On August 17th, 2000, Seattle played host to Tomorrow's Classroom 2000, an exposition highlighting the growing use of technology in education. The event brought together more than 10,000 teachers, educators, parents, students and community members to explore innovative uses of technology in the classroom. Mixed in with the usual providers of desktop systems, PC and Macintosh software and web services was a high profile newcomer, demonstrating what holds the potential to revolutionize education.

The company is Handspring, and the product is the Visor, a tiny handheld computer not much larger than a pack of playing cards. Yet despite its diminutive size, the Visor packs quite a punch. Combining the tried and true functionality of the popular Palm series of handheld devices with a cutting edge expansion slot called the Springboard, the Visor is one of the most functional, simple to use mobile computers available.

	Visor with EyeModule

One such use of the Springboard slot was demonstrated by a group of students manning the Model Classroom exhibit (an area of the expo showcasing just what classrooms in the near future might look like). Snapping a tiny peripheral called the EyeModule into the Springboard slot, these users quickly converted Visor Deluxes (and higher end model of the Visor with 8MB of RAM) into digital cameras, capable of taking photographs that can be easily transferred to a desktop computer for editing, organizing into a report or just emailing to friends. While the students in the demo classroom put the EyeModule to good use capturing images of conference attendees and each other, it was not hard to envision the same students using the technology on a field trip to photograph wildlife, museum exhibits or virtually anything else of interest.

Even more exciting is the upcoming selection of new Springboard modules. By year-end, the Visor will also have the capability to collect scientific readings using attachable sensor modules, to determine location using GPS modules, to record and play digital sounds and much, much more. Also on tap are electronic versions of otherwise unwieldy reference texts such as the Merriam-Webster dictionary that will put unprecedented amounts of information at the fingertips of tomorrow's students.

The Visor also takes full advantage of the comprehensive collection of software written for handhelds using the Palm operating system (in addition to Handspring, a number of companies are licensees of this OS including Sony and Symbol). With over 8,000 applications currently available and more being written everyday, the Visor can be easily converted into a portable learning machine. Consider just a few of the hundreds of programs targeting education:

	Four.Zero

Four.Zero

• Store important class details such as class time, location and required textbooks, instructor office hours, phone, email and grading policy.
• Track homework, quiz and test details including due dates, scores, coursework details.
• Monitor class grades as well as overall GPA (and even perform 'what if' scenarios to predict final grades).

TimeTable

• See at a glance which activity comes next, where it is and which teacher it's with.
• View a complete week on-screen with a simple tap showing details about each block.

Element

	iGraph

• Displays the periodic table on a single screen with selected information in a scroll display at the bottom.
• Elements can be selected via tapping directly in the table, or by selecting it via name, symbol, weight or atomic number.
• Unique marking feature makes it easy to identify groups of elements with related properties.

iGraph

• Interact directly with functions by manipulating points on the function.
• Reinforce conceptual understanding of graphing by allowing students to see different types of functions and behaviors.
• Demonstrate basic calculus concepts by allowing students to see tangent lines displayed for all the important points on the graph.

With the amazing functionality today's handheld computers now provide, education is on the verge of a renaissance not seen since Apple computers first appeared in the classroom. And as powerful as desktop computers have become and the tremendous learning tools they provide, taking the power of desktops and putting it in the palms of students' hands truly provides endless possibilities for education. Tomorrow's Classroom 2000 provided a glimpse of that future, and as fascinating an image it provided, it is only the beginning of great things to come.

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