are paraprofessionals; two are tutors, working regular, specific hours in a school; one was a student teacher, and one a sub who worked regularly.

The students most enthusiastic about being part of the project were those working in schools that already had some AlphaSmarts for the students; these students had witnessed the popularity of the AlphaSmarts, observed the benefits to the students who were using them, and could scarcely believe their good fortune in possessing one for an entire semester. Five of the eleven were in this category. Of the others, three told me that they themselves had learning disabilities, and they looked forward to using the AlphaSmarts to take notes that they could read with ease; the others just thought it would be cool to have such a tool at their disposal.

While I often conversed with the students about how the AlphaSmarts were working out, I formally surveyed them three times during the semester – once in the very beginning, once around midterms, and at the end. I asked how they were using the AlphaSmarts, both personally and professionally, and asked them to identify successes and problems.

The participants had a variety of reasons for wanting to have an AlphaSmart for the semester. One student, who works as a tutor, said his school has them, but they are not utilized enough, and he felt his using it would be good modeling for the students. Another felt that if he used it at a PPT meeting for notetaking it would both make his notes more readable, and send a good message about using technology as a tool. One participant felt that as a college student with a learning disability, it would help her personally. She also noted that she wanted to see the AlphaSmart be used in the regular education classroom at the school where she tutored. It was already in use in special education classes and she felt that it would help facilitate inclusion for the special education students. A participant who is a paraprofessional in a private school hoped the AlphaSmart would help some of her students who had handwriting problems. Another participant, a first-year teacher who had seen the AlphaSmarts in use when she did student teaching in a different school system, hoped to demonstrate its effectiveness and convince her supervisors to purchase some for the school.

Initially, students were thrilled to have the units and took them everywhere. I asked if there were any problems. One student reported that when she used the AlphaSmart for notetaking in a college class, another student complained that the noise of her typing was distracting. A change of seat solved the problem. One other student raised the issue of typing noise, reporting that it made her uncomfortable when others turned to look at her when she typed. The only other problems identified were technical problems around printing or using the infrared device to transmit. Most of these problems were quickly resolved once the students called for technical support.

Halfway through the semester I surveyed the participants to see how they were doing. All reported positive experiences. One of the participants reported that no one was using the AlphaSmarts that were available at her school (middle school) until the students saw her using one. Then they began using them for notetaking and writing assignments. Interestingly, the people who worked in elementary schools reported that The AlphaSmart was not used or received enthusiastically. Those same people, however, said that their own kids, middle or high school students, loved them, as did other teachers who were interested in them for their children who were in secondary schools. After the first week, one student told me she had ‘sold two’ to people who had seen her using it. All of the participants who worked in middle or high school immediately identified students who could benefit from using AlphaSmarts. Several of them demonstrated them to their colleagues informally or at staff meetings. One participant noted that the best thing about introducing the AlphaSmarts to his students was that they needed so little instruction and could use them immediately.

At the end of the semester, students were asked again for feedback. Here are some of the more interesting ways my students used them in their schools:

* The AlphaSmart was elevated to an object of status, and used as a reward for students who are reluctant to do their work, when they had been working appropriately.

* One teacher gave it to students to vent frustrations. They could write anything, as long as appropriate language was used. The student could decide if the teacher would be allowed to read it; often, students who were not good verbal communicators would use it as a less threatening way to communicate. These writings were not printed out or saved.

* Students used AlphaSmarts for journal writing. One AlphaSmart was shared among several students. They added to their entries during each class, and at the end of the week they printed the files. There was a problem, however, in monitoring the students to make sure they were respectful of the privacy of others and were not reading the others’ files.

* A student with Attention Deficit Disorder was happy to use the AlphaSmart to copy over handwritten notes as a way of focusing on the material to study.

All of the participants were glad they had participated in the project. They all found that the AlphaSmarts had helped them personally with their notetaking in college classes and writing papers without having to be at their computers. Several of them felt more comfortable with technology in general, noting that they would not hesitate to knowledgeably recommend this type of technology for students at PPT meetings.

I believe this project was successful. While fewer people participated than I anticipated, there were some tangible results reported in their schools. The AlphaSmarts were introduced to a wide variety of people who had not seen before. Three students bought their loaners, stating they could not bear to part with them. One student was planning to purchase the AlphaSmart 3000. Two school districts are planning to purchase AlphaSmarts for their students, having been given the opportunity to observe the students’ successes with them over the course of the semester. Anecdotal reporting from my students suggests that many professionals in the schools who were curious about the AlphaSmarts subsequently purchased units for themselves or their own children.

While even eleven participants created more administrative work than I had anticipated, I am grateful to have had the opportunity to have done this project. My personal experiences with AlphaSmarts in the past had been overwhelmingly positive, and I was eager to see AlphaSmarts more widely accepted as a learning tool, especially for those who have difficulty with handwriting. Removing the strangeness associated with an unfamiliar tool will help get the AlphaSmarts into the schools and into the hands of the children who can most benefit from using them.

In retrospect, there is one thing I would have done differently. While I communicated with some of the students by e-mail, I wish I had thought to do all communication on-line; had I set up a discussion list students may have been able to brainstorm about the problems and share ideas that others might have tried.

I am grateful to the people at AlphaSmart Inc., especially Linda Vaillette, who coordinates the loaner program. I hope that the loaner policy remains as generous and flexible in the future.

North Bend Public Library recently embarked on a year-long experiment, making five AlphaSmart 2000′s available for public use. The idea for this experiment came from an old friend of mine from Oregon who now lives in Connecticut, Richard Wanderman. Richard is an educational consultant who told me about the AlphaSmart a few years ago. He’s also a longtime and enthusiastic AlphaSmart user.

I’ve now used an AlphaSmart for personal and business use for several years. For those who do lots of writing as I do in my job as assistant director of a library, the AlphaSmart offers the portability of a laptop without the expense, and can be used with any staff or public access computer. I really appeciate the AlphaSmart’s portability. It’s great starting a document in my office on the AlphaSmart and working on it in between helping people at the public service desk.

Once I’ve finished a document, all I have to do is plug the AlphaSmart into a cable and hit a single key to transfer the document to a word processor on the computer. The special “Y” cable plugs into the keyboard port of any computer and allows you to use the AlphaSmart or the computer keyboard. It takes less than a minutes to install the cable, and it can stay attached to the computer.

AlphaSmart, Inc.’s Get Utility software allows the user to write a document in a word processor, copy it to the clipboard and transfer it in seconds to the AlhaSmart. Using the Get Utility at home, for example, I can use AlphaSmart as a “disk” to ferry a document in to work. I can continue to work on it on the AlphaSmart, or send it to the computer’s word processor.

All of this is easy, and our hope is that the public will adapt to the AlphaSmart way of getting writing done.

Here on the Oregon coast, our library is well-used. Circulation of books and other materials, at 236,000 checked-out last year, keeps our modest staff of 10 FTE busy. We’re open seven days a week from September through May, closed Sundays in the summer.

The population of North Bend is 9,800. We’re a popular place for people of all ages, running a full range of children’s programs, and have 90,000 items in our collection of books, magazines, and other materials. We’ve offered public access computers for over 10 years.

Several times each month I write press releases announcing library workshops, art exhibits, and special programs and I use the AlphaSmart for some of this work.

It’s great having a tool than I can take anywhere in the library. I’m not confined to my office for writing. I can work on writing without being tied to a computer.

Richard and I began a dialogue about the possibilities for offering AlphaSmarts in the public library while we visited in between his workshops at the Technology, Reading, and Learning Disabilities Conference in San Francisco last January. We both thought the AlphaSmart 2000 would be well-received by students and hopefully the general public. We felt sure they’d be a hit once people found out how easy they are to use.

AlphaSmart, Inc. supplied five AlphaSmarts in August, 1999 but it took several weeks before we had time to distribute them to staff. August was a time of staff vacations, and extra demands on the library.

August was not the best time to start this experiment, because the public library a few miles away in Coos Bay was closed for a major expansion of its building. During the closure, book-loving patrons from the Coos Bay Lirbary began using our library, sending our circulation up by 50%! We were swamped with people for weeks, and so the AlphSmarts stayed in their boxes until after the other library had its grand re-opening.

Our public service staff schedules and assists patrons using our computing center which features two word processors and 4 Internet computers. Getting the staff used to the AlphaSmarts is an essential part of this experiment. That turned out to be snap. Several staff members immediately liked the AlphaSmart. I’m sure their enthusiasm will be help us assist the public with these new writing tools.

September has come and gone, but it was not time wasted. Our staff started using and liking the AlphaSmarts. I passed them out at a staff meeting, and encouraged staffers to try them out. There was immediate interest. Two staffers borrowed them overnight to compose letters and for help with a student’s homework assignment. The reaction from staff was very positive. Our Interlibrary Loan Specialist eventually got on AlphaSmart, Inc.’s web site and bought one for her husband. Another staffer bought one for her college-bound daughter.

Two of our library board members work at the North Bend School District. One is the high school librarian, and the other is the district’s technology coordinator. I demonstrated the AlphaSmart at a board meeting, and everyone was excited about the prospects for AlphaSmart public use at the library. The board members from the school district were especially impressed.

Now, in October, the AlphaSmarts have been cataloged and bar coded. We’ll check them out for two-hour periods of in-library use, with our electronic circulation system. Patrons can use their library card to check them out. A sign-up sheet has been created, so we can keep track of the hours they are used. “Y” cables has been installed on public word processors and are on some staff machines too. We’ll transfer them to public access machines as needed.

I anticipate the AlphaSmarts will be attractive to students who are bound to like using them in our study areas around the library for taking notes, writing papers, and then connecting to our computers for printing or saving files to disks. As the school year progresses our computing center will be booked solid. Instead of turning away people when the word processors are all in use, we can get them started with AlphaSmarts.

We’ve created an attractive flyer, printed in color, that was sent out to the public schools in mid-October. A press release will accompany the flyer to local news media. Staff training and publicity are the keys to getting the public accustomed to the AlphaSmarts. Once people try them, I suspect they’ll come back to use them over and over again. It’s a very smart, compact device. It’s so easy to learn. After a two minutes of getting used to the layout of the keyboard, you’re ready for a session of writing with a lightweight, quiet, very cozy device.

As this year of using AlphaSmarts at our library continues, I’ll provide AlphaSmart, Inc. with progress reports. I’m anxious to get more AlphaSmarts into the hands of our library users.

“Thanks heavens!” is what I said when I learned of the existence of lightweight, inexpensive, and uncomplicated word processing technology. The AlphaSmart 2000 is essentially a full size keyboard. You simply turn it on by touching a key, you do your writing, then you turn it off when done. Text is saved automatically in any of 8 files each accessed by the touch of a key. The screen allows you to easily view four lines of text at a time. You use the arrow keys to scroll up and down. At the touch of a key you can run a spellcheck on your writing. The AlphaSmart runs for upwards of three hundred hours on three AA batteries and there is a total of 64 pages of text storage available. Sweet and simple.

The AlphaSmart is a lightweight, sturdy and low cost alternative to a laptop computer. You can print directly to a printer via a cable which yields a document in your printer’s default font, or you can download text from the AlphaSmart to either a PC or a Macintosh computer with a cable and a touch of a key. In turn, you can download text from your PC or Macintosh to a file in your AlphaSmart. This is great if you want to continue a writing project at home or on the road. I take home writing projects “in process” such lesson plans and reports. At work the next day I sit down at my Macintosh computer, plug the cable into my AlphaSmart, press the “send” key and the text is sent to a Word document where I can continue my writing and formatting.

The AlphaSmart is an ideal writing tool for the student with a learning disability. It is very easy to use; its operating system couldn’t be simpler with functions available at the touch of a key. Because it’s just a writing tool it doesn’t have a laptop’s bells, whistles, extensive menus, and games that some students find distracting. Other features that are helpful to students with special needs are sticky keys, key repeat control, and four keyboard layouts: QWERTY, left handed, right handed, and Dvorak. It fits nicely in a backpack and weighs only two pounds. An Internet search turns up a lot of commentary on the usefulness of the AlphaSmart in a special needs setting, simply type “AlphaSmart” in your search engine window.

The THRESHOLD Program at Leslie College has a couple of AlphaSmarts and both students and faculty have had the opportunity to use them. One student is currently using an AlphaSmart to keep his vocational journal. THRESHOLD faculty member Leslie Macone has been using an AlphaSmart for a couple of years.

I like to write, and one of the things I most like about writing is doing research. Poring over books, journals and reference materials, is just plain fun. What I don’t like about writing is dealing with the documentation of research. Nothing ruins the joy of doing research more than spending time writing down bibliography information, quotes, and other bits of information only to have to type it into the computer later on. What a pain it is to have to decipher my own handwriting and figure out which note or quote written on which scrap of paper fits in whereas I type everything that I have already hand-written. The Alphasmart eliminates this ‘middleman’ in the process by allowing me to type research notes directly into a word-processed format. I can take the Alphasmart right into the research stacks and type rather than write. Then I simply upload my research into my word processor and work from there.

Having this portable capability got me to thinking about ways in which the average college student can use the Alphasmart. I will now present a half-dozen scenario for using the Alphasmart at college. This is followed by a comparison between the Alphasmart and other computers.

Scenario #1: Library Research
The University’s library invests in several Alphasmart units, making them available for students to sign-out while doing research. Students take then into the stacks, do their research and notetaking, maybe even put together a preliminary outline. Then, students sign on to their personal account using a library computer, plugs in the Alphasmart and uploads their research into an e-mail message which they then send to themselves. Back in their residence, the student opens the e-mail, cuts and pastes the research into a word processing document, and works with it from there. Rather than having to type in everything that they have already written by hand, the Alphasmart allows the student to transfer written text files from one electronic format to another.

Scenario #2: School Breaks
During the typical school break (Thanksgiving, Easter, Spring Break, etc.), students usually have to clear out of the residence halls and head home for the week or long weekend. Students have papers and other projects they need to be working on, but their desktop PC cannot come with them. No problem, the Alphasmart only weighs two pounds and takes up as much space as a three-ring binder. Load up your research materials and your Alphasmart and head on home, or to the beach, or the ski slopes, or to wherever.

Scenario #3: Study Groups
Students get together as a study group on a regular basis. During group conversations and studying, they pass the Alphasmart amongst themselves and type in individual interpretations of course material as well as notations on the class notes and readings. In this way, members can share what they got out of the class and fill in gaps in each other’s information. After each study session, one member can be responsible for uploading the study notes into e-mail and sending the information to each of the other members. As an added study bonus, each member can type in study questions about the material and each of the others can answer them. This information can be shared via e-mail and/or be discussed the next time the group gets together.

Scenario #4: Experiential Learning
Many Colleges are introducing experiential learning to their overall educational mission. This basically means students will have many more opportunities to get ‘hands-on’ experience outside the classroom. Inevitably this will also mean that students will have to provide journals, case studies, on-site reports of activities, etc. as part of their coursework. Rather than keeping a literal notebook and having to write down all of these journal entries, notes, etc. by hand…only to have to transfer them to the computer, students could carry an Alphasmart with them and use it to take journal entries and notes. Depending upon the circumstances of the experience (field studies, internship, study abroad, etc.) the Alphasmart can be a rather flexible and handy tool.

Scenario #5: Extracurricular Activities
Many students take part in student groups, clubs, and other activities outside of class. Having been there myself, I know that people tend to either forget to take minutes of meetings, or the written notes do not get properly distributed or saved. They spend hours putting together a program, or agreeing on a point of view, only to have nobody bother to write it down and/or share it with the rest of the group. Even worse, the group comes up with a great programming idea and spends weeks putting it together from scratch, only to find out later that the same program had been done a year or two before, but nobody had bothered to keep a journal of what had been done. The group spends time and money reinventing the wheel when those same resources could have been used to improve the wheel! The Alphasmart will not eliminate these problems, but will make it easier to drop the meeting notes into e-mail for sharing or word processing for saving and printing.

Scenario #6: Student Athletes (and others)
Why should you miss out on taking care of schoolwork or lug your expensive laptop around when the team goes on the road? Get yourself an Alphasmart and get some work done on the team bus (or plane). Better yet, the Athletic Department could have Alphasmarts available for students to use while waiting for practice to begin, or to use for team and individual tutorials. (Many schools provide tutors for student athletes.) Students who are traveling with the team (band, cheerleaders, managers, and fans) can also make use of the Alphasmart.

Alphasmart vs. Computers
Before the Doubting Thomases come calling with their arguments that an Alphasmart is not as versatile as a laptop, or as powerful as a PC, or as capable as any number of word processing programs; let’s take a step back for a moment think about what we are really talking about here.

Ask yourself the question, ‘What is it that the average college students use their computers for most?’ The answer would have to be word processing. And what is word processing? In simplest terms, word processing is writing, and the act of writing involves typing, which involves pressing keys on a keyboard so that letters and words appear on a screen and are saved in a document file. This is exactly what the Alphasmart does best!

As an educator, few things annoy me more than students getting sidetracked in the writing process because they are more concerned with how a document looks than with what it says. Students waste a lot of time fiddling around with bold and italics and different fonts. This is time that should be spent on the actual process of writing. The Alphasmart gets rid of all the buttons and knobs that students tend to waste time playing with and strips writing down to its barest essentials. There will be plenty of time to format the text later.

I am not going to disagree with the fact that the Alphasmart is not a full computer, and there is certainly a large number of things it cannot do. But for what it does do, and for what it is designed to do, it is truly a remarkable little piece of technology.

Cost
For much less than the price of a laptop, you can get yourself an Alphasmart with all the trimmings (upgrade to the infrared model including wireless pod for PC or Mac, rechargeable battery pack with AC adapter, Get Utility software, and carrying case). Take the money you saved and get yourself a really nice desktop computer with printer, scanner, large monitor, joystick, stack of games, etc. It’s like having two computers for the price of one.

Portability
Who wants to lug their laptop with them on Spring Break or even home for the long weekend holiday? Not counting the added weight and the space it takes up, just the possibility of dropping it while trying to manage an armful of luggage is enough to frighten most laptop owners. The Alphasmart weighs just two pounds and takes up no more space than a typical notebook. It is made of ABS plastic (the same stuff motorcycle helmets are made from) and has no internal moving parts (i.e. no hard-drive to get messed up). Drop kick one of these through the airport terminal and it will come back for more.

Speaking of air travel, with its three AA batteries and small screen, there is no need to ask to be seated on the sunny-side of the plane to conserve battery power, and you do not have to shut it off during take-off and landing. Not flying this trip? Use it on a bus, a train, in the car, or take it with you on that hiking excursion.

Compatability
You have an older Mac with Clarisworks at home, but the campus has nothing but PCs with MS Word available for student use? No problem, with the right cables attached and the Get Utility software installed, the Alphasmart easily transfers material from one to the other. Keep the Mac “Y” cable hooked up at home and carry a copy of the Get Utility for PC and a PC “Y” cable with you and hook it up as needed; it takes about ten seconds to do. Just make sure you check with whoever is in charge of the computers at the campus point to be sure you can load-up and hook-up as needed. The best part – no disks to get lost, or messed up, or erased by accident.

Security
Plenty of people own laptops, but do not use them as much as they could, or should. The number one reason I hear from students concerns security, “I’m not going to carry my expensive laptop around campus, if it gets lost (or stolen or broken), my parents will disown me!” Laptops tend to be obvious, Alphasmarts are not. Laptops are difficult to toss about and carry around, Alphasmarts are not. Laptops are fragile, Alphasmarts are not. Laptops get targeted by thieves, Alphasmarts do not (at least not in my experience).

The Alphasmart also has a password protection option. This was originally intended to allow eight different students to use a single unit, each with their own password-protected file. You can use this feature to keep snooping roommates from accessing your research papers or personal items. It is also a deterrent to theft, just like using The Club on your steering wheel; if people know that your Alphasmart is password protected, they will likely pass it up for an easier target.

Accessibility
The Alphasmart has some basic features that make it easier for people with disabilities to use. Sticky Keys and AutoRepeat are two fairly common accessibility options found on most computers. But what I like is the ability of the Alphasmart to allow the user to change the keyboard layout. For those of you (like me) who have never taken a keyboarding class and hunt and peck their way through the writing process, the Alphasmart allows you to reconfigure the keyboard to the Dvorak layout, which is much easier to use. It can also be set up for Right or Left one-handed keyboarding.

That should just about cover it; if I haven’t convinced you of the possibilities and uses of the Alphasmart for college students go ahead and check one out for yourself. The company that makes Alphasmarts has a free loaner program. Give them a call and borrow one for a couple of weeks; you’ll see for yourself.

Julia Bolus is a creative writing teacher, published poet, and artist. She makes small edition, hand-made artist books.

On Sundays, my partner and I go to our favorite Italian diner for breakfast. This morning, we slide into our regular booth by the window and check out our new AlphaSmart. It feels as durable in my hands as a child’s “See ‘n’ Spell.” I’m resting my back against the wall with my legs stretched out on the red vinyl booth seat and the AlphaSmart on my lap. John has already named it the “new edition to the family,” and he’s designing a FileMaker stack with various templates — memo, letter, fax, etc., with a button-driven interface for the novice user. For the few years we’ve lived in this small city, we’ve done some of our best thinking on paper placemats at our diner; the AlphaSmart is less messy and much more efficient.

Thanksgiving break: I lounge on the couch with a cup of tea and Tom Waits on the stereo. The AlphaSmart is so light, it’s like resting a paperback on my lap. The keyboard feels slightly oversized, which gives typing a playful feel. For me, that’s what writing is, whether I’m teaching or practicing my own craft–it’s playing with words, with lines. I like the feel of this… somewhat temporary. Later, in bed, propped up with pillows by the cozy blaze of a fire–the only thing cooler would be an AlphaSmart with a backlit display, so I could write here in the dark.

Next Sunday, I’m going to a birthday party for a good friend, who is also a writer and a teacher. Will have to bring this new tool as a show and tell.

On Thanksgiving Day I show the AlphaSmart to my eleven year-old cousin, Ashley. She loves it. Later, she says, “I could take this on a long trip, like when we go to Maine, and type in everything neat that I see.” Pretty soon there’s a line, with all my little cousins waiting to get their turn to type.

It’s unseasonably warm for early December. This afternoon I set up a wooden folding chair in the backyard and bask in the sun while I write. Again, the AlphaSmart is so light in my lap, it’s more like resting a thin pad of paper there. I decide to open a new file to begin a journal entry…

The wonderful thing about sharing this instrument with others is seeing what each person who tries it does with it. So far, file #2 says “I love you!!!!!” File #5 captures a Sagittarian birthday moment: “Once there was a fire and within the dream of warm things there was a blue memory and there she stood among her friends and fellows….”

I work for the playwright Arthur Miller as his literary assistant. I bring the AlphaSmart over and show it to him and his wife Inge Morath, who is an international photographer. They are both delighted. Both travel a great deal; Inge has just returned from a short trip and said “This would have been perfect for Uruguay!” (She later borrowed it for a trip to Ireland.) Arthur opens a new file and writes: “The thing about this computer is that it is compatible with all versions of doss, floss and moss. It has a wonderful keyboard and can keep your notes perfectly in order as long as you can think of something notable.” He notes with approval its similarity in function to a typewriter. “Finally,” he says.

Quite a few friends who have seen my AlphaSmart have ordered one for themselves. It’s such a versatile tool. I’ve used the AlphaSmart to take notes at meetings, on trains…. I’ve used it on interviews and freelance assignments; I’ve written in my AlphaSmart journal while camping and at the beach…. All in all, I’m delighted to have discovered a writing tool that’s so comfortable, unbreakable, and light. Its playful feel is quite freeing; the possibilities for writing wherever I want are endless.