Title
Students' experiences with PDAs for reading course materials
Abstract
 The availability of text reading and editing software for Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs) makes it timely to consider whether PDAs are useful tools for reading learning materials. This paper describes a study that evaluated the use of PDAs for reading by students on a Masters course run by the UK Open University. The evaluation consisted of pre- and post-questionnaires, and follow-up interviews. In addition, students discussed their experiences in a computer-based conference. Findings show that while the portability of the device was welcomed by students, and the electronic format was advantageous, limitations such as the small screen size, navigation difficulties, and slow and error-prone methods for entering text, made it difficult to read and interact with documents on the PDA. The paper recommends that further research consider the value of PDAs as reading devices in the context of other potential ways that PDAs can be used as learning tools.
Year
DOI
Venue
2003
10.1007/s00779-002-0211-x
Personal and Ubiquitous Computing
Keywords
Field
DocType
Keywords Evaluation, Handheld computer, Learning, Palmtop, PDA, Reading
World Wide Web,Display size,Open university,Computer science,Text reading,Human–computer interaction,Mobile device,Software,Software portability,Multimedia,Course materials
Journal
Volume
Issue
ISSN
7
1
1617-4909
Citations 
PageRank 
References 
39
3.63
11
Authors
2
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Jenny Waycott139335.51
A. Kukulska-Hulme2444.49