Cell Phones and Camera Phones in Education


 

 

Annual "Handheld Librarian Conference: http://www.handheldlibrarian.org/program

 

Top 10 Mobile Applications of 1012

 

Using tools we already have for School 2.0:

 

Newest additions:

9/19/2009 from Craig Wilson, Fairfield: I always thought "free text messaging sites" were spam harvesting

operations, since sending texts is already free from each cell

company's internet gateway. This month's PC Magazine prints them all

together on page 69:

ALLTEL: [Phone Number]@message.alltel.com

AT&T: [Phone Number]@txt.att.net

NEXTEL: [Phone Number]@messaging.nextel.com

SPRINT: [Phone Number]@messaging.sprintpcs.com

T-MOBILE: [Phone Number]@tmomail.net

VERIZON: [Phone Number]@vtext.com

VIRGIN MOBILE: [Phone Number]@vmobl.com

(Hope I didn't introduce any typos - but I double-checked. Test out

your own carrier.)

A few months ago I called and asked Destiny if they had an interface

to send overdue notices as text messages (like they do as emails), but

they said they only have an interface for a POP server, not an SMS

server.

 

 

http://www.freetext.biz/ - recommended by

Debra Lockwood, Library Media Teacher, Kingsburg High School

Text message kids when "hold" book is returned and available.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

CONTENT:  Poems - Poets.org In Your Pocket

March 10, 2008. Entire collection of over 2,500 poems on Poets.org, as well as hundreds of biographies and essays, all in the palm of a hand.  On the web at:

easily by keyword. Visitors can read a poem, anytime, anywhere. fill a spare moment, woo a darling, toast a friend, find solace, or recite a few immortal lines

Woo or Woe on the Go -- Poems can be browsed by author, title, occasion, or form, and searched

www.poets.org/mobile— The Academy of American Poets launched a mobile poetry archive which provides free and direct access

 

E-Mail Messaging (E-Mail to Cell Phones) OR see Cheshire Cat at

http://advocate4libraries.blogspot.com/2008/03/multimedia-message.html

 

Edutopia report on Handhelds for Overcoming Autism

 

ChaCha - free reference service from cell phones.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120899844381440065.html?mod=technology_featured_stories_hs

 

 

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Education Week

The Cellphone: Turning it Into a Teaching ToolWhat would happen if instead of silencing or confiscating cellphones in the classroom, teachers encouraged students to use them?

Hall Davidson, the director of the Discovery Educator Network, wants teachers to realize the potential power the instruments hold for enlivening lessons and engaging students in the content they are learning.

Most cellphones, Mr. Davidson points out, have a number of features that schools once paid thousands of dollars for as separate devices: camera, videorecorder, GPS, text messaging, music player. What

At a weeklong workshop for a corps of teachers who have become leaders in using instructional technology, Mr. Davidson gave a glimpse of what might be coming to a classroom near you.

³Are we going to ignore a device that does all this stuff?² Mr. Davidson asked the group of about 60 teachers at a workshop held this summer at the Discovery Communications headquarters here.

Students, for example, can do first-person interviews with a cellphone, with audio or video that can be posted to school wikis, collaborative Web sites, to enhance their reports and projects. They can receive class assignments and start their research using Web features on their phones. And they can record themselves practicing musical instruments, or a foreign language, and send the recordings to their teachers.

Teachers can also make good use of cellphones, Mr. Davidson says. In just a few seconds, each student can take part in polls posted by the teacher that ask students¹ opinions on topics related to lessons or procedures. Videos outlining instructions and lessons for substitute teachers can be recorded and sent by cellphone. When language is a potential communication barrier between parents and teachers, messages can be translated into other languages before they are sent.

While many of the potential applications are not quite ready for prime time, Mr. Davidson thinks that within a year or so they will be, but only if educators see their potential and figure out how to integrate the technology well.

Use and Abuse

Workshop participants expressed enthusiasm for the idea, but with reservations.

Although use of cellphones is widespread, many students still do not have them. And those who do may have older models, with fewer features, or have limits on the number of calls and text messages they can send and receive.

Students also need to control impulses to interact with friends by phone during class. Moreover, school policies are often at odds with using the phones as part of instruction.

³I think that with the use of a specific plan and guidelines for the use of cellphones, there is no way to ignore the possibility of their use in the classroom,² Rachel Yurk, a 6th grade teacher in New Berlin, Wis., who attended the workshop, said by e-mail. ³What will be hard is getting these policies in place and anticipating all the ways that kids will use and even abuse them.²

New York City, for example, has taken a hard line with its 20-year-old ban on cellphones. Two years ago, the district angered parents and students when it confiscated thousands of cellphones, which officials argued were distracting students from learning. ("N.Y.C. Schools Take Hard Line on Cellphones," July 12, 2006.)

But some teachers say it is time for schools to move into the 21st century.

³Gone are the days when we told kids they could only use a pencil in math. Now, we use markers, glue sticks, computer applications, and many other items not deemed

By Kathleen Kennedy Manzo

¹s more, many students, even in low-income areas, own one.Œworthy¹ of math years ago,² Howard J. Martin, an Austin, Texas, teacher and information-technology facilitator wrote in an e-mail. ³Any tool that we train students to use responsibly should be considered if proper use shows some benefit to our kids.² http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2008/09/05/03teachwebinar.h28.html?print=1

 

In the Thursday, April 24 edition of the Wall Street Journal, renowned technology columnist Walt Mossberg reviews a new service called "ChaCha". By calling an 800 number - 800-2CHACHA - from your cellphone or any phone, you can ask a question, and a few minutes later the answer will be provided to you by text message. The service is free for you to use, and Mossberg reports that people research your question to ChaCha's voice recognition system and earn 20 cents per answer. If you want a citation, it's available on the ChaCha website.

Mossberg reports that "one of 10,000 hired 'guides'" (he suggests the guides are stay-at-homes) does the research and provides your answer. Sitting around a computer and waiting for an incoming ChaCha research request, then receiving somewhat less than 20 cents after taxes does not seem like a job that a stay-at-home would necessarily want to take on, even if he or she was a retired reference librarian.

If ChaCha gains the same kind of foothold in the marketplace as has Goog411 (free directory assistance and call completion), libraries and reference librarians have not been marketing themselves well. If ChaCha's researchers are located overseas - and the Internet knows no distance - then they're being paid one-tenth or one-twentieth of their American counterparts, and the work is piecework, not paid hourly.

ChaCha presents a fascinating new business model and, if it is accepted by cellphone users, is going to be a significant competitor to the services agencies across California and the U.S. now provide. I recommend looking at it and our own business practices more closely - and soon.

The link to the Mossberg article, checked April 23, is John Marquette