She hopes that in the future, school systems across the country can use the program to help meet the needs of migrant students. KMTP is sponsored through its parent agency, the Ohio Valley Educational Cooperative. The project has three main components, Abell said. The first is student-family educators, who work directly with participating students. This work is done primarily within the schools and involves tutoring and extra assistance to help students stay focused and keep on track in school.
Students can make up courses or get extra help.
The goal is to use portable technology that students can use even if they don't have an Internet connection at home or at school. The PDAs can store resources such as a Spanish-English dictionary. With a collapsible keyboard that unfolds to about the size of a laptop keyboard, students can use the devices to write short essays and other homework assignments. Once students have entered their work on their own PDA, they can use the device's infrared technology to transfer their work to the teacher's PDA, Abell explained. The teacher can then dock the PDA to a workstation and transfer all the students' assignments.