Lately I have come across a few different websites where you can listen to your favorite radio shows for free on your cell phone. You dial in a number (for example you can call Lexy radio at 415-692-4933), where you can select from a menu of shows OR you can create a "playlist" online or by phone and listen to your favorites at anytime. Additionally, many of these sites (such as http://cellecast.com or http://foneshow.com) allow you to stop listening, hang up, and when you dial in again you can resume listening to your show at the place where you stopped! Nice.
I think listening to radio shows at anytime, from anywhere (waiting at the DMV or in the doctor's office...), at any pace (stop and start on the go) works well for the 21st Century student. Teachers can have their students create playlists of NPR, CNN, or other news-worthy shows.
One additional feature that many of these sites has is the ability to send segments of a particular show or Cellecast calls them "cell grams" to anyone else on their phone (recipients do not need to be registered with the service to do this). Teachers could send students segments to listen to as homework, or they could ask students to send them segments as a homework assignment. For example, teachers could ask students to find a broadcast that debates a historical issue or event. While waiting in line at the bus stop, students could listen to radio shows that focus on history using Cellecast, Foneshow, or Lexy and send the segment via phone to their teacher. The best part is that you do not have to register with Cellecast or Lexy in order to listen to the programs and send the "cell grams."
Recently I have been playing with the wealth of options in Jott Feeds and came up with an idea. Why not create Jott Feed Audio Books? This would be useful for students with visual impairments, for schools that may have a hard time purchasing the texts, or even just to help studnets who prefer their cell phone to a traditional read hear the book. Using a web site called Dailylit, you can create free RSS feeds for just about any classic piece of literature (I made one for Oscar Wilde's The Important of Being Ernest). Once you have the feed, you just paste it into Jott feeds and BAM! Call Jott anytime to hear your novel. Dailylit also has many current novels (but you have to pay for many of these). However, if you do make an RSS for one of the current novels, you really only have to pay a one-time fee of a few dollars and all of your students can use the RSS feed to hear the book. This may save a few trees and inspire students who normally do not read (or only look at Sparke notes) to actually listen on the go!
I stumbled across a new site called Earfl. It allows people to tell stories via cell phone (in 3 minute increments) that are posted online. They can be posted publicly or privately. In addition, you can add photos in the Earfl online account. One of my favorite aspects of this site (unlike audio-recording sites such as Voicethread, Gabcast, Gcast...etc) is that you do not need an account to get started! Just dial the Earfl number and tell your story (this is great for outside of class activities when you want students to document but do not have Internet access to set up an account).
I think this is a great resource for students/teachers who would like to do easy digital storybooks but do not have easy access to microphones and/or would like their students to get the audio portion of the assignment completed outside of class. Additionally students on field trips could call in their stories and then add photos later on (they could also use their mobile cameras to send pictures into their Flickr accounts). For example students who go to a historical village, could describe their experiences in the Noah Webster house, then go online and get images (via Flickr--which works with Earfl or other Creative Commons resources) and insert those images into their Earfl story. The stories can embed to websites, YouTube, and blogs too! Another great use for this site would be for students to use it as an oral diary or i-search project that spans over time. For example students could document their learning in a class by calling in once a week a story about their learning, then adding pictures associated with their learning. By the end of the school year, students have documentation of their learning and how far they have come over time.
There is also a nice group feature on Earfl, where you can join a group (and call in your story to add to a collection of stories, such as the Iowa Caucus story example below) or create your own group where people can join in and talk about their stories (again similar to Voicethread, and you do not have to have an account!). The stories play individually (which makes it easy to click and play the ones you are most interested in hearing). Also each individual story (while on the group page), has it's own embed code.
The last feature that I think is useful for classroom learning is the map feature. Here is one example of a map of stories about "tributes". When you set up a group, you automatically get a link to a Google map. Every time someone calls in to Earfl to add to a story to your group, the story (along with any images) will automatically be placed on the Google map. Therefore you can see exactly where in the world the stories are coming from! This might be a great feature for classes studying foreign languages or different concepts around culture and sociology.
An 11th grade English teacher Inez Brown is encouraging students to use text messaging to build their knowledge about Shakespeare. The students are using text messaging (in groups so not all students need to have a cell phone) to summarize and answer critical thinking questions (each text is 140 words or less) about Richard III. Since the students can only use 140 words or less, they need to consider how they word their answers and think of only the most important or profound pieces of the reading.
Using a tool like Wiffiti or Polleverywhere's Open Polls would be a nice addition to this text messaging assignment. Students could see all of their text messages immediately on the open boards. And a discussion could ensue.
Thanks to Rick Weinberg, I have found a new favorite mobile resource. It is called Foneshow. The way that it works is that you can subscribe to podcasts on your cell phone! You go to the Foneshow website, find a podcast (there are many to choose from including NPR and even the presidential candidates), type in your cell phone number, click on subscribe and you are done. You will receive a text message with a phone number in it. Hit reply to the message and your phone will automatically dial the number where you will get instructions to listen to the podcast. Every time there is a new episode available, you will recceive a text message (you can also stop this function if you would like). While that is pretty cool, even more exciting is the ability to create your own cell phone podcast! And it is so easy! You just click on Create your own Foneshow. Add your podcast (you can upload it), and then publish. When you finish, others can subscribe to your podcast. Also, you can call in to Foneshow (you will get a text message on how to do this) and record an episode in your podcast. Finally, you can "reply" to any foneshow you listen to and leave a voicemail comment. Wow! I think I have already thought of about a dozen educational applications for this cool FREE tool.
Classroom Applications: 1) Student Radio Shows Students could publish their podcasts and share them with parents (especially those who do not have Internet access at home...which often inhibits some parents from being able to hear their kids podcasts). Additionally, parents could use the reply option to comment on the show!
2) VI students Students who are visually impaired could participate in commenting on podcasts by using the reply option in Foneshow. They can also produce their own Foneshow since all they have to do is call in to Foneshow and record an episode (rather than having to use a computer to upload and navigate difficult Java Script).
3) Subscribing to NPR/Topical Shows Students studying current events or specific topics that are highlighted on NPR programs could subscribe to the NPR Foneshow on their topic. They can "learn on the go" by getting a text message every time a new episode is published. As a result, students do not need Internet or even Radio access to keep up on these topics.
4) Homework Hot line Schools could use Foneshow and set up a homework hot line. Parents and students could subscribe to the hot line through Foneshow and get a phone number to call when homework is posted. This could also be used for school news. Parents who have questions could "reply" to the show (where the reply will go to the school).
5) Collaborative Storytelling Students in an English class could start a poem or short story, and then others could call in and hit "reply" and add a new portion of the story! For example students could be asked to create a new ending...the next day in class, the students could listen to all the different endings that everyone came up with!
6) Brainstorming A podcast could be set up for brainstorming. The teacher could post "episodes" where they ask an inquiry question. Students could respond with the "reply" button.
I have been playing with a new site called Last Spotted. The concept is that people are "spying" or "searching" for someone or something and everytime they see that person or thing, they can send a text message and/or picture to a Last Spotted account. At first I did not see much power in this site (it seemed a bit Hollywood...people were looking for "Kate Hudson" or "Brad Pitt"). But then I realized that many people using this site were teenagers and this is the type of activity they enjoy doing. So why not add some curriculum to the concept. Therefore I set up my own Last Spotted site and created an "i-spy" game. I created a person called "Insects". Therefore students who are studying insects in a biology class can use their cell phone to take pictures of insects that they encounter in their everyday activities and send their pictures (along with a text message of what type of insect they think it is to the Last Spotted account). Students do not need to create an account in order to use Last Spotted. The teacher can set up the account (monitor it) and give the students the email address to send their pictures. My only major concern is that there does not seem to be a good way to keep the account private. Hopefully Last Spotted will work on this (I am putting in a request).
Other ways to use i-spy with students: 1) Question/Answers with everyday people and content. For example, student's who are starting a unit on the Civil War, can ask people what they thought the causes of the civil war were (or one main cause per person). They can take a picture of the person (or not) and then text that person's answer to the class Last Spotted board. Back in school, the teacher can open up the board and a huge discussion can ensue. Throughout the unit, the teacher could even refer back to the board as they study different possible reasons for the Civil War.
2) A Day in the Life Students could be paired with professionals in the community who represent potential future jobs (such as students in a mathematics class shadowing an accountant, or students in a science class shadowing an environmental chemist). They could report their experiences via a Last Spotted account.
3) Current Local Events As "breaking news stories" occur in the community, students can report via Last Spotted. In addition, students can take a picture and write a short text message about local history/science/authors that they might encounter on their everyday adventures.
4) Scavenger Hunt Students could be given a list of items and/or people related to classroom studies, where they need to go out and find answers or document experiences. Students could try to be the first ones to "spot" the item on the list. This would be a great extension to a unit or on a field trip. For example students on a field trip to a nature preserve could be given specific items to find and document from the field trip location. This would keep them focused on the field trip and could be done in pairs or groups in case some students do not have cell phones.
5) Classroom--Real World Connections Similar to current events, extra credit could be given to students who are able to document content-related events, activities, or items that they find in their everyday life. Such as a class studying the War in Iraq, might have some students who know or meet a solider who has served in the war. They could get a quote from them and possibly take their picture.
6) Topical Stories A Last Spotted could be devoted to finding people who have had a similar life experience (such as people from the 1960's who remember the MLK or RFK or JFK assassinations) and give short text message quote (maybe a picture) in a Last Spotted account. The quotes could lead to an interesting class discussion as well as a wonderful way to document living history.
Have you tried your Flickr mobile account yet? If not, you may want to activate it. You can easily activate it by logging in to your Flickr account and clicking on Uploading Tools---Email. You will be given an email address where you (or your students) can send mobile pictures (using any basic cell phone SMS service) to your private or public (you decide) Flickr photo account. What is this so great? While, you can always use the pictures in the Flickr account (such as adding them to a specific location on the Flickr Map, adding descriptions, or just using them as data to download or review). But the best part about Flickr is that Flickr couples with so many other web2.0 applications. This means that for homework students can start a project with Flickr mobile (such as a digital storybook), where they create and take the pictures with their cell phone at home, in the park, or at any other location. Then they can send them to the class Flickr account. Since Flickr couples with Jumpcut (a free easy to use web-based video editor), back in school, students can import their pictures into Jumpcut and edit (no need to bring the cell phone into school). Flickr mobile can be real time savor on picture-based projects. Here is a short list of web2.0 that couple with Flickr photos: Jumpcut (Video Editing) Planeteye (Travel Brochures and Maps) TripperMap (Interactive Maps) Picasion (create animated gifs) Flickr SlideShows Bubblr (Comic Strips)Picnic (edit Flickr Photos) Splashr (Presenting Photos) Picmarkr (Watermarks) PageFlakes (Start page) Wikispaces (Your Own Wiki) Slideroll (Slideshows) Scrapblog (Scrap booking)
Do you have any favorite sites that couple with Flickr? Please comment and add them!
A new mobile polling tool has just been introduced called SMSpoll. SMSpoll is similiar to the fantastic Polleverywhere (which I believe is US only right now). SMSpoll has a free account which allows for 25 votes per poll (enough for many individual classes) and 500 new polls per month. While the purpose is to take advantage of student owned cell phones for the 20% who do not have cell phones, they can vote on the web. The polls can also be downloaded into PowerPoint and embeded into a website/wiki/blog. You can also download the results in an excel spreadsheet. One additional feature that SMSpoll has is an auto-stop that you can schedule for polling (for example you can schedule a class poll to automatically stop at the end of class without having to go back to the website to close the poll). You also (unlike Polleverywhere) can get the results of the poll on your mobile phone! Of course you do have to pay extra for this feature. The template to create the polls is very easy to use. The major drawback is that you can an Australian number to text results to. It seems to work in the UK and Australia, and online web-based voting in most other countries. Here is a sample that I made below with web voting, feel free to try it!
Classroom Applications of mobile polling
KWL's
It can be used to generate KWL's inside or outside of class. You can create polls about an upcoming topic to find out what students know (K). You can create polls about an upcoming topic to find out what student's want to learn (W). Finally you can create polls at the end of a unit to find out what student's have learned (L).
Voting
You can use the polls for voting on topics for discussion/study. Students can develop mock elections as well.
Feedback
Students could create polls to get feedback after they have completed a presentation. They could also generate polls to use as feedback during their presentation (audience participation).
What will Happen?
Teachers could create polls concerning what students think will happen in a book, scientific phenomenon, or historical event. For example, before knowing the outcome of A Separate Peace, students could vote on what they think will happen. Or students could vote on how many "eggs" will break in their gravity experiment.
I am teaching a literacy course for inservice teachers. Today we discussed cell phones and we were talking about ChaCha. ChaCha is a resource that you can call (1-800), ask any question, and get a text message answer. I never knew who the people were answering the questions until today. One of the teachers told me that her son's (in college) summer job is to research the questions ask and answer them. She said he had to take a test on his research and mobile skills. He earns some money for every question answered and can log in to answer the questions on his own time! This got me thinking about the many ways that students can currently use their mobile skills for employment. I came across a resource called Mob4Hire, which asks people to test upcoming mobile software and give feedback. The testers get paid for their work. Therefore instead of students going to local businesses and working the cash register or as a caddy (I have anything against this type of employment), they can now be interviewed, get a job, and get paid via mobile phone (AKA--the "free agent" learner or future employee). Even more of a reason why we need to be structuring learning and knowledge around these 21st Century tools.
QRcode for CellPhonesinLearning.com (generated from Kaywa)
I had been avoiding writing about QRcodes for a couple of reasons. 1) Because I did not quit understand them and how they worked. 2) For a while, most cell phones did not work with them or work very well with them. Times are-a-changing and I need to change with them. About a month ago I received an email from Bob Sopko at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, OH. He pointed me towards some interesting work being done with cell phones, QRcodes and documenting student academic experience. In Japan many cell phones are coming with software that can read QRcodes. Here is a short YouTube video of "how QRcodes are used with mobile phones."
A Few Questions/Answsers about QRcodes
What are QRcodes? A QR code is a 2D matrix barcode which uses an arrangement of squares to encode information horizontally and vertically.
What can a QRcode do? Using your cell phone (mobile device) you can take a picture of a QRcode, and it will immediately pull up information associated with that code. Such as product information, website references, or an entire story. These are only a few examples, there are a variety of ways that QRcodes can be used.
Can I make my own QRcode for my website or product? YES! There are a couple different sites that allow you to create your own free QRcode. Shortcode.com, Kaywa, and NFG are two examples.
Can any cellphone scan QRcodes? Only cell phones with a cameraphone (most cell phones today), mobile Internet, and that have QRcode reading software (you can download this to your mobile phone) such as Kaywa. Some phones are compatible while others are currently not. I'm certain that this will change over time.
Classroom Applications As I mentioned above, QRcodes do not work with every cell phone. However, it seems that every month there is a new type of cell phone added to the QRcode software reader list. Therefore we can assume that QRcode reading software will over time become avaliable for most if not all cell phones with a camera. So I thought we should ponder some potential classroom applications:
1) Creating QRcode Campaigns Students could develop their own QRcodes (they can do this now with the generators mentioned above--for Free!). The could create a website, blog, image that reflects the content they are studying (such as a website about the history of lighthouses in Michigan or an image of a collage they created to represent metamorphosis), and then generate a QRcode for it. Next they could post their QRcode all over the school/community/web where people can read it.
2) QRcode Scavenger Hunt The teacher could make up QRcodes for different topics being studied in a unit. they could post them all over the community (almost like a treasure hunt), where students would get the clue by using their QRcode reader, solve it--where the location of the next QRcode would be revealed, and find the next QRcode. In the end, by solving the mystery, they will also learn about the content in the unit.
3) Advertising for Local Business Teachers could team up with a local business, where the students would develop a whole campaign for them. Part of the campaign could include QRcodes.
4) Group Projects and Reviews Students could create QRcodes for their portion of a group project or review (such as defining some concepts). They could generate QRcodes so that they could share their reviews with other students.
While I am new to QRcodes Andy Ramsden has posted about his research on QRcodes and their impact on learning. Also another great resource (Thanks to ToniTwiss and others) is http://2d-code.co.uk/.
I am currently a doctoral student at the University of Michigan studying Learning Technologies. I am also an adjunct Professor at Madonna University and a former high school teacher and technology coordinator
Share your own stories. How do you use cell phones in learning?
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Welcome!
The purpose of this blog is to discuss various methods cell phones can be used as learning tools in the classroom. While there are many media reports concerning the negative aspects of cell phones in schools, I wanted to focus on some ways to utilize cell phones inside and outside of schools for learning.
Lately I have come across a few different websites where you can listen to your favorite radio shows for free on your cell phone. You dial in a number (for example you can call Lexy radio at 415-692-4933), where you can select from a menu of shows OR you can create a "playlist" online or by phone and listen to your favorites at anytime. Additionally, many of these sites (such as http://cellecast.com or http://foneshow.com) allow you to stop listening, hang up, and when you dial in again you can resume listening to your show at the place where you stopped! Nice.
