Living in the 4th Screen

Exploring the use of mobile technology in education and life

Mobile To Surpass Wired Internet Connections

  • By David Nagel
  • 09/12/11

    • Forty percent of the world's population will have access to the Internet by 2015, according to a new forecast released this week by market research firmIDC. But the way they access it is shifting drastically, particularly in the United States, Western Europe, and Japan, as media tablets and smart phones begin to take the place of the traditional PC.

    In fact, in the United States, more people will access the Internet through their mobile devices than through wired connections by 2015, IDC reported.

    Click here to read the full article.

    AP News: Pakistani tech wiz harnesses Internet for the poor

    Pakistani tech wiz harnesses Internet for the poor
           
    SEBASTIAN ABBOT
    Published: 9/5/11


    LAHORE, Pakistan (AP) - While many young tech wizards strive to invent the next iPad, Umar Saif is working to bring Internet-style networking to millions of Pakistanis who don't have access to the Web. He could shake up the country's politics in the process.
    From: http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_16034/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=HnwqZPHZ

    The New and Improved Remind101: Drop dead easy text messaging service for students

    Remind101_text_messaging_for_t

    Remind101 has been updated and it is easy as ever to send text message reminders to your students. Don't worry, students never see your mobile phone number and your never see theirs. Students live in the text message world. The rarely if ever use email. If you want to get a message to your students send them a text. Remind101 makes this possible. Oh, by the way, it is free.

    Should students be allowed to use their own electronic devices in school?

    It is only a matter of time before schools allow students to bring their own electronic devices to school. Below is a snippet from an article in this weeks eSchools News titled "Bring your own device’ catching on in schools."

    Mobile devices are now found in the hands of most children, and school leaders are using that to their advantage by incorporating devices that students already own into classroom lessons and projects.

    Concerns remain about students who are unable to purchase or borrow a device for use in the classroom, but districts might find creative ways—such as asking local businesses or community organizations for help—to provide devices in such instances, advocates of the trend say.

    With access issues in mind, allowing students to bring their own devices from home can offer educational benefits, as well as some surprisingly positive results when it comes to creative thinking and classroom behavior.

    You can read the full article here.

    Free Resources for Teachers to communicate with students or parents and never give out your personal cell phone number

    Below are some resources to help you use email or text messages to communicate with your students. These services work for class assignment reminders, communicating with students on a class trip, updating the members (and parents) of a sports team about a change in practice, and so on and so forth.


    Remind101_logo
     Remind 101 is a free service you can use to set up text or email reminders for when assignments are due. As a teacher you create an account and then set up classes. The students can then log in and set up what kind of reminders they want to receive (text, email, or both). You can set reminders up in advance or as you go along through the semester. Parents can even create an account and choose to get the reminders.


    Cel.ly is a new mass text messaging
    service that says they are interested in schools using their free service! You can get started by texting "start" to 23559. Cel.ly will then ask you for a login and password. You can then go to the website Cel.ly, login and set up text message channels. Each channel is set up with a keyword so that students, teachers, community members, and parents can join your mass text message with a keyword from their cell phone! There does not seem to be a limit on the number of people that can join your mass alert. Cel.ly also gives you three choices in how you want to set up the mass text alerts. You can have all members send messages back and forth to the whole group. You can have only the teacher (owner of the channel) send messages to the group. You can have the group members send messages back to the teacher only! In addition your texting channel can be public or private! All messages are archived in Cel.ly! You can send messages via the Cel.ly website or via phone. It works quickly and easily!

    Pulse.to is similar to Cel.ly. You can login to the website, create a free account and then you start to set up pulses. You can have a public or private mass texting channel (called "pulses"). In addition, you can select if only the pulse owner can send messages or if everyone in the group can send messages. Pulse.to works in many different countries besides the US and Canada! In addition there is not a short code to join, rather students/teachers/parents can text in to a real phone number (so phones that don't work with short codes or keywords will still work with this service!).

    Voice_logo
     Google Voice is a free service from Google that allows you to get a phone number that you can use to ring all of you phones. Sign up for a free account and you can use it for the services listed above with your students. This way you never have to give out your cell phone number to students. You give them your Google Voice number. You can set the Google Voice number to ring whatever phone you want to. You can have voice mails go to your email account, your cell phone, home phone, your neighbor's phone, or any phone you choose. It can even ring all those phones at once if you want. You can set up the number to send you a text message when you get a new call. You can give out the number and use it for text messaging as well. Using Google Voice with the one of the services mentioned above allows you to communicate with your students without ever giving out your personal phone number.

    Thanks to Liz Kolb (@lkolb) for most of this information.

    Mobile Communications on the Rise

    No surprise here. Mobile phone use is skyrocketing.
     
    mobile stat info
     

    The following is from NetWitsThinkTank:

    This phenomenon is not just occurring in the US – According to a report by International Telecommunications Union (ITU) mobile subscription growth was strong in developing countries (which have 3.8 billion subscriptions), from 53 per cent of total mobile subscriptions at the end of 2005 to an estimated 73 per cent at the end of 2010. AMD is predicting that, by 2015, 50% of the world will have an Internet connection and Phone Count predicts that by 2012 there will be as many connected mobile phones as there are people in the world.

    Mobile Reviews with Study Boost

    There is a new free resource called Study Boost that connects with mobile phones. You create an account on Study Boost, then you can create your own "batches" of study questions. You can subscribe to the study questions via cell phone (you can also view them on the mobile web). In addition you can share your study questions with friends, teachers, and others so they can also review on the go.

    Study Boost would be a great project for extending learning and allowing students to study at their own pace (and on the go!).

    This is a repost from Toy to Tools: Cell Phones in Schools. 

    Why Mobile is a Must

    T.H.E. Journal

    Expert Perspective

    Why Mobile Is a Must

    We need a new educational model that makes learning personal and motivating, and helps secure our students’ future in the knowledge economy. Mobile technology opens the door to it.

    • By Mary McCaffrey
    • 02/08/11

    Imagine a group of kids working together on a retrospective of the Civil War. One student is at the public library, going through microfilm of newspaper articles from 1861 to 1865. She finds a reference to the political ramifications of a certain battle--notably, a picture of an influential officer. The student then uses her smartphone to snap a picture of the microfilm screen and sends the picture and caption to her group for additional research.

    EXPERT PERSPECTIVE

    This commentary launches a new column in THE Journal offering an industry expert's view on a topic of vital interest to the ed tech community.

    Meanwhile, a second member of the group is reviewing gravesites and comes across some ambiguous headstones. He takes out his tablet computer and, after a quick bit of online research, locates the appropriate person. While all of this is happening, yet another student is conducting a face-to-face interview with a relative of a Civil War veteran. Rather than hastily throwing together handwritten notes, this student is using his MP3 player to record the conversation. Later, he'll upload it to the group's Web-based project space for the other team members to hear.

    What makes these authentic, intimate learning opportunities possible? Mobile technologies. Mobile devices provide the platform and, as importantly, the incentive for students to take personal ownership of the learning experience. The lessons absorbed form deep connections for students and add to their cognitive framework in ways that no lecture ever could.

    A Desktop in Your Pocket
    Today's mobile technologies bear little resemblance, functionally or physically, to first-generation cell phones. They include a broad array of devices such as music and video players, cell phones, smartphones, tablets, and netbooks, all with access to cellular carrier networks, WiFi, or both. And while features and performance continue to climb, prices regularly drop, making mobile devices virtually ubiquitous.

    The potential enormity of this user base has attracted software developers large and small. Nearly every available mobile device supports third-party application development, providing a rich selection of productivity, entertainment, and education applications, along with core functionality such as instant messaging, e-mail, calendar, and Web browsing. And advances in processor performance, storage, cameras, and sound have all contributed to providing users the same rich media experience they've come to expect from desktop systems. The integration of QWERTY keyboards is making obsolete the days of pecking out text messages using a numeric keypad. Also common are large, high-resolution displays that offer onscreen keyboards, multitouch gestures, and the ability to clearly view the screen both indoors and out. All of this combines to create the equivalent of a pocket desktop, in a portable, always-connected form factor.

    So what is all of this doing for K-12 education? Nothing short of disrupting and transforming the established teaching and learning paradigm. To start, mobile technology is helping to solve the two challenges facing education today: students' desire to learn differently, and students' need to learn differently.

    Kids today are captivated by the personalization and socialization of online tools--the ability to build large networks of friends; share their thoughts, feelings, and goals; and communicate as they wish. Students have become so invested in mobile devices that our society has coined a new term for them--digital natives--to represent their having only known a world where all of this is possible. And not only is it possible, it's possible anytime and anywhere, via a plethora of devices and widely available cellular and WiFi networks.

    The upshot is, these digital natives now have in their hands the tools to shape their own education in once unimagined ways. They have the ability to interact with other learners at their convenience, with differences in time and place presenting no hurdle. They can research, on the spot, any topic of interest. And they can capture the moment, whether it's in a picture, a video, or a blog entry.

    Blessed with all of these capabilities, students have what they need to function in a knowledge economy. It's the obligation of 21st century educators to prepare students for this new economy, which means providing them with the skills to locate the most up-to-the-minute facts, and then turn those freshly acquired facts into solutions appropriate for the task at hand. So students must become effective researchers, which in turn requires them to develop an understanding of how to identify quality sources of information. Developing these new information retrieval skills requires us to encourage students to push beyond old boundaries of space (classrooms), content (textbooks), and authority (teachers).

    Mobile devices fulfill all of these demands. They give students a tool that allows them to express themselves in any format they wish, build networks of sources, and perform on-the-spot research to produce and act on the most current facts. Moreover, it puts in their hands a technology that engages and relates to them and sparks their curiosity. Students can now participate in an individualized approach to learning, which occurs through personal application--the student as doer. To get the fullest benefits of this new learning mode, occasions for personal application have to be available to students in any setting--in the classroom during independent study, in the library with small groups, walking home from school, while waiting in line at the movie theater, and on and on. It's mobile technologies that give students the means of owning their education on these terms.

    Tools of Engagement
    Mobile devices are not the first technology to promise great improvements in education. Similar claims were made about e-books, distance learning, electronic whiteboards, and many more. But there are several differences between those earlier tools and the opportunity presented by the use of digital applications, resources, content, and the Internet in tandem with mobile devices.

    To begin with, mobile technology and Internet access are already ubiquitous, requiring little or no capital investment by schools. Students--or really their parents--are the ones making that investment. Earlier educational technologies required schools to deploy the technology, incorporate it into the curriculum, and train the users. Once schools made it past the deployment and infrastructure issues, they often ran right into training as the next stumbling block.

    This time around, students, generally already expert users, need little or no support, and faculty and staff quickly become acclimated. In any case, as opposed to requiring specialized support from a handful of experts, newcomers have an enormous user base to tap for assistance.

    Plus, previous generations' tech innovations mostly perpetuated the traditional classroom structure, and in doing so missed out on perhaps the single most potent enabler of academic success--student engagement. Mobile technologies have no such failing. Students need no extra encouragement to use them. They already spend virtually every available moment on them, texting, instant messaging, posting personal status updates, and the like. All of that energy can also now be brought to their schoolwork.

    Can you imagine telling a kid to stop spending so much time on algebra? Or not to go overboard on researching historical sources? Sounds like pure fantasy, but that could become the new reality if we have the courage to discard an outdated teaching methodology that doesn't reach today's students, and instead embrace their bustling, burgeoning digital world. Mobile devices applied in the context of education will engage students, foster deep and meaningful learning, and result in today's kids reaching frontiers that generations before them could never hope to glimpse.

    Cell Phone Disruption by the Numbers - Part 3

     

    In January 2010 I wrote two posts titled, "Cell Phone Disruption by the Numbers" and "What is More Disruptive - Banning or Embracing Cell Phones in the Classroom? ", both posts essentially talked about how we changed our school cell phone policy and allowed students to use their cell phones during the school day. I reported the number of cell phone violations we had in the first half of the year in 08-09 and how many we had in 09-10. Below is some of what I said then:
    What is more disruptive, banning cell phones and requiring teachers to confiscate them, or embracing student cell phones and teaching students how to use them more responsibly. For the 2009-2010 school year we changed our cell phone policy at the school were I serve as an assistant principal. We allow students to use their cell phones in between classes and in the cafeteria during their lunch period. The rest of the school day is instructional time and their cell phones are to be off and out of site unless a teacher is using them as part of the lesson.
    Additionally, we made another change to our cell phone policy. We no longer require teachers to confiscate a student's cell phone if they violate the policy. We tell the teachers to write up a conduct report and turn it in to the main office and we will handle it from there. Our goal was to eliminate the classroom struggle that ensues between the teacher and a student when there is a cell phone policy violation.
     
    In June 2010 I wrote the post, "Cell Phone Disruption by the Numbers - Part 2 ", where I chronicled how many cell phone violations we had for the entire 2009-2010 school year. You can follow the link to read the entire post. I now have the number of cell phone violations we had for the period from September 1, 2010 to December 23, 2010. During that time we had 15 cell phone violations. This represents a 62.5% decrease over the 2008-2009 school year (the last year we did not allow cell phones to be used) and a 50% decrease over the 2009-2010 school year (the first year we allowed student to use cell phones during the school day) during the same period of time. Essentially cell phones have become a non-issue at our school. They are no more problematic than any other discipline issue we deal with on a weekly basis. By allowing the students to use the cell phones between classes and in their lunch periods we take away their arguments. Rarely does a student argue with us when we discipline them for a cell phone violation because we give them opportunities to use their cell phones throughout the day. Here is what the data looks like in a chart:
     
                                                       Time Period              Number of Cell Phone Violations
                                                    Sept. - Dec. 2008                              40
                                                    Sept. - Dec. 2009                              30
                                                    Sept. - Dec. 2010                              15
     
    Additonally some of our teachers use student cell phones as an instructional tool. You can read about it here, here, and here).

    Will Smart Phones Eliminate the Digital Divide?

    Will Smart Phones Eliminate the Digital Divide?

    Within five years, every K-12 student in America will be using a mobile handheld device as a part of learning, according to Elliot Soloway, a professor at the University of Michigan who's been following ed tech trends for the last three decades.

    Cathie and I make the following prediction: within five years, every child, in every grade, in every school in America will be using a mobile learning device, 24/7. Take that to the bank! Yes, while today, 99 percent of schools ban cell phones, we stick by this prediction?

    To read the complete article, please go to:

    Youth and Cell Phones - A Global Perspective

     Young and Mobile: A Global View of Cellphones and Youth

    December 15, 2010

    Nielsen’s new whitepaper on Mobile Youth Around the World [1] reveals that most young people with mobile phones chose their own device. In fact, across all the countries surveyed, only 16 percent of young people reported that their parents selected their mobile phone. Price was the most common consideration among youth in selecting a mobile phone, though that is true among other age groups, too. Youth aged 15 to 24 in all countries surveyed put price as the first purchase driver, with the exception of Russian youth, 21 percent of whom placed design/style first. (Some grown-ups care about design, too. Around 14 percent of Brazilian adults say design/style is the most important consideration, compared to seven percent of U.S. adults.)

    mobile-youth-choice [2]
    price-mobile-youth [3]

    Out of all the countries examined, Italy leads in smartphone penetration with 47 percent of young people ages 15-24 owning a smartphone, compared to 31 percent of adults over 25. Smartphone penetration among European youth averages 28 percent in the countries surveyed, while penetration among older adults in Europe is 27 percent. Twenty-eight percent of U.S. mobile subscribers have smartphones. Youth in the United States exceed the population average smartphone penetration by 5 percent.

    All countries tend to skew male in smartphone adoption with one notable exception, the US, where 55 percent of smartphone users age 15-24 are female. In the overall U.S. smartphone population 55 percent were male.

    smartphone-male-female [4]

    Article printed from Nielsen Wire: http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire

    URL to article: http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/a-global-view-of-cellphones-and-youth/

    One Third of Teens to Buy iPhone within 6 Months

    One third of teens to buy iPhone within 6 months

    According to this report from iLounge:

    One out of every three U.S. teenagers plans to purchase an iPhone within the next sixth months, according to the results of the latest Piper Jaffray bi-annual teen survey. Fortune reports that 33% of teens said they planned to purchase an iPhone in the next sixth months, up from 22% the year before; however, the 14% who said they already own an iPhone is down from 15% in 2009. The iPod’s share of the teen MP3 market also dropped from 87% a year ago down to 78%, likely due to the rise in the use of smartphones as music players, while iTunes enjoys a 95% market share among teens who pay for music online. The survey was based on responses from 6,000 U.S. high school students.

    Knox County Schools to consider new cell phone policy

    As reported here, the Knox County School system is considering relaxing it's cell phone policy. Here are some quotes from the article:

    The Knox County Board of Education is considering a more lenient policy when it comes to students using cell phones, including in some cases, allowing them to be used during classes.

    The new policy would allow high school students to use the phones at various times during the day. Some schools already allow it, and are even finding them to be valuable tools.

    Follow the link above to read the full article.

    A Critical Component Missing in our Tablet and Smartphone World

    Wes Fryer has a great post on his Moving at the Speed of Creativity Blog about the lack of self-discipline in today's students and adults when it comes to using technology. He says the following:

    Are you helping students cultivate their skills of self-regulation and self-motivation in the classroom? It's certainly easier not to.  We ignore these skills today in our classrooms at the peril of our workforce. If you think the choices presented by today's smartphones, regular cell phones, and tablets are distracting now, just wait a few months. The landscape will continue to proliferate with apps and choices.

    Self-discipline. We need more of it. As adults, it's important we continue to not just discuss it with youth in our spheres of influence, but also PRACTICE it.

    I think Wes has it right. We do need more self discipline. Follow the link above to read the full post. I get annoyed by students and adults who think that because their phone rings they have to answer it. Phones have built in voice mail, use it once in awhile. If you are engaged in a conversation with someone you should keep your focus there and let the incoming call go to voice mail. One of the nicest compliments you can offer someone is your full attention when you are meeting with them. The same is true for text messages or emails. I recommend turning off all the alerts on your phone so you are not interrupted so often. The alerts I want on on my phone are the ones that remind me that I have an appointment coming up and I need to prepare for it. Otherwise I can check my phone when I want to to see what information has come in. I do the same with my desktop version of Outlook. I have all the alerts turned off. When I want to check email I will. I do not want to be interrupted when I am focusing on a particular task.

    Of course my ringer is turned on at times on my phone. If a call comes in and I can look to see who it is from I will, if not I let the call go to voice mail. There are times when I am alone and I will let my phone go to voice mail because I want to stay focused on what I am currently doing. Often my phone is on vibrate. The vibrate alerts me to a call and I know when I have a break in what I am doing to check my phone.
    In case you need permission, you do not have to answer your phone everytime it rings. Nor do you have to instantly respond to every text message or email that flys into your inbox. Take a break. Use the tools to add value to your life, don't let them run your life.

    Using Student Cell Phones to Prepare for AP Exams

    Last year a few of our teachers successfully used Google Voice in some of our World Language Classrooms. They use Google Voice to quickly capture audio recordings of the students speaking in the target language. The use of student cell phones and Google Voice allows the teachers to provide opportunities for students to improve their oral proficiency and creates a forum for the teacher to assess that ability. 

    The other day our AP Spanish teacher told me part of the AP exam has a section for a timed audio portion. The problem is most students think they are talking longer than they really are and do not use the full amount of allotted time on the test. Therefore, it is important for the students to practice this skill. Enter Google Voice. The students call the teacher's Google Voice number and leave a recording. The message ends up in the teacher's inbox and is matched to the student's contact information. It also tells how long the recording is. The teacher can listen to the recording, play it back for the student, email the file to the student, save it as an audio file, or send feedback to the student via a text message or an email. If used over and over again the students should get a good feel for how long a 1 or 3 minute conversation is and be better prepared for the audio portion of the AP exam. I think this teacher is making great use of the technology available to her. The process is very quick and can be done from home using a land line phone if a student does not have a cell phone. Below is the information the teacher sent home to parents to get their permission to use the student's cell phone as part of classroom lessons. She included the links to two articles that wrote up what we were doing last year with cell phones.


    GOOGLE VOICE:

    This year students will be asked to record themselves using Google Voice.  This is a tool for me to easily record and assess student pronunciation and oral communication.  It is free and I can access the recordings through the internet or my phone.  It is completely private and the recordings are sent to my Google Voice account.  Students may use their cell phones or home phones to create these recordings.  I have a separate Google Voice line so no students will be communicating using my private home or cell number.  I am able to text them through the Google Voice number or have the message sent to their email.  This makes feedback easy and accessible.  Students can also hear their own recording if I send it to them so they can listen and make improvements.  This will be a useful tool on days when we will not have access to the lab, or when I ask for a recording for homework.  I used it successfully last year with the support of Administration.  I respectfully ask for your permission to request the cell phone number of your child in order to implement the use of Google Voice recordings.  If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me.


    Here are two articles featuring our use of Google Voice in the classroom last year:

    http://www.convergemag.com/edtech/Google-Voice-Helps-Students-Learn-Spanish.html

    http://www.app.com/article/20100225/LIFE/2250306/Teachers-use-technology-to-break-down-language-barriers


    NAME OF STUDENT    :   ______________________________________

    Parent/ Guardian Contact Information:  I would like to have this information so that I can communicate with you about your child’s progress.

     

    Parent/Guardian Name: ____________________________________________

    Email address: ___________________________________________________

    Phone:  Home__________________________________

                 Work___________________________________

                 Cell ____________________________________

     

    Parent/Guardian Name: ____________________________________________

    Email address: ___________________________________________________

    Phone:  Home__________________________________

                 Work___________________________________

                 Cell ____________________________________

     

    Student email address: _____________________________________________

    *Student cell phone number:_________________________________________

    *I understand that my child will be using his or her cell phone to create recordings and text messages using Sra. Taylor’s google voice phone number.

    Parent Signature ___________________________ Date _______________

     

     

    Who's Texting Who?

    According to a recent article in Fast Company parents are texting their kids during the school day. Following is a quote from the article: 

    "A shocking 66% of teens report that they've received texts from their parents, even when their parents know they're in class."

    We allow students to use their cell phones between classes and in their lunch period so they can text mom, dad, and whoever else and hopefully this outlet removes the temptation to text during the class period. We tell the students the passing time between classes and their lunch period is their time. The 43 minutes during class is the teachers time. We are trying to teach the students when irbid appropriate to use their cell phone. Further on in the Fast Company article it says this:

    "According to a new survey by app developer textPlus, which surveyed more than 600 of its users aged 13 to 17, texting is more rampant than ever in the classroom. A whopping 42.5% of teens admit to texting during class, and more than half of those say they text sometimes or constantly. What's more, nearly 80% of students say they've never gotten in trouble for texting during class, suggesting the eyes-down, cell-under-the-desk method is slipping past even your most yard-stick taunting school teachers."

    The problem is not going away and schools have to start dealing with this. So far we have had some success. 

    Below is the link for the full article. 

    Some Schools Ban Teacher's Cell Phones

    Just read this on a Scholastic.com Blog:
    Q:  In my middle school/high school, kids aren’t allowed to use cell phones during the day (although we all know they do).  To “set a good example,” our principal has decided that teachers shouldn’t use them either.

    Frankly, most of us consider this a ridiculous ruling.  Phones are available for teacher use in the faculty room or the office, but it’s much more convenient to call a parent, for example, on a cell phone from your own classroom.  And I’ll admit that it’s also more convenient to make appointments or take care of all the other business everyone has to contend with.  How can I convince my principal to move into the age of technology?
     If a staff member is misusing their cell phone in school I think that staff member should be dealt with on an individual basis. I do not agree with penalizing the entire staff. Cell phones have become ubiquitous within our society. I believe we are moving from the period of disruption to a period of acceptance. Just like when cars first came out. It took time to figure out how to use them appropriately and create laws and road signs. Eventually cars blended into society. That is what is happening with cell phones. Below is part of the answer to the question posted on the Scholastic blog:
    A:  You might refer your principal to a survey done by the Pew Research Center last spring.  The survey found that 75% of kids age 12-17 own cell phones.  Twenty-four percent say their schools ban cell phones, but 65% bring them to school anyway and 58% admit to texting in class!

    The Edjurist: Can Policies Stop the Mobile Learning Tsunami?

    Can Policies Stop a Mobile Learning Tsunami? According to Education Law Professor, Justin Bathon, the answer is no. He wrote the following on his Edjurist Blog:

    No. They can't. There is no legal floodwall even remotely big enough to stop this one.  

    Yet, we keep trying ... and causing ourselves even more policy trouble in the effort because as we are trying to build the wall higher and stronger we are also trying to bail out the water already on the other side. 

    Is it time to switch tactics yet? Is it time to go with the flow and help direct the waters in responsible directions? We legal types are the ones that need to let administrators know when it is appropriate to stop trying to plug the dam. That is our responsibility as their advisors. 

    Meanwhile, the kids are waiting for us ...

    I agree with Mr. Bathon. I like the angle he took in approaching this from a legal/policy perspective by asking if school policies will hold back the coming mobile tsunami. Students are using their cell phones in school whether the school bans them or not. The video below quotes the study by the Pew Internet and American Life Project that found over 60% of students who attend a school where cell phones are banned, still use them. I think it is more prudent for schools to embrace student cell phones and teach students how to use them responsibly. Below is a CNN video that discusses the issue of cell phones in schools.

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    Learn a new language by changing you cell phone settings

    From the BigRedChili blog in the UK comes the idea to use your cell phone to learn a new language. They suggest changing the language settings on your cell phone to the language you want to learn.

    Here are three tips from the blog post:

    Tip #1 – Set up your cell phone to use the language you’d like to study. – Go to the menu, find settings, locate language and change it to Spanish, Chinese, whatever you would like to learn. If you ever get stuck you can go and change it back.

    Tip #2 – Take a look at the buttons you normally push and begin associating those items with the new vocabulary. – This is a great way to master simple words and phrases with little or no effort. For example, each time you open up your cell phone you’ll see, (in the case of Spanish), “mensajes” instead of “messages”, “juegos” instead of “games” and “llamdadas hechas” instead of “calls made.”
    These words begin to stick once you see them again and again. Before you know it you’ll recognize the Spanish word just as quickly as the English one.

    Tip # 3 – When you have downtime, take out your cell phone and start hitting buttons. – You’ll be surprised at all the vocabulary you can learn by just playing with the different menu items. Some things you’ll recognize immediately and others you’ll be able to guess just by where you find them.

    As you probably know, the more contact you have with the language the better. That is particularly true of vocabulary. Seeing a word for the first time and then not seeing it again is a recipe for a very limited vocabulary. You have to get the repetitions needed to help move the information into long term memory.

    You also need to see things in context. With a cell phone, you begin to see relationships between words of the same category. For example, the category “llamadas” is “calls” in English.

    I think this is a great idea for learning a new language. I agree with the authors premise that repetition and context are important for learning a new language. I changed the language settings on my iPhone to Portuguese (Brazil) and it worked very nice. It definitely would help you learn some vocabulary words in another language. Give it a try.