Texting Changing Communication Conversation

The average 13 to 17 year sends and receives over 100 text messages a day. A recent PEW study has found that in general people who text (often the youngsters) prefer to text over making a phone call. It does save people time for example, rather than having to make a phone call where you could diverge into small talk when all you want to say is that you will be at the meeting. Yet, the study also says that because texting is so simple and convenient people tend to do it often in their spare time, when they could otherwise be basking in quiet reflection. Understanding the pervasiveness of texting in our young culture, it makes me wonder how texting is or could be changing the global business world, education, and citizenship.

Sad News...Drop.io Removed Voice Recording Feature, but There Are Some Good Alternatives!

I was incredibly sad to read that as of Oct 1st, Drop.io has removed all voice recording on their site. Drop.io was by far my favorite site for easy podcasting, video and image storing and that has now come to an end. However, I would like to pose some nice FREE alternatives to Drop.io below:

Google Voice
I am a big fan of Google Voice for their recording feature. First when you create an account, you can get a local area code number (so that students could call from a land line). In addition you can set up the number so it goes right to a unique greeting in voicemail. All the messages are stored in a private space on Google Voice as MP3 files.

iPadio
This is a free podcasting site and can be used internationally. The phone number is not toll-free but you can use cell phones. The bad news is that you have to register your cell phone number so you can only use a couple different numbers at a time to connect with the site.

Yodio
This a free audio recording/podcasting site. Your phone does not have to be registered with the site to use the site (which is nice) and you can create one teacher account for all the student's to record into.

Tumblr
The Tumblr blog allows anyone to post images, video, text and audio directly from their basic cell phone to a Tumblr blog. The only thing I don't like is that I can only have one phone number associated with the blog at a time.

Geograffiti
Leave an audio voicemark from you cell phone in a specific location on a Google map.

Google Map Mashup
Post audio from a cell phone on a specific location on a Google map.

UhaveAudio
You can record up to 60 seconds at a time with the phone to web recorder and it is a toll free number.

Cinchcast
You do not have to be registered with the site to make a podcast. You simply call in to the Cinchcast number and record your podcast that is then posted to a space in Cinchcast.

Phonecasting
Once you create an account, you can use a phone (any phone) to call in and make a podcast. The podcasts are housed on the Phonecasting site but do have ways to post on other sites or download the files.

Knox County Schools Relaxing Policy on Cell Phones...