Terminology
By "Palm" we mean any personal digital assistant (PDA) that runs the Palm operating system (Palm OS).  This includes many PDAs such as those manufactured by Palm Inc., by Handspring, Sony, Handera, as well as some "smart phones" by Kyocera and others.

Background
While the original Palms were created as organizational devices (for one's agenda info), these days they are far from mere "calendar assistants".  They are handheld computers that can do anything from keep databases (lists of books, articles, zip codes, recipes, etc.), to spreadsheets to e-books, to genealogy info, to engineering designs, to art images, photographs, and much more.

As for mathematics uses, there are thousands of applications to download (very many are free, most are under $10). Take a look at Software Reviews for a list of calculators that we consider the best among many.

Websites for Palm and Education

• Palm Inc. itself has information for educators here.
• Palm has a list of university programs that have incorporated Palms.
• This is another website with info for Mathematics & Palms (James Dildine).
• HUBS education is a program in Maryland for K-12 schools. They have received a grant from the US Department of Education and have incorporated Palms to bring "high-tech" to the classroom.
• James Kaput has been developing SimCalc (simulations for Calculus Learning) for Palms.  It is a project targeted for grades 7-12 primarily whose focus is the democratize mathematics for greater mathematical literacy. Kaput has been involved in many projects including Looking at Learning.
• CLIME (Council for Technology in Math Education) has more information on Palms, among others, being used in the classroom. James Kaput presented a talk in April 2002 on his recent work.
• There are many more educators who have incorporated Palms in the classroom.  We welcome submissions that you would recommend Send us an email!

• For downloading or browsing for thousands of third party Palm applications, take a look at our links section.
• Even if you don't have a Palm, you can download the free Palm OS Emulator (POSE) and run a virtual Palm on your Windows, or Apple, or Unix machine.  Take a look at Minutes from our Past Meetings for details (February 2003).