Soft Reset #14: Science

Soft Reset Episode #14 is now available! Tony and Mike share probeware, spreadsheets, participatory simulations, and reference programs for Palm and Windows Mobile that help with science instruction. Your hosts also share applications that teachers use for other subjects, but can also be used for learning science. The episode ends with audio from the U.S. Virgin Islands. Be sure to listen for the harsh consequence if a student in Miss Prince's school loses a stylus!

Show Notes:

• Mike's Tip: Select more than one file to beam at once in Windows Mobile by tapping the Control key on the onscreen keyboard or by holding down the center button the five-way navigator while you tap the items you want to select. Use the shareware application BeamPro to beam more than one application on a Palm handheld.
• Tony's Tip: There are visual cues in the Palm Operating System to help you know where to tap. For instance, tapping the triangle icon usually activates a pop-up menu. Tapping inside of a box surrounded by a dotted line allows you to change whatever in the middle of that box. Tapping the "i" with a circle around it bring up a help or information screen. Windows Mobile doesn't have these kind of visual cues. To see if there is a context menu on a Pocket PC, tap and hold your stylus on the screen to see if anything pops up.
• Probeware: For Pocket PC & For Palm.
• Spreadsheets are great places to record data. The new Excel Mobile allows graphing on the handheld itself. For Palm, the bundled version of Documents To Go does not include graphing capabilities. Upgrading to the premium version opens up this possibility (at a price).
• Soft Reset Show #4: Participatory Simulations.
• Live Long & Prosper Participatory Simulation from MIT and a lesson plan for it.
• Geney is great, but doesn't work well with Palm OS 5. Palm's current handhelds run Palm OS 5.
• References on your handheld: Moon Phase (Palm) and ChemTable (Palm) or Packed Periodic Table (Windows Mobile).
• StyleTap lets you run Palm programs on a Pocket PC.
• Ecological Footprint Calculator (EFC for short) for Palm.
• Space Weight for Palm. Considering making a spreadsheet that can calculate weight on other planets. Use this page to help you.
• GoKnow's Sketchy contest science winners.
• Makes quizzes with the free Quizzler program for Palm or Windows Mobile.
• Use Contacts or the Address Book application to record vocabulary words.
• Beam students a Science-Question-of-the-Day. Beam the answers the following day with a new question.
• More applications for Palm and Windows Mobile.
• Mike brings us audio from the U.S. Virgin Islands. Click for some photos. Here's the contract Miss Prince uses along with other usage agreements.
• Visit Soft Reset's Discussion Forum to discuss the show!
• Leave a voicemail for us to play on the show! 206-333-1942
• Email Tony and Mike at softresetpodcast@gmail.com.

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