North Carolina School First K-12 School to Require Palm Handhelds

CHICAGO, June 25 /PRNewswire/ -- A leading-edge, independent school outside of Winston-Salem, N.C., took the national spotlight today when it became the first K-12 school in the country to require the use of Palm(TM) handheld computers in its high school and to pilot their use among students as young as first grade.

Palm, Inc., a pioneer in the field of mobile and wireless Internet solutions and a leading provider of handheld computers, and Forsyth Country Day School made the announcement today here at the National Educational Computing Conference (NECC) that runs today through Wednesday at McCormick Place.

According to Eric Peterson, assistant headmaster at the school, ninth through 12th grade students returning to school in late August will find something extra in their registration packets -- a Palm IIIc handheld, a portable keyboard and a suite of software applications. The school is working with Palm and several third-party developers to select an appropriate set of software applications to be used by students and faculty across the curriculum. In addition to issuing Palm handhelds to the high school students, classroom sets of Palm handhelds will be used in science and math classes in both the middle and elementary grades. The school also plans to integrate handhelds into its brand new, multimillion dollar science, math and academic support centers.

"We are a relatively small school with a very big idea, one that will have tremendous benefits to our 850 students and faculty," said Peterson. "We see Palm handhelds as a 'transforming technology' for our students and for schools in general. For the first time, we have access to a device that can deliver on the fundamental promises of technology in the classroom. Palm handhelds are powerful, simple for students to use and carry, and they deliver a high level of utility at an affordable price."

"This is the first time a K-12 school in the United States has mandated the use of handheld technology in its school and made the commitment to use it in a range of academic and administrative areas," said Mike Lorion, vice president of education markets at Palm. "These areas include math, science, English, foreign language, grading and test assessment. Forsyth Country Day School will be a showcase -- a place that other schools can use as a model."

The school's long-range plans include integrating Palm handhelds into its intranet to use for emails, synching assignments, and connecting to school and individual class websites. In addition, students will use wireless services to obtain online material via web clipping applications for use in classes. In the future, the school plans to distribute eTextbooks and course materials on Secure Digital (SD) cards, cards about the size of a postage stamp that can be inserted into the expansion slot of Palm m500 series handhelds for instant access to applications, content, data storage and backup, images, video clips and more. This year students will pay a fee to acquire the handhelds, but thereafter, the school's regular tuition and fees will cover the costs for current and future implementations of Palm handheld computers in the same manner that it covers costs of desktop computers and other electronic resources.

Peterson said the school would be a living laboratory for exploring the range of use of handheld technology as well as the depth and breadth of student and faculty opinion. "I hope that our school and our students can serve both as leaders and as resources for schools around the country, both public and private," said Peterson.

Peterson, who also is an English teacher and football coach, launched a pilot program during the past school year that met with widespread enthusiasm on the part of teachers and students who participated. He used Palm handhelds extensively in his British Literature classes. In addition to the basic organizational functions the handhelds provided, his 25 students took vocabulary and reading quizzes on the Palm handhelds after Peterson distributed the quizzes via infrared beaming. They also took notes, wrote papers and viewed eTexts of literary works downloaded from the Palm Digital Media website (www.palm.com/ebooks). Peterson himself used his Palm handheld to record student grades, attendance and various class notes.

In coaching, Peterson uses the handheld to scout and analyze opponents' football game films to better prepare for a given week's game. "During a game, the Palm handhelds let us chart opponents' tendencies and play-calling patterns in real time, allowing us to make better adjustments during the game itself."

In June and early July, teachers at Forsyth Country Day School will participate in staff development sessions, led by Peterson, who has been certified as a Palm Education Training Coordinator (PETC). Palm's PETC program certifies local educators to deliver consistent and up-to-date staff development curriculum on the use of Palm handhelds in education. These sessions will provide skills training for the faculty in the basic operation of Palm handhelds and the variety of curricular possibilities for implementing them in education.

About Palm, Inc.

Palm, Inc. is a pioneer in the field of mobile and wireless Internet solutions and a leading provider of handheld computers, according to IDC (December 2000). Based on the Palm OS(R) platform, Palm's handheld solutions allow people to carry and access their most critical information with them wherever they go. Palm(TM) handhelds address the needs of individuals, enterprises and educational institutions through thousands of application solutions.

The Palm OS platform is also the foundation for products from Palm's licensees and strategic partners, such as Franklin Covey, HandEra (formerly TRG), Handspring, IBM, Kyocera, Sony and Symbol Technologies. Platform licensees also include Acer, Garmin, Nokia and Samsung. The Palm Economy is a growing global community of industry-leading licensees, world-class OEM customers, and approximately 160,000 innovative developers and solution providers that have registered to develop solutions based on the Palm OS platform. Palm went public on March 2, 2000. Its stock is traded on the Nasdaq national market under the symbol PALM. More information is available at www.palm.com.

About Forsyth Country Day School

Forsyth Country Day School is an independent, co-educational, college preparatory school located in Lewisville, NC. The school has 755 students in pre-kindergarten through grade 12. The school's mission is to provide a superior educational environment in which to develop the intellectual, social and physical potential of every student. The school strives to instill students with a lifelong commitment to learning, integrity, individual responsibility, respect of others and community service. The school's website is available at www.fcds.org.

NOTE: Palm OS is a registered trademark and Palm is a trademark of Palm, Inc. or its subsidiaries. Other brands may be trademarks of their respective owners.

SOURCE Palm, Inc.
Web site: http: //www.palm.com
CONTACT: Kathleen Dixon of Dixon Communications, 408-871-7765, or kathleen@kdixon.com, for Palm, Inc.; or Eric Peterson of Forsyth Country Day School, 336-945-3151, or ericpeterson@fcds.org