AlphaSmart, QuickPad Pro, at what age?

I’m not familiar with QuickPad Pro, but my son has used an alphasmart since age 7. At first he used the hunt and peck approach but eventually learned touch typing using a program called “Read, Write and Type” which is geared to younger children. Typing was made one of his IEP goals and was taught in the classroom and via school-provided occupational therapy. At age 11 he is a proficient typist. There are other devices out there besides the alphasmart. They include the Dreamwriter and the Calcuscribe (which types math equations and works as a word processor). I chose the alphasmart initially because it was said to be the most durable. We just purchased a new alphasmart, this time because we found them reliable and easy to use. They run forever on 2 AA batteries.

Andrea

My son started using an AlphaSmart in second grade and has used it along with the occasional Dream Writer for the last 3 years. The AlphaSmart is sturdy and can be used at a desk. The downside is a limited display and functions, which makes editing tedious. It’s hard to tell where you are in a document or get an idea of what it will look like printed out.

He had bad luck with the Dream Writer but I think it was malfunctioning. He hit a cursor key while editting his essay and it re-initialized the system. His essay was gone, the modern equivalent of “the dog at my homework”. He had do it over (on a PC— he wasn’t taking any chances!). But he has a friend who has one and loves it, never any problems.at all.

My son uses a PC with Word now in prefernce to both of these because it’s easier to use for the longer assignments that he gets in the 5th grade. The disadvantage is that he has to get up from his desk at school to use it. The advantage is that he can bring his homework home on a dis, and can print it out here as easily as at school.

I’ve never heard of a QuickPad Pro, but will be interested to read posts in response to your message to learn more about it.

Thanks for your response. The QuickPad Pro looks very similar to the AlphaSmart. It costs about the same too. It has a 4-5 line display from what I can tell. There is a website www.quickpad.com. My son takes computer and keyboarding classes at a place called FutureKids. They are selling them.

Rosie

We just purchased an Alphasmart for my 10 year old son. I’m impressed with it and hope it will help his words flow more freely. With a hand written assignment, he writes as little as possible as simply as possible. His typing is OK; he just needs to do it more consistently. I’d also like to hear from others how the Alphasmart is useful in the classroom. So far he spends much more time lugging it back and forth than he does typing on it. (Thank God it’s durable!) I think I need to enlist the teachers’ help in figuring out where it will be useful day to day.

I’m curious too how kids are using it in the classroom. Most of my son’s assignments are on worksheets. He does have a journal. In 4th grade the kids are not taking notes very often.

Also, where did you buy your AlphaSmart? Did you order it online?

I researched it online, asked around at our LD annex at school and took an older model home from school to try it out. The newest model is pretty spiffy; I almost wish I had a use for one myself, but I don’t. We also got the Co-Writer Smart Applet, a word prediction program: you begin to type in a word, then six numbered choices pop up. If one of them is the word you want, you just hit the number and the word is inserted. I’m not sure if this was worth it or not, but I think the machine will come in handy in the coming years. I just couldn’t imagine shelling out bongo bucks for a laptop and having it break. The Alphasmart is very affordable. My son’s words do seem to flow better at a keyboard than with a pencil.

I ordered the Alphasmart direct from the company. They were very pleasant to deal with.