Integrating personal digital assistants (PDAs) into a computer science curriculum

During the Fall 2000 semester, 44 junior and senior computer science majors at the United States Military Academy, West Point, New York were issued personal digital assistants (PDAs) and were challenged to find useful ways to incorporate them into their curriculum and student life. Seniors were issued PDAs with 8 megabytes of RAM; juniors were issued PDAs with 2 megabytes of RAM. The West Point cadets rose to the occasion and quickly embraced this new technology. This effort has been successful and discussions are currently underway to determine if all Academy cadets, regardless of their program of study, should purchase PDAs.