Universities plan to test hand-held computers
by courtney ga1llard
rrn ( hronx 11
Hand-held personal com
puters (PCs) are making their
\ way into the classroom at
; Wake Forest University and
Winston-Salem State Univer
sity. The WFU information
systems staff has designed
software specifically for the
wireless PDAs (Personal Digi
; tal Assistant) to be used as a
' communication tool between
? students and professors during
lectures.
WFU developers are call
ing the new technology Pock
etClassroom. and it will soon
; be trademarked by the univer
; sity. The program was created
. to create a more interactive
' o atmosphere in the classroom
; where students and instructors
? can communicate via the
hand-held PDA by sending
private messages during class.
Rick Matthews' physics
class was one of the first class
; es to test PocketClassroom
? last year. Matthews said it was
- a big hit with both himself and
' his students.
"I found (the PDA) did
wonderful things for the
dynamics of the class. The
class became much more
interactive because the (PDA)
provided a transition towards
speaking up in class. Many
students are reluctant to speak
up in physics class Qmd it
makes for a gradual transition
to students speaking up. Class
es become more lively," said
Matthews, chair of the physics
department at WFU.
Carolyn Anderson, curricu
lum designer at Winston
Salem State University, said
the university will be testing
PocketClassroom this fall with
a pilot group of students and
faculty across five majors.
According to Anderson.
WSSU was. interested in using
the PDA as a tool students
could use for computing that
wouldn't take up too much
desk space as well as a way for
an exchange of feedback dur
ing lectures.
The chance to make stu
dents "better critical thinkers"
is what Anderson says WSSU
believes to be the advantage to
bringing hand-helds into the
classroom. No longer will stu
dents have to rely on trips to
the computer lab to monitor
the stock market or access an
Internet site. By 2<X)3. WSSU
will require each incoming
freshman to purchase a PDA
and desktop computer to meet
his or her technical and aca
demic needs.
One option the PDA offers
is a mood meter, where ..the
professor can gauge how well
the students are understanding
a specific topic. Matthews was
also ahle to administer
impromptu quizzes called con
cept tests, where students can
answer questions on PDAs and
send the answers directly to
his device. Matthews would
receive their responses in the
form of a number scaled graph
to reveal how many students
answered correctly, indicating
if further review of the topic
was needed.
The hand-held PC is a
great way for teachers to
assess their teaching methods,
said Matthews, who is excited
about the prospect of using a
device like a PDA in the future
to improve classes he teaches,
by topic and concept, where
professors can measure stu
dents' comprehension in "real
time."
"(PocketClassroom) does a
lot to overcome reluctance of
class speaking. Student evalu
ations skyrocketed when the
concept test was implemented
in class," said Matthews, who
said his physics students really
enjoyed the interaction that
developed as a result of using
the hand-helds.
A big challenge in teaching
physics, Matthews said, is to
get' students to "intellectually
engage the materials in class,"
and the PDA was a great tool
in stimulating class participa
tion and more effective com
munication between the stu
dents and Matthews.
After successfully incorpo
rating laptops into the curricu
lum at WFU, Anne Bishop,
director of research and devel
opment at WFU, says the
school became interested in
the incredible mobility of the
PDA devices.
"As technology changes,
people look for more ways to
create activity in classes for all
students and no longer make
note taking the only (way of
learning) during a lecture,"
said Bishop.
\ According to Bishop, the
haiifi-held PC allows students
to ask questions instantly and
anonymously during a class, a
luxury for those who fear of
speaking in front of a full
room. The instructor can
decide to address the question
in class or with the student
individually after class. ?
Matthews' physics class
was a great help to the univer
sity, providing insight on how
students and professors should
manage the devices. Bishop
said. The software is now
available on the WFU campus
as an option for faculty. Stu
dents with laptops can also
communicate with their pro
fessors who use hand-held
PCs.
The software can be
downloaded at no expense by
any educational institution
from the Wake Forest Web
site. East Carolina University
and Winston-Salem State Uni
versity are among the 30
schools nationwide that have
already downloaded the soft
ware. '
Photo by Courtney (iaillard
Anne Bishop, director of research and development for information systems at Wake Forest
University, holds one of the hand-held personal computers.
File Photo
The first marriages of black women break up faster than the
first marriages of other women, a report says.
Marriage
from page AI
attainment and earnings; their pre
vious experiences as children of
unmarried or less-educated par
ents, and higher rates of poverty
and lack of job opportunities in
the communities in which they
live.
The findings in this report
suggest that individual character
istics such as race/ethnicity may
not be the sole determinants of
marital and cohabitation success.
The neighborhoods in which peo
ple live may be important, and dif
ferences in marital and cohabita
tion outcomes between white and
black women may depend to
some extent on the community
environments in which the
women live.
Both non-Hispanic white
women and non-Hispanic black
women who live in neighbor
hoods with high levels of poverty,
receipt of welfare and unemploy
ment. and low levels of income
and education are more likely to
experience separation and
divorce. Black women live dis
proportionately in low-SES
(socioeconomic status) neighbor
hoods. Whether the lower marital
success of black women is due to
their disproportionate prevalence
in low-SES neighborhoods, to
individual characteristics, or to
other factors, is a question for fur
ther study.
Some of the other findings of
the study:
By age 30, three-quarters of
women in the United States have
been married and about half have
cohabited outside of marriage.
Both cohabitations and mar
riages tend to last longer under
certain conditions, such as: a
woman's age at the time cohabita
tion or marriage began; whether
she was raised throughout child
hood in an intact two-parent fami
ly; whether religion plays an
important role in her life; and
whether she had a higher family
income or lived in a community
with high median family income,
low male unemployment, and low
poverty.
In general, the probability of a
first marriage ending in separation
or divorce within five years is 20
percent, but the probability of a
premarital cohabitation breaking
up within five years is 49 percent.
Al ter 10 years, the probability of a
first marriage ending is 33 per
cent. compared with 62 percent
for cohabitations.
Marriages that end do not
always end in divorce; many end
in separation and do not go
through the divorce process. Sep
arated white women are much
more likely (91 percent) to
divorce after three years, com
pared with separated Hispanic
women (77 percent) and separated
black women (67 percent I.
The probability of remarriage
among divorced women was 54
percent in five years - 58 percent
for white women. 44 percent for
Hispanic women, and 32 percent
for black women. However, there
was a likelihood second marriages
will end in separation or divorce
(23 percent after five years and 39
pefcent after 10 years).
The likelihood that divorced
women will remarry has been
declining since the 1930s, when
women who divorced had a 65
percent chance of remarrying.
Data for 1995 show that women
who divorced in the 1980s had
only a 50 percent chance of
remarrying.
Among white women, the
increasing probability of first mar
riage breakup leveled off in the
1970s but appears to have contin
ued rising for black women
through the 1980s.
Investigation
from page A3
its investigation, it will turn
over its findings to the
Forsyth County district attor
ney, who will determine if
charges should be filed.
This will be the second
high-profile SBI report that
Forsyth County DA Tom
Keith will review this year. In
May. Keith decided that two
Forsyth County sheriff's
deputies were justified for
using pepper spray, a police
dog and a flashlight to subdue
a black motorist. The
motorist. Nakia Glenn, who
was 20 at the time, was in a
comatose state for several
weeks after the incident. The
DA said Glenn's injuries were
not caused by the deputies but
by cocaine use.
Mayor Allen Joines
released a statement Monday
asking city residents to remain
calm until all the facts of the
case come to light.
"I can assure the citizens
that the city intends for a full
and independent investigation
to occur and for all the facts to
be reviewed," Joines said. "I
have contacted the Grooms
family to ask for their
patience during the investiga
tion. I have also contacted the
Black Leadership Roundtable,
the Winston-Salem Ministers
Conference and the local
NAACP to offer to meet with
each of their organizations to
hear any concerns.
"Finally, I spoke to Lt.
Weaver to let him know we
want to quickly receive the
facts of the case so as to
resolve the issue.
Joines
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DENISE HARTSFIELD
District Court
Judge
Vote
Sept. 10
Paid for by the Committee to Elect Denise Hartsfield
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