The mobile wireless classroom: pocket PCs in higher education

Since 2003, EWU has been using the Mobile Wireless Classroom, a pilot project consisting of a self-contained portable set of 30 Pocket PCs for electronic assessments. Pocket PCs were selected as an alternative to laptop computers as they maintain much of the same capability but at a fraction of the cost and are much less invasive in general classroom use. Students ranging from first-quarter freshmen in English Composition to last-quarter seniors in Developmental Psychology use the Pocket PCs to respond to lectures, watch videos of laboratory procedures, and to submit writing samples for peer review. Professors using the mobile assessments can quickly gather feedback from students and pinpoint areas where further review is needed.