New Research on Student's and Cell Phone Use

The annual Speak Up Report (Download Speak Up Press Release 2009) has emerged with some interesting data sourrounding mobile devices. The results are excellent news for teachers and schools considering mobile devices in learning! Below are a few of the findings from the report.

Among high school students

• 85 percent report having an iPod
• 70 percent have a laptop or netbook
• 30 percent have smart phones

For the first time since 2003, when asked to identify the major obstacle to prevent use of technology in school, students in grades 6–12 said “I cannot use my own cell phone, smart phone or Mp3 player in school.” Previously, the top response was “school filters and firewalls.”

11% of teachers and 16% of parents dismiss mobile devices as having no positive impact on learning. (This means that overwhelmingly parents and teachers agree that mobile devices can have a beneficial impact on learning!!!)

67% of teachers think students will be distracted and more than half are concerned that not all students will have access

In The Three Screen Report just released by Nielsen, it was found that...

"Active mobile video users grew by 57% from 2008 to 2009, from 11.2 million to 17.6 million. Much of this increase can be linked to the strong growth of smartphones in the marketplace."

The age bracket watching the most videos on mobile devices is 12-17!

Tweet Call! For Students Without Internet at Home

If you have a class twitter account or your students have accounts to use for learning, you know that some students do not have access to the account at home. While some students can use text messages, it is cumbersome to participate in Twitter with a basic phone and SMS text (not too mention costly if you don't have unlimited texting). However, with the free resource Tweet Call, your students can dial in (1-877-TweetCall), speak their tweet and it instantly shows up on Twitter as a speech to text translation! This is a wonderful application for iReporting on the go with Twitter, posting brainstorming ideas, homework reflections, summarizing, as well as current events.

MACUL Picture/Film on the Fly Contest!

VOTE FOR YOUR FAVORITE "TECHNOLOGY DON'T"
http://tiny.cc/kolbpic (to see full results)
http://tiny.cc/Picfly

WINNER is #13 Picture (No, No texting and Driving)



To participate! Before 10:00pm send a picture of "technology dont's" to tall63haw@photos.flickr.com


Winner will receive a copy of Liz's Book! Voting begins after 10:00pm on this site.

Students Can Participate in The National Voting Process and Text or Email their Reps with Visible Vote!

I recently came across a free mobile application called Visible Vote. From the website you can download it to your cell phone (NOTE: it does not work with all phones yet). Visible Vote gives live updates on votes happening in Congress, and tells how your local representatives are voting on different bills. In addition, it allows you to vote and "have your say". Finally, you can text or email your local representative via your cell phone with Visible Vote (they do all the work for you!). It is a fun and easy way for social studies students to get involved in the democratic process inside and outside of the classroom!

Watch the movie on how visible works!

Cell Phone Ownership by Age, Gender, Income, and Region in U.S.

Retrieved from Marist

Cell Phones in Learning Radio: An Interview with World Language Teacher Peyton Jobe on Using Google Voice