Cell Phones In Education

Recently I had the pleasure of giving a presentation on the use of cell phones in education. The presentation covered many tools that are available to those of us that own a cell phone, as well as, practical ways in which they can be applied to education. I am sure there are many naysayers and there is much opposition to cell phones being used in schools, but I am of the perspective that if you teach appropriate use you stand a greater chance of diminishing inappropriate use. In fact I find it quite comical and offensive that so many decision makers ban the use of things like phones or ___(insert your favorite Web 2.0 site here) without any justifiable reason. In addition, by doing this without any real reason it is a slap in the face of educators. The message being sent is, "we do not think you are capable of managing your class, even though you have the training and schooling, so we will do it for you. But, you better get those test scores up and we will only provide you with the minimal support needed." This attitude reminds me of a quote from Bill Parcells former NFL head coach and Executive Vice President of Football Operations for the Miami Dolphins, "if you want me to cook the dinner the least you could do is let me shop for the groceries."

But, the beauty of having a wonderful Personal Learning Network "PLN" is that there are many educators who share my vision and my desire for education to take drastic leaps to the present and future. In fact, my PLN is one of my most valuable sources of information and learning. During the presentation several educators whom I highly respect and value were able to provide backchannel chat support and provide valuable contributions during the live broadcast of this presentation. It is important that I thank all of them: Dennis Grice, Alice Mercer, Aaron Smith, Andy Losik, Adina Sullivan, and Dr. Lisa Rodriguez. I have posted the presentation with a new application called sliderocket. Hopefully, it will run smoothly with the audio and the flash videos will play. Feel free to provide comments and contribute to either or both of the polleverywhere polls I have open.




Presentation Description

This presentation will cover all the latest research on cell phone usage and capabilities. We will take a look at the many tools that are available on our phones as well as how those tools can be used to produce educationally appropriate content. We will also look at a plethora of applications available online that enhances the capabilities of your phone. If you have a phone this is not a session you want to miss.

Presentation Abstract

A recurring theme I tend to hear is that cell phones do not belong in schools. Yet the latest research does not support such a drastic and unreasonable stance. Cell phones are an intricate and important part of the lives of everybody, including our students. Students nowadays are adept at many things associated with cell phones: SMS text messaging, capturing video, creating original audio content, taking photographs, surfing the internet, and in many cases conducting research.
During the course of this presentation we will examine some of the latest research on cell phone usage, global penetration, domestic penetration, as well as many other pertinent statistics. We will look at ways cell phones have transformed the lives of many including in third world countries.
The presentation will continue with an overview of the applications available on the Internet that enhance the capabilities of a cell phone. Among the features of these applications include, voice to text, how to send emails or SMS messages with your voice, recording to do lists, creating and publishing podcasts, micro-blogging, posting photos directly to an online photo album, streaming video from your phone, conducting polls, interfacing with google apps. and much more.
Concluding the presentation will be brief discussion of questions and comments posted in the backchannel chat. We will explore ways in which we can incorporate the use of cell phones within our curriculum, while remaining compliant with school/district rules. Presenter will also share actual instances in which his students have made use of some of the tools discussed and how the use of cell phones guaranteed access to the curriculum for all his students.

Social Networking For The Socially Relevant, My Take On The SN World

While social networking seems to be a common Web 2.0 catchphrase it has long existed prior to the advent of the Internet. Long before we were tied to our cell phones, our cars, and our busy schedules social networks primarily consisted of social groups called families. Synonymous with families at one time or another were tribes, clans, units, and in many cases organizations. Social networks are comprised of nodes, which are represented by individuals or groups and when these nodes are combined they make up a network. There has been a constant debate on whether social networking has an appropriate place in education for quite some time and this conversation will continue so long as there are social networking sites garnering unfavorable press like myspace and facebook. However, when properly established, appropriately used, and carefully monitored social networking has a place in everything from education to business to family.

One of the social networking tools I find quite useful and use extensively is Ning. This social networking tool is quite robust and like any effectively Web 2.0 tool, customizable. Ning was started in 2004 with the premise that individuals could create their own social network based upon their own interest or need and in turn could customize the layout of their network. They could then either invite members and maintain a level of privacy or leave it open to whomever had an interest in joining. Today Ning is the largest “build it yourself” social network on the Internet and continues to grow.

Another social networking tool I use extensively that is not generally considered among the social networking applications is called Twitter. Twitter is essentially a microblogging application that lets the user follow designated people as well as other follow them. Each time you post or tweet something all of your followers will be able to read it. Individuals are able to follow as many people and they'd like and respond either to specific individual with personal messages or post anything to their general message thread. There are many third party applications that allows things such as posting to your twitter feed directly from your web browser, you can post hyperlinks that are listed with a tinyurl, you can post pictures using twitpic, among many other options.

At this point I think as long as there continues to be dialogue about social networks there will be some positive fallout. For example, as long as parents and educators are exposed to the social discourse on social networks they will be more likely to at minimum monitor their students/childrens use of them and ideally utilize them to teach appropriate conduct and safety in a Social Networking environment.

Edubloggercon 2008

Edubloggercon. WOW!! What a day!! My mind is operating in overdrive with all the ideas, discussions, thoughts, opinions, and ultimately thinking of fellow educators. These are the types of conferences or rather unconferences that I think would be more and more beneficial to the Educational field. Thus far I have learned and discovered the following things:

1. There is a vast number of educators that are part of the Digital Revolution in education
2. The unconference should be encouraged, implemented, demanded. It provides access to more educators without worrying about the financial constraints of a school/district
3. Social Networking has a vital, viable, and useful application in education
4. Since tech is ever changing and expanding it is imperative that educators have opportunities to collaborate and direct their professional development.

To all those that participated in person and virtually I personally thank you and humbly appreciate your commitment to the Digital Revolution in Education.