Episode 25: Computer in my Pocket
Learning with cellphones is a hot topic in many schools at the moment. Phones are usually banned, but a few brave schools are looking for ways to leverage this powerful mobile technology. In this episode we chat to two teachers with a great deal of experience with cellphones for education - Liz Kolb from Ann Arbor, USA and Toni Twiss from Hamilton, New Zealand. Liz and Toni have been doing research into this area and have some great insights to share.
This episode was also the first where we used a live audio stream to the web and had a live backchannel going as we recorded the podcast. Thanks to those people who joined us in this live feed, and we will definitely be doing it again.
There are lots of links for this episode! Take some time and check them out… you’ll be amazed!
- tonitwiss.com/mobile - Toni’s Blog
- www.efellows.org.nz
- www.cellphonesinlearning.com - Liz’s Blog
- www.mobilestudy.org
- www.gabcast.com
- www.gcast.com
- www.chacha.com
- www.kwiry.com
- www.mymiamia.com
- www.polleverywhere.com
- www.smspoll.net
- wwww.wiffiti.com
- www.qipit.com
- www.opera.com/products/mobile
- www.qik.com
- www.shozu.com
- reader.kaywa.com
- qrcode.kaywa.com
- www.twitpic.com
- www.utterli.com
- www.lexy.com
Whew! That ought to keep you busy for a while! Don’t forget to leave a comment and mention how you are using mobile technology in your classroom.
September 30th, 2008 at 7:22 am
It is so refreshing to see educators working with this advancing technology that has become so important in our students’ lives. It is becoming increasingly difficult (and ineffective) to try and ban cell phones in the classroom. It was stated that it is a matter of classroom management and integrity that is more important than using a strong arm disciplinary approach. I couldn’t agree more! It allows us to leverage this technology as a learning tool in so many new ways. Using services like ChaCha and Kwiry is no different than what search engines and podcasts brought to the table years ago, they are just tools. Students now have information at their fingertips. What could be wrong with that? It is more important (as it always has been) that educators show students how to apply problem solving, critical thinking, and creativity to this information. Scott Jones, the CEO of ChaCha, explains this issue on his blog as well - http://www.scottajones.com/blog/?p=6
Keep up the great work!
October 11th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
Use of mobile devices, and the accompanied expansion of understanding of what technology can be, opens a lot of doors for “Technology in Education” approaches. We hear of teachers and instructors who provide links or RSS feeds to the lesson materials, they can also be transferred between phones via bluetooth. Imagine bluetoothing a video of your lesson instructions, giving the students freedom to address these how they see fit, recording the process and results and submitting them back to the teacher via bluetooth.
I recently assigned an assessable task that was to be submitted via mobile phone to me. First time I have not had to remind students of the due date, and had many students submitting early.
February 8th, 2009 at 2:35 am
[…] If you are interested in trying mobile technologies in your class, listen to the podcast; Computer in my pocket. This is a podcast put out by the VirtualStaffroom who chat to two teachers with a great deal of experience with cellphones for education - Liz Kolb from Ann Arbor, USA and Toni Twiss from Hamilton, New Zealand. Liz and Toni have been doing research into this area and have some great insights to share. You can access Toni Twiss’ research report here: Ubiquitous Information: a report on the use of mobile technologies to enhance literacy and learning. […]