What to Do with iPhones in Education?

Technology and Learning's Wesley Fryer, in his article Going Mobile and his blog offers suggestions for the many ways iPhones and other Internet-capable phones can be used in education. He recommends 43 Actions for managing To-Do Lists, using iPhones to listen to and view educational PodCasts without downloading them, and referencing sites like Wikipedia. In his Teach Digital: Curriculum, he lists Web 2.0  tools for cell phones. Besides Fryer's suggestions, check out WebApps for iPhones such as NASA Images, NPR News, Quillpill for creative writing, French quotes,  US Congressional Directory, iConvert and other calculating tools, Morse Code Generator and Sender, s simple function Plotter, travel guides, and references and information. In Fall 2008, Abilene Christian University freshman will have iPhones on which they can receive Podcasts and emergency alerts, access 3-D campus maps, take surveys, and work with eleven other applications developed by the school for the phones. Liz Kolb's ISTE book, Toys to Tools: Connecting Student Cell Phones to Education offers mini lessons and resources for educators who want to put cell phones to use in classrooms.

Your Professional vs. Virtual Life

When might your virtual life come in conflict with your teaching career and/or with your ability to get a teaching job? Maybe during college you posted something on a social networking site and forgot about it? Maybe you put a sexy photo online, had second thoughts about it, and then thought you'd removed all traces of it? Maybe you think what you do online won't be found by your students, their parents, or your supervisors? Today pre-service teachers and in-service teachers are finding that what they've put online can haunt or destroy their careers. Some teachers have been denied credentials, some have been suspended, and others have lost their jobs because of Web postings. The Washington Post article, When Young Teachers Go Wild on the Web discusses the problems involved when sites on the Web show teachers looking and acting, well-not so professional.

Teens & Their Secret Digital Lives

Prevention Magazine (April '08) published The Secret Life of Teens and a number of other articles (Secret Life of Teens by Rich, Secret Life of Teens: Clubbing by Cuomo) and books (The Secret Life of Teens by Patnaik and Shinseki) have targeted this topic as well. Those writing about teens cover topics such as alcohol and drug abuse, teens' lives, hopes and dreams; teens' nightlife; and how to help teens survive these often exciting and dangerous years. It's evident that teens look to online communities and digital communication for interaction. Going to FaceBook, for example, helps them get away from the adults in their lives. In an online community they can share their secrets, which often aren't secrets for long. It's their world, and probably many of us ex-teens would have liked to have that world available at times when we were teens. But it's also a world that can become addictive. Aside from the possibility of online dangers, there's the danger that teens are so drawn to digital communities that they go there instead of interacting with those around them. It's not just online communities that are keeping our students from being part of the real world. Katie Baldo, the guidance counselor quoted in the Prevention piece warns that kids, because of being wired to their digital connections, aren't getting the practice they need with non-digital social interaction. She recommends that use of technologies such as cellphones, MP3 players, and video games be limited to one-hour on weekdays and two-hours on Saturdays and Sundays. Of course, teens and even pre-teens would say that this digital world is an important part of their real world.

Online Harassment - How Much Is There?

An Associated Press piece in the Baltimore Sun, Studies Spotlight Effect of Online Harassment, notes that finding statistics on cyberbullying is difficult. One problem is the way the questions about online communication are asked. Another problem is that what upsets some children may not upset others. A study on cyberbullying found that 1 in 3 children experienced bullying online, while another more recent study said that the percentage was 1 in every 10 children. No matter what the percentage is, cyberbullying, like bullying in person, continues to be a problem in schools and neighborhoods. It is interesting that one of these studies found that most (64%) children who are bullied online aren't also bullied in person and that most online bullying consists of brief encounters. Encounters that continue, according to the article, might better be termed harassment rather than cyberbullyig. With all this in mind, the US Center for Disease Control and Prevention is attempting to study how electronic communication (email, text messaging, blogging, social networking, instant messaging etc.) affects children.

Pay Attention! Becoming a Better Teacher

Take a look at Pay Attention, a unique video packed with facts, ideas, and motivation for teachers. The video comes from the Jordan School District in Utah, where there is an abundance of useful tech resources designed to help teachers use technologies effectively. Topics tackled include using iPods and cell phones in classrooms instead of outlawing them. Think of the numbers of kids who have iPods and cell phones. Then think of how these wonderful little gadgets can be put to use in your classroom. Got any suggestions to share with the rest of us?

How Are You Using the Internet?

The Pew Internet and American Life Project has a new report out that details use of media resources by American adults. While 85% have Internet access or cell phones and most people have both, only 8% appear to be using the technologies for self-expression and interactivity. Are you in that 8%? You can check to see in this Pew Quiz. How are you and your students using the Internet and digital devices such as MP3 players, digital cameras, and personal digital devices? What creative ideas do you have for using these to enhance learning?

Cheating: It's not just with tech devices

There's a column in the print version of the May/June 2007 issue of Teacher called Cheatsheet. It says that cheating in our classes is taking place with MP3 players, cell phones and personal digital assistants, but also with invisible-ink pens and their ultraviolet flashlights, water bottles, and even M&Ms. Students write answers on bottle labels and then reattach them to the bottles. They can see the answers through the bottle. -Or they work out a color code with M&Ms for objective tests and put the candies in order of the questions on their desk. Red might be for "a", yellow for "b"-you get the idea. So if your school has banned cell phones, iPods, and PDAs, you still need to be on the lookout for other devious cheat schemes. What cheat schemes have you discovered?

Crude, Rude Society

You see bad manners every day on television, you hear them on the radio, you experience them in your community, in your school, and in communication on the Net and through cell phones. What are children to think when they watch reality shows where nasty comments are rampant? What are children learning on social networks, in chat rooms, and on gaming sites? Has crude become acceptable? What about respect, thoughtfulness, kindness, consideration, and empathy? What about thinking before speaking and acting-before sending a nasty email or whipping off a 'not-so-kind' Instant Message? Schools are adding character education and manners and the social graces programs to their curriculum in an effect to teach their students that inappropriate actions and comments they encounter should not be copied, for if they do, their actions could come back to haunt them. What's your school doing to counteract the nastiness norm?

Are Your Students Spying on You?

With today's digital devices it's easy to capture audio and video in a classroom, sometimes without anyone knowing that they are "on camera." Cell phones can capture teachers and kids when they are not having a good day or worse. Although schools try to limit or prohibit cell phone and PDA access in schools, such measure don't always work. Check out Technology and Learning's blog, Spies Like Us for examples of "New Media Gone Awry."