Neil
Please also look at Dell as well. I am told they have a similar
machine to Sony. I want a small footprint and quick boot
(i.e. Windows 98 not NT?) so I can use on planes

Collaborative Education Modules
Learning has traditionally involved a combination of information resources,
personal exploration and collaborative experiences with either one's peers or
teachers. The Web has already shown how it can be a rich information resource
and using technology such Java, Shockwave and Dynamic HTML a very explorative
dynamic environment. As part of this proposal, we will build on the experience
of Syracuse University, to extend these relatively well understood
capabilities to build interactive collaborative environments involving shared
web-based objects and geographically separated teachers and students. Their
TangoInteractive system allows teachers to step through lessons (written in
HTML, Powerpoint, WebCT etc.), with the curricula automatically updated on a
Browser whose contents are shared with their students around the world. This
system has been succesfully used to teach several semester long classes and
for shorter training sessions. TangoInteractive allows one to share Java
Applets as well rich dynamic HTML. This feature has for example been used to
build shared planetary motion simulations and shared access to Supercomputer
computations. These collaborative active learning objects are augmented by
conventional audio-video conferencing, whiteboard and chatrooms.
TangoInteractive has a well defined interface for building shared applications
in any essentially any client language. (Java, C++, JavaScript) abnd we will
use this to build collaborative web sites to enhance the learning value of the
material produced in this proposal.