I attended my first Discovery Education Ed Tech Connect Webinar this afternoon. Steve Dembo was presenting on mobile technology — between the topic and the presenter, I knew there’d be good stuff to, ahem, discover.
I was right.
Mobile Internet tools and devices are everywhere and I’ve got some learning to do. I really dislike Internet access via the cell phone — but that’s my problem. Tools like cell phones and portable gaming systems seem really handy for linking students to information via tools that they already have. Steve mentioned a ton of handy resources for mobile users and for teachers wanting to create content for a mobile audience.
One idea that is making my head spin is the concept of semacodes. I’ve got some thinking to do about those. Are any of you using them? Please tell us about what you’re up to if you are. (Here’s a link to one project that Steve mentioned that I think could be a great reason for students create informational websites about local sites of interest.)
Head on over and check out the recorded presentation. It’ll be posted at Discovery’s Ed Tech Connect site soon. #
I participated in/listened to Steve’s webinar today. I kept having to log out and log back in so the screens would advance. You asked if anyone has tried this in our classroom. I had a student bring in his PSP in December. He wanted to upload mp3 files on it he had stolen from the web. The download is way too slow for me to mess with in a classroom setting. Also, I use OS X and most of the hacking software I could find then was for XP. Steve mentioned the firmware had been upgraded. I wonder if that was part of our problem. We tried to use the wireless feature, but could not get it to work. I needed more professional development on PSPs to get it to work. If I can talk that kid into loaning me the device again, I will try some of Steve’s tricks. Cell phones– no. We live in a rural area and most of my students do not have web on their cellphones due to sorry cell phone service. One or two have cameras, but they are to afraid to run over their minutes. When it comes right down to a choice between using minutes to talk to their friends or burn them on educational use, what do you think they will pick? No-brainer.
I do want to teach them how to access the bookmark sites and mob5. They may like that. It is free and they might want to use it for fun things like cheat code sites, and MySpace mobile features. Most all my students know about AOL on their cell phones.