The latest edition of the Horizon Report came out yesterday. The Journal had a summary of what the report includes. Here is what The Journal said the report predicts for the near-term:

Near-Term Technologies

In the near term--one year or less--those technologies include cloud computing and mobile devices.

For education, the relevance of cloud computing this year--as opposed to last year, when cloud computing was focused more heavily on data systems--will be in allowing schools to expand the tools available for learning and teaching in ways that desktop software, with its restrictive licensing and often high costs, cannot.

"Schools are increasingly taking advantage of ready-made applications hosted on a dynamic, ever-expanding cloud that enables end users to perform tasks that have traditionally required site licensing, installation, and maintenance of individual software packages," according to the authors. "E-mail, word processing, spreadsheets, presentations, collaboration, media editing, and more can all be done inside a Web browser, while the software and files are housed in the cloud."

Mobile devices, of course, are already having an impact, but their potential, according to the report, has increased considerably with the launch of Apple's iPad, as well as the new and upcoming slate of Android- and webOS-based tablets that will help solidify the mobile/handheld device class as a well rounded and feature-rich technology category.

"With always-on Internet, mobiles embody the convergence of several technologies that lend themselves to educational use, including electronic book readers, annotation tools, applications for creation and composition, and social networking tools," the report said.

Mobile computing will continue to dominate the education landscape for the foreseeable future. Ubiquitous access, instant on features, and low price point will drive more adoption of these devices. I have seen a huge increase in adoption of the iPhone since it became available on Verizon in the school where I work.

The information below was taken from the iGrill website. What will they think of next?

iGrill is revolutionizing the way we cook & grill today!

The iGrill combines standard function, technical innovation and impeccable style to produce the most complete cooking thermometer on the market today.

Equipped with long-range Bluetooth®, useful Apps and a range of amazing features, iGrill turns your iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad into your own personal Sous-Chef.

In 1985, when Bruce Springsteen wrote “We learned more from a three-minute record than we ever learned in school,” he was talking about the lure of whatever might be waiting outside every classroom around the world. That  youthful feeling of the world passing you by — the things you were missing as you sat in a classroom day after day — is an age-old challenge for educators. It’s one that’s about to be subjected to an even greater assault as the digital generation moves deeper into education.

The Internet was the first volley on the way a generation learned. Students no longer had to trudge to the library to research a topic. The encyclopedias of our parents’ generation were tossed into recycling bins, and a combination of Google and Wikipedia was all students needed to complete even the most ambitious assignments. Even with all their merit — the world’s opinions and research at your fingertips — educators shunned the tools in the class. They banned the Internet to the corner, equipping it with the dunce cap.

Mobile is the second volley in this assault on education, and the impact is going to be far larger and broader-reaching than the Internet and computers were before it. If the web brought research to the desktop, mobile brings all that power — plus context — to the hip pocket. We all have the ultimate ability to find, disseminate, discuss, opine, distribute and create on the fly, and this power is something educators will need to embrace — and quickly.

New mobile technologies such as augmented reality, Google Goggles and real-time language translation applications are helping smartphones become key tools in the real-time learning toolkit. And students are bringing this technology into the classroom.

This generation of students is far different from its predecessors when it comes to the consumption of technology. Students coming of age during the Internet revolution seemed to be much more engaged in the making of technology — building the foundation of bits and bytes — while students today are much more inclined to use the technology for other pursuits, including education. Using mobile technology to learn is as natural a move and non-disruptive for this generation as it was for their parents to bring encyclopedias out of the library and into the home.

The single, most powerful pull of mobile is the seamless connectivity it enables. There has never been a time in history where the earth has been flatter, where it was easier to have a social network that extended beyond a city or country or hemisphere, or that different cultures were as exposed in real time – and it’s all because of the smartphone. This power is global and comes to life through the 250 million mobile Facebook users, photo applications like Instagram and mobile video sharing services like Qik.

“The next wave of teaching, when you’re facing students who have computers in their hands or on their desks, really is about taking advantage of that connectivity,” says Sidneyeve Matrix, National Scholar and Assistant Professor in the Department of Media and Film at Queen’s University in Kingston, Ontario. “So that’s just another reason for educators to push for mobile learning opportunities or to challenge themselves to figure out to utilize the technology their students already have.”

With this power, there’s the growing potential to also increase the gap between the technology haves and the technology have-nots, as well as the growing concern that  “always connected” means never able to concentrate on the task at hand. The classroom is the perfect place to teach the potential of mobile learning and, at the same time, expose the technology to students who don’t have access to it. Teachers can start by bringing in games that leverage mobile. Quizzes and micro-learning opportunities abound during the school day; use mobile to capture them. Exposure can also come in the form of recording classes and turning them into podcasts, assigning teams to work on mobile video projects or even doing real-time scavenger hunts on campus or in the community.

This often leads to a profound argument that has been in our discourse since Google launched and became the Internet’s conduit to humanity’s collective brain: Are kids learning to learn or are they simply learning to find. It’s a subtle difference. Has information become temporary, or even disposable? Face it; we don’t go to school really to learn about things — natural curiosity will overcome learning lethargy to drive lifelong education — but we do go to learn to learn and that’s what will be impacted the most with mobile.

Learning is a skill. Teaching that skill happens every day in the classroom but it need not end there, and that’s where mobile can truly shine. Mobile holds the nascent promise of bridging the desire to learn about everything and the ability to learn about it anywhere. The key now is to start.

For almost 10 years Rob has been immersed in the middle of the mobile revolution in roles ranging from strategic advisor, board member and coach to VP Operations and President and CEO. Rob currently runs UNTETHER.tv where he interviews mobile luminaries about how they are building their businesses and he also strategizes with major brands on embracing mobile within their organizations.

Image courtesy of Flickr user mortsan.

 

I have a son who is multiply handicapped and I am always looking for ways to help him. He is not blind so I have never thought about a blind person and how they would use a cell phone. This writers enthusiasm for his iPhone is amazing. The phone added value to his life. Here is more of what he had to say:

I do not like to quote so much from an article but this story touched me so significantly that I had to include here what this writer said about his iPhone. It is truly amazing how he uses his iPhone. Follow the link above to read the full blog post. Below are some more quotes from his post:

The other night, however, a very amazing thing happened. I downloaded an app called Color ID. It uses the iPhone’s camera, and speaks names of colors.

I have never experienced this before in my life. I can see some light and color, but just in blurs, and objects don’t really have a color, just light sources.

The next day, I went outside. I looked at the sky. I heard colors such as “Horizon,” “Outer Space,” and many shades of blue and gray. I used color queues to find my pumpkin plants, by looking for the green among the brown and stone. I spent ten minutes looking at my pumpkin plants, with their leaves of green and lemon-ginger. I then roamed my yard, and saw a blue flower. I then found the brown shed, and returned to the gray house. My mind felt blown. I watched the sun set, listening to the colors change as the sky darkened. The next night, I had a conversation with Mom about how the sky looked bluer tonight. Since I can see some light and color, I think hearing the color names can help nudge my perception, and enhance my visual experience. Amazing! 

I can't believe how the iPhone has opened up a whole new world for this person. This is so revolutionary. His phone is helping him see in his mind what he cannot otherwise see. I close with another quote from the article:

Thanks to @scobleizer for re-tweeting this.

The 3rd session I attended dealt with Language Acquisition. Very good presentation. The presenter showed some video clips of school using Apple tools to help ESL students. The iPod Touch apps we used were Pocket English ESL, Sentence Builder, and iTranslate Plus. We also used iTunes U content such as Lit2Go and an ESL Podcast. 

The presenter also showed some built in functions that are available on a MacBook for free that assist with language acquisition.

I again left this session thinking how useful the iPod Touch is in a classroom setting.

"I never see this with hands," was Sandy Riggs response to all the text messages she received when she asked her freshman Biology students to text her what they thought DNA precipitation meant. Riggs teaches at Collegiate High School in Texas. Ms. Riggs said that texting has increased her student's confidence.

 

 I think using text messages with students is a good idea as it is the preferrable means of communication for today's teenagers. My only concern is that teachers and administrators make sure the text messages stay focused on school related activites and not move over to to personal issues. Additionally, I can understand the concern some saff members have is giving out their personal phone number. To still use text messages with students and not give out your phone number you can use a free Google Voice account or use your email program to send text messages. I explain both situations here and here. Follow this link to read the full article.

Needless to say those are impressive statistical gains made by the students at Escondido and Canby. Further on in the article it talks about the iPod making a painful process private:

Not only are the students excited by the iPods but so are the teachers. Below is what some of the teachers had to say:

Finally the article mentions that the iRead project at Escondido would not have been a success without the support of the school superintendent Jennifer Walters. In my experience as an educator for any school-wide project to be successful there needs to be buy-in from the entire group of stakeholders i.e. Administration, teachers, parents, and students. Follow the link above to read the entire article. It is well worth your time and there are a number of links provided for further research.

I have stated many times on this blog that I believe the iPod Touch is a very compelling device for schools (Click here to read my post -  Reach out and Touch Someone as I enumerate why I like the iPod Touch for schools). Of all devices currently on the market I believe the iPod Touch provides the best return-on-investment in terms of improving student learning.

 

iPhone, iPad and iPod touch Apps for (Special) Education

 

 

Below is a blurb cut right from the website of Anttenna.

Think of it as Twitter meeting Craigslist or Classified ads all around location. The application is free and also provides directions between a user’s current location and the nearby items for sale. Versions of the software will be available soon for Android, BlackBerry and other mobile devices. Click here for the iTunes link.

Good Reads is social media center or reading club. Below is a snippet from the Good Reads website:

Have you ever wanted a better way to:

Get great book recommendations from people you know.

Keep track of what you've read and what you'd like to read.

Form a book club, answer book trivia, collect your favorite quotes.

The screen shot above is from an iPhone/iPod Touch/iPad app that assists non-verbal people to communicate using pictures. The app is Called Grace. People can use the app to build sentences using a series of pictures. The app was developed by a mother from Ireland who has two autistic children. Her name is Lisa Domican and she writes about her experiences on her blog called Hammiesblog. The video below is of Lisa explaining the development of the app.

 

 

 

I finally made my way over to Best Buy to play around with the iPad. My very first impression was that it was heavier than I expected. I don't know what I was expecting, but right away it felt heavy to hold in one hand. It was also kind of slippery in my hand. If I were to purchase an iPad I definitely would be buying a case for it.

On the positive side I really like how the calendar app worked. One of the primary things I do on my iPhone is use the calendar app. The calendar app on the iPad is larger and offers some additional views. I have been using an electronic calendar for over 10 years so this would be a useful feature for me.

The mail app looked good but there was no email account on this iPad so I could not get the real feel for how the app worked. I played Flight Control and it is very nice on the iPad. This is one of the few games I play on my iPhone and it is well done on the iPad. 

Overall the iPad was very much like I expected, except for the weight. It really is a large iPod Touch or iPhone. I think the ease of use and simplicity of design makes the iPad a great device for someone from an older generation that wants to get emails with pictures of their grandkids. Or maybe they just want to read the news or watch a movie. 

Follow the links above to go to the companies website or to the iTunes link. Below is a screenshot from the application.