Erie School District gives Palms to 500 pupils

ERIE, Pa. (AP) — In Erie, education is in the Palm of hundreds of students’ hands.

Quite literally.

The Erie School District has distributed 500 Palm E2 hand-held computers to elementary and middle-school pupils in a new attempt to bring the digital era into the classroom.

The Palms, along with the accompanying software and computer projectors, were paid for with a $196,000 state grant. The Palms will be used to receive assignments, research them and then send them back to the teacher — all with one device.

Erie Superintendent Jim Barker says the district opted for the Palms over more powerful laptops because they were able to get more for their buck. The district bought five Palms for the price of one laptop.