Cell Phone Seminar1

Cell Phones The Power To Do More Is In YOUR Pocket

Cell Phones are generally regarded as

Phone http://www.boingboing.net/images/_0701_mobile_phones_old_mobile_phones_002.jpg

Text Messaging Device http://pro.corbis.com/images/42-18981487.jpg?size=572&uid=%7B6D426500-540C-4E25-BA5F-585D6C8FCE8A%7D

Phone http://imgs.idnes.cz/mob_prakticky/A030625_RUDI_KROLLOP_MOTOROLA-DYNATAC__N.JPG

Audio Device (MP3 Player) http://www.mobilewhack.com/images/nokia_5500_sport_music_edition_cell_phone.jpg

Phone http://www.mobilitywatch.com/wp-content/uploads/2006/06/old-mobile-phone.jpg

Watch http://www.made-in-china.com/image/2f0j00EMjQfPGdOucWM/Windows-6-0-System-Smart-PDA-Mobile-Phone.jpg

Phone http://cache.eb.com/eb/image?id=23612&rendTypeId=4

Calendar http://www.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/141293/2/istockphoto_141293_mobile_phone_calendar.jpg

Or A Device In Which We Can Use Them For More Than All Of The Above

But Did You Know You Can Do All This With Your Phone…and then some

Create and post a podcast

Create and post a video

Turn your voice into text

Conduct and contribute to online polls

Turn class handouts, notes, even information on a whiteboard into a PDF on your computer

Take photos and post them to an online album

Find out information about almost anything by sending a simple text message

Create and post to a blog

Post to a social networking group i.e. Twitter, Plurk, Tumblr, etc.

Stream Video

Create and post video on the internet

Conduct research

Manage apps. i.e. Google Apps. (Docs, Gmail, Calendar, Talk, Maps, Blogger, Youtube, Reader, News, Notebook, and Photos)

411 listings without paying exorbitant 411 fees

Note: most of the above are applicable to any learning environment

Oh I Almost Forgot We Can’t Do Any Of These In Schools Though

Remember There Is A General Ban On Cell Phones In Schools (Or at least during school hours) What a Bummer!!

Let’s Examine A Few Facts About Phones It took about 20 years for the first billion phones to be sold The second billion sold in 4 years The third billion sold in 2 years Worldwide there are 3.3 billion mobile-phone subscriptions 3 billion people still do not have a phone, but the bulk of that number is in Africa and Asia

But It Is Important NOT To Forget

Phones Are Generally Banned In Schools

A Few More Facts About Phones 80% of the world’s population lives with range of a cellular network Even in developing countries families are investing significant amounts of money on Information-Communication Technology (ICT) 100% penetration in the US is not expected until 2013 Many countries exceed 100% penetration: United Kingdom, Italy, Sweden…. Global penetration is estimated at 50% now It is important to note that 100% percent penetration does not mean all citizens own a cell phone. The number will include multiple subscriptions

And If That Was Not Enough How About The Following: Now there are just over 1 billion personal computers in use Content creation by teenagers continues to grow, with 64% of online teenagers ages 12 to 17 engaging in at least one type of content creation, up from 57% of online teens in 2004 74% of all mobile phone users actively use SMS text messaging An SMS is typically read within an average of 15 minutes and responded to within 60 minutes, think about how long email takes

Yet For Some Reason Phones Are Still Generally Banned in Schools

This Is Not A Fight Schools Should Be Fighting Why you may ask?

Who Will Win This Fight? In This Corner In This Corner http://uk.gizmodo.com/bbfc%20parent%20site.jpg http://www.pembinatrails.ca/fortrichmondcollegiate/Daily%20Announcements/schools4schools%20logo.jpg

So The Questions We Should Be Asking Are

What is the real reason for banning cell phones in schools?

Is this really a battle education/schools will win?

Is this a battle education should really be fighting?

What can we actual do with a cell phone in education anyway?

NOW FOR A MENU OF TOOLS AVAILABLE ON AND/OR THROUGH THE USE OF OUR CELL PHONE

What if you want the notes from the whiteboard, the handout you don’t have time to copy, or the notes from a piece of paper? And you have your phone with you. ?

Qipit www.qipit.com

What if you ran into that person you have always wanted to interview or even create a podcast of, and you don’t have a recorder with you? But, you do have your phone. ?

Gcast www.gcast.com

My Gcast Podcasts are posted at The Mind Machine Blog

Foneshow www.foneshow.com Publish or subscribe to podcasts from your phone No need for a “Smartphone”

What if you need to take notes and you have no pencil or paper, you want to create a to-do list, you want to add something to your calendar but you have no computer, you want to send an important message to a group of people, or you just want to get the latest weather? And all you have is your phone. ?

Jott www.jott.com

Some Of The Cool Features Of Jott Calendar Group Feeds/RSS To Do List Links

You’ve seen something really cool, you are currently witnessing something (like a UFO), or you just want to video something cool and you don’t have your camera nor is a news van nearby ?

Qik www.qik.com

You want your students to contribute to or create their own micro-blog, but you also want their postings for things about their lives that extend beyond school. ?

Tumblr www.tumblr.com Mizmercer.tumblr.com

You want to poll your students about a question, or prepare for a quiz, and your school does not have a student response system? But all your students do have a cell phone. ?

Poll Everywhere www.polleverywhere.com

Example of a poll

Live Poll Open Now

Now For The Cool Part

Take Out Your Phones and use some of the

aforementioned tools

HOW CAN ANY OF THE PREVIOUS APPLICATIONS AND TOOLS BE USED IN EDUCATION?

Ponder the following:

Other Potential Uses Of Cell Phones In Education

If you don’t have a “Smartphone” you can still get your important emails teleflip.com

Security and Safety

Active Information Acquisition Via Bar-coding

And the mobile capabilities continue Google Apps Diet 1

Video Youtube Video Vimeo Video

Got A Question

WHAT ARE PEOPLE (TEACHERS) SAYING ABOUT CELL PHONES?

“ Can cell phones really provide their owners with the knowledge, skills, behaviors, and attitudes that will help them succeed in their school, jobs, and their lives? What can they learn? ANYTHNG, if we design it right.” Mark Prensky “ I think it is ridiculous schools ban cell phones for no real reason than simply because” Anonymous Middle School Teacher Los Angeles, CA Schools don’t ban a text book because a student abused it, therefore why should cell phones be banned? Kenneth Shelton

Why is it that our best paying jobs expect us to be constantly connected, but our schools require us to be the opposite? Anonymous Maryland Does our banning of cell phones encourage sneakiness? Elementary Teacher Missouri Met a teacher in Sweden who got death threats sent to her for taking position that cell phones should be included Anonymous Washington Cell phones should be used in the classroom. They have great potential in science for data collection and field work. Anonymous St. Petersburg, Florida

My child goes to school to learn, not to socialize Quote from an actual parent The PE teachers in my school don't like cell phones because students will take pictures in the locker room. Anonymous Teacher in Maryland

Therefore I now ask the same questions again

What is the real reason for banning cell phones in schools?

Is this really a battle education/schools will win?

Is this a battle education should really be fighting?

What can we actual do with a cell phone in education anyway?

One final poll question, feel free to respond at your convenience. Keep them brief

We Should Be Prepared For The Next Generation Of Cell Phone Users, They Already Have A Head Start http://www.carr.org/~scottr/2002/03_02/images/talking%20on%20cell%20phone.jpg

Thank You Very Much For Your Time, Attention, And Interest

References

Prensky, M (2005) . Harnessing the Potential of ICT for Education: A Multitaskholder Approach . New York, New York: United Nations Publication.

LaFRANIERE, S Cellphones Catapult Rural Africa to 21st Century. (2005, August 25). New York Times, p. International.

Singel, R (2007, April 18). Lessons From Virginia Tech: A Disaster Alert System That Works. Wired,

H Davidson, public presentation, July 2, 2008

Virki, T (2008, June 23). Extreme Tech. Retrieved July 28, 2008, from Extreme Tech Web site: www.extremetech.com/article2/0,2845,2321474,00.asp

Lenhart, A, Madden, M, Macgill, A, & Smith, A (2007). Teens and Social Media: The use of social media gains a greater foothold in teen life as they embrace the conversational nature of interactive online media. Pew/Internet, RetrievedJuly 28, 2008, from http://www.pewinternet.org/PPF/r/230/report_display.asp.